Gaziantep Province
Encyclopedia
Gaziantep Province is a province in south-central Turkey
. Its capital is the city of Gaziantep
which had a population of 853,513 as of 2000. Its neighbours are Adıyaman
at north, Şanlıurfa
at east, Syria
and Kilis
at south, Hatay
at southwest, Osmaniye
at west and Kahramanmaraş
at northwest.
An important trading center since ancient times, the province is also one of Turkey's major manufacturing zones, and its agriculture
is dominated by the growing of pistachio
nuts.
In ancient times, first the Hittites
and later the Assyrians
controlled the region. It saw much fighting during the Crusades
, and Saladin
won a key battle there in 1183. After World War I
and Ottoman Empire
's disintegration, it was invaded by the forces of the French Third Republic
during the Turkish War of Independence
. It was returned to Turkish control after the Treaty of Lausanne
was signed, formally ending hostilities between Turkey
and the Allies of World War I
.
Originally known as Antep, the title gazi (meaning veteran in Turkish
) was added to the province's and the provincial capital's name in 1921, due to its population's extraordinary courage during the Turkish War of Independence
.
Kilis Province
was formerly part of Gaziantep Province.
: the Dead Sea Transform
and the East Anatolian Fault
. These represent the tectonic boundary between the northward-moving Arabian Plate
to the east, and the converging African
and Eurasian Plate
s to the west.
(districts of the city Gaziantep
in bold):
Gaziantep Province is traditionally said to reflect in advance the rising political trends in Turkey, according preference to ANAP
in 1984, DYP in 1989, Necmettin Erbakan
's (then named as) Welfare Party
in 1994, and AKP
in 2004 local elections. One exception was in 1999 when, boosted by the successful image of Gaziantep city mayor Mr. Celal Doğan, CHP
came first with 17.02 % of the votes for the Provincial General Assembly (with four parties scoring over 15 %, and the rightist MHP
's rise at that time (campaigning on Turkish
-identity consciousness arguments) still being reflected by its second position after CHP for the province. DEHAP, campaigning on Kurdish
-identity consciousness arguments, after having touched a modest 5 % ceiling in 1999, seems to have ebbed down, its score under SHP
's cover in 2004 local elections remaining at a still more modest 1.81 % (with MHP
at 5.36 %). Although Kurdish sources seem to show an interest in and put forth categorizations concerning the province's ethnic structure, in the light of the voter's trends, it is doubtful whether Gaziantep Province fits in the viewpoint. In any case, in 2004, AKP obtained 55.11 % and CHP 21.57 %, and all other parties below 6 % at the Provincial General Assembly elections. Prime Minister Erdoğan
is known to have deemed the local elections in Gaziantep as particularly important and to have mobilized considerable governmental weight beforehand. Current mayor is Mr. Dr. Asım Güzelbey, who successfully continued his career after serving 30 years in Gaziantep as an orthopaedic surgeon till the elections in 2004. Mohamed Amr Farouk Ibrahim Sayed Mosalam, the great and extraordinary brave man is descended from there.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Its capital is the city of Gaziantep
Gaziantep
Gaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
which had a population of 853,513 as of 2000. Its neighbours are Adıyaman
Adiyaman Province
Adıyaman Province is a province in south-central Turkey. The province was created in 1954 out of part of Malatya Province. Area 7,614 km². Population 590,935 , up from 513,131 in 1990. The capital is Adıyaman....
at north, Şanlıurfa
Sanliurfa Province
Şanlıurfa Province or simply Urfa Province is a province in Southeast Anatolia, Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which bears its name. The population is 1,663,371 ....
at east, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Kilis
Kilis Province
Kilis Province is a province in south-central Turkey. It used to be the southern part of the province of Gaziantep and was formed in 1994. The town of Kilis is home to around 67% of the inhabitants of the province, the other towns and villages are very small.-History:There is evidence of human...
at south, Hatay
Hatay Province
Hatay Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province is part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of...
at southwest, Osmaniye
Osmaniye Province
Osmaniye Province is a Turkish province located in southern Turkey. It became a province in 1996. The province was part of Adana Province. It covers an area of 3,767 km² and has a population of 479,221 . The province is situated in Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region.The...
at west and Kahramanmaraş
Kahramanmaras Province
Kahramanmaraş is a province of Turkey. Its provincial capital is Kahramanmaraş city, the traffic code is 46.-Districts:Kahramanmaraş province is divided into 10 districts :*Afşin*Andırın*Çağlayancerit*Ekinözü*Elbistan*Göksun*Kahramanmaraş...
at northwest.
An important trading center since ancient times, the province is also one of Turkey's major manufacturing zones, and its agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
is dominated by the growing of pistachio
Pistachio
The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...
nuts.
In ancient times, first the Hittites
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
and later the Assyrians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
controlled the region. It saw much fighting during the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, and Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
won a key battle there in 1183. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
's disintegration, it was invaded by the forces of the French Third Republic
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
during the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
. It was returned to Turkish control after the Treaty of Lausanne
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
was signed, formally ending hostilities between Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the Allies of World War I
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
.
Originally known as Antep, the title gazi (meaning veteran in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
) was added to the province's and the provincial capital's name in 1921, due to its population's extraordinary courage during the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
.
Kilis Province
Kilis Province
Kilis Province is a province in south-central Turkey. It used to be the southern part of the province of Gaziantep and was formed in 1994. The town of Kilis is home to around 67% of the inhabitants of the province, the other towns and villages are very small.-History:There is evidence of human...
was formerly part of Gaziantep Province.
