Geography

Atayurt is in the fertile alluvial plain of Silifke

Silifke

-Antiquity:Located a few miles from the mouth of the Calycadnus River, Seleucia was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BCE, one of several cities he named after himself. It is probable that there were already towns called Olbia and Hyria and that Seleucus I merely united them...

 district which itself is a part of Mersin Province. The town is on the D 400 highway. The distance to Mersin

Mersin

-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...

 is 72 km (44.7 mi) and to Silifke is 10 km (6.2 mi). The coordinates are about 36°23′N 34°02′E. The population is 7152 as of 2010.

History

The rural population density of the vicinity has always been high and there were two villages (Olukbaşı and Esenbel) next to each other. In 1989, the two villages have been merged to form Atayurt town. The name of the town refers to Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic.

Economy

Like other parts of Silifke plain, the main economic activity of Atayurt is agriculture, especially green house and forced crop agriculture. Almost all fruits especially strawberries are produced. Since the sea side is only 5 km (3.1 mi) to town center, the services to summer houses at the sea side also play a part of town economy.

Concerns about blue tunnel project

The Göksu River is very important to the economy of the town. But the government is planning to use a part of river to water the Central Anatolia by a project named Blue Tunnel where tunnel refers to a 17 km (10.6 mi) tunnel with a capacity of 36 m³/s. Atayurt residents are afraid that this project may cause a partial drought around Atayurt and decrease the agricultural production.