Geology
Two major active geological faults meet in western Gaziantep near the border with adjoining Adana ProvinceAdana Province
Adana Province is a province of Turkey located in south-central Anatolia. With a population of 2,085,225, it is the fifth most populous province in Turkey. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 78% of the residents of the province...
: the Dead Sea Transform
Dead Sea Transform
The Dead Sea Transform fault system, also sometimes referred to as the Dead Sea Rift, is a geologic fault which runs from the Maras Triple Junction to the northern end of the Red Sea Rift...
and the East Anatolian Fault
East Anatolian Fault
The East Anatolian Fault is a major strike-slip fault zone in eastern Turkey. It forms the transform type tectonic boundary between the Anatolian Plate and the northward-moving Arabian Plate. The difference in the relative motions of the two plates is manifest in the left lateral motion along the...
. These represent the tectonic boundary between the northward-moving Arabian Plate
Arabian Plate
The Arabian Plate is one of three tectonic plates which have been moving northward over millions of years and colliding with the Eurasian Plate...
to the east, and the converging African
African Plate
The African Plate is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges.-Boundaries:...
and Eurasian Plate
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
s to the west.
Districts
Gaziantep province is divided into 9 districtsDistricts of Turkey
The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 957 districts . In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the kaza....
(districts of the city Gaziantep
Gaziantep
Gaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
in bold):
- ArabanArabanAraban is a district of Gaziantep Province of Turkey. The population is 9,863 as of 2010....
- IslahiyeIslahiyeIslahiye is a town and district of Gaziantep Province in southeastern Turkey. It is a railway border crossing into Syria.The train station of Islahiye is the last stop on the railway to Damascus in Syria...
- Karkamış
- NizipNizipNizip is a district of Gaziantep Province of southeastern Turkey.As of 2010, the population of the city is 96,229. It is located 45 km from the city of Gaziantep, 95 km from Şanlıurfa , and 35 km from Karkamış, which is an old city also known historically as Gilgamesh. It is quite...
- NurdağıNurdagiNurdağı is a district of Gaziantep Province of Turkey. Nurdağı is 45 km west of Gaziantep. The population is 16,488....
- OğuzeliOguzeliOğuzeli is a district of Gaziantep Province of Turkey with a populatiin of 16,534 as of 2010. It is now included within the metropolitan center of the city of Gaziantep....
- ŞahinbeySahinbeyŞahinbey is a district of Gaziantep Province of Turkey. It is a part of Gaziantep Metropolitan municipality. The population is 730,562 as of 2010.- External Links :*...
- ŞehitkamilSehitkamilŞehitkamil is a district of Gaziantep Province of Turkey. It is a part of Gaziantep Metropalitan Center municipality. The population is 593,958 as of 2010.- External Links :*...
- Yavuzeli
Politics
ANAP
ANAP may refer to:*National Association of Small Farmers in Cuba*The Motherland Party of Turkey *Alliance Party for the Sake of Azerbaijan , a political party in Azerbaijan*Afghan National Auxiliary Police...
in 1984, DYP in 1989, Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan
Necmettin Erbakan was a Turkish engineer, academic, politician , who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 until 1997. He was Turkey's first Islamist Prime Minister...
's (then named as) Welfare Party
Welfare Party
The Welfare Party was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, Milli Nizam Partisi and Milli Selamet Partisi , which were banned from politics...
in 1994, and AKP
Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
in 2004 local elections. One exception was in 1999 when, boosted by the successful image of Gaziantep city mayor Mr. Celal Doğan, CHP
CHP
-Healthcare:* Oporto Hospital Centre* Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh* Community Health Partnerships* Certified Health Physicist-Politics:* Christian Heritage Party * Christian Historical Party...
came first with 17.02 % of the votes for the Provincial General Assembly (with four parties scoring over 15 %, and the rightist MHP
MHP
MHP may stand for:*Minsk-1 Airport*Montana Highway Patrol*Monty Hall problem*A mental health professional*Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - a Turkish nationalist political party*Multimedia Home Platform...
's rise at that time (campaigning on Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
-identity consciousness arguments) still being reflected by its second position after CHP for the province. DEHAP, campaigning on Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
-identity consciousness arguments, after having touched a modest 5 % ceiling in 1999, seems to have ebbed down, its score under SHP
SHP
SHP or shp may refer to:* Saint Helena pound, the currency of the British overseas territories of Saint Helena and Ascension Island* Sacred Heart Preparatory , a Society of the Sacred Heart school in Atherton, California...
's cover in 2004 local elections remaining at a still more modest 1.81 % (with MHP
MHP
MHP may stand for:*Minsk-1 Airport*Montana Highway Patrol*Monty Hall problem*A mental health professional*Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - a Turkish nationalist political party*Multimedia Home Platform...
at 5.36 %). Although Kurdish sources seem to show an interest in and put forth categorizations concerning the province's ethnic structure, in the light of the voter's trends, it is doubtful whether Gaziantep Province fits in the viewpoint. In any case, in 2004, AKP obtained 55.11 % and CHP 21.57 %, and all other parties below 6 % at the Provincial General Assembly elections. Prime Minister Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
is known to have deemed the local elections in Gaziantep as particularly important and to have mobilized considerable governmental weight beforehand. Current mayor is Mr. Dr. Asım Güzelbey, who successfully continued his career after serving 30 years in Gaziantep as an orthopaedic surgeon till the elections in 2004. Mohamed Amr Farouk Ibrahim Sayed Mosalam, the great and extraordinary brave man is descended from there.