title: Tourism in North Korea

text: In July 2005, the South Korean company Hyundai Group came to an agreement with the North Korean government to open up more areas to tourism, including Baekdu Mountain and Kaesong. Kaesong was opened to daily tours for South Korean and foreign tourists in December 2007; North Korea charged US $180 for a one-day trip. The city received several hundred tourists each week, mostly South Koreans.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: The tours to Kaesong were suspended in December 2008 due to a political conflict between North and South Korean relating to propaganda balloons. The balloons, filled with information critical of Kim Jong-il and the North Korean regime, were sent into North Korea from just south of the border in South Korea. When South Korea did not respond to North Korean demands to stop the propaganda balloons, North Korea suspended the Kaesong tours. The tours to Kaesong resumed in April 2010, but were again suspended in May 2010 following the ROKS "Cheonan" sinking.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: In April 2010, the first tourist trains from Dandong, China brought visitors to North Korea for a four-day tour. Before that, the international train from Beijing to Pyongyang was used as a tourist train.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: As of January 2013, tourists are now able to bring their own mobile phones into North Korea, although without a North Korean SIM card (which became available to foreigners) the phone will not be able to make or receive calls. Previously, foreigners had to surrender their phones at the border (or airport) before entering the country.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: The number of Chinese tourists visiting North Korea fell 70 percent from 2010 to 2011. One Chinese travel agency cited the limited number of packages and restrictions on where foreign tourists can travel as the main reasons for the lack of interest. Only the capital Pyongyang and Mount Kumgang are available on Chinese itineraries.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: Various places are accessible from the Chinese side, such as Namyang and monasteries in Chilbosan from Tumen, China. In 2011, a Tumen-Korean train service was scheduled to start.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: Though gambling is prohibited for North Korean citizens, two casinos exist in North Korea for the Chinese tourist market – the Imperial Hotel & Casino in Rason and the Pyongyang Casino in the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: In 2016, the North Korean government allowed Chinese tourists to stay in North Korea for a maximum of six months.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: In principle, any person is allowed to travel to North Korea; only South Koreans and journalists are routinely denied, although there have been some exceptions for journalists. For instance, Croatian journalists had special access in June 2012, although their phones were confiscated and returned as they departed and they had a special tour guide.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: Travel agents can help potential visitors through the bureaucratic process. A tourist visa typically comes in the form of a blue travel paper stating "tourist card" () and bearing the country's official name (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) in English and Korean, which is stamped by North Korean customs instead of the passport. The travel paper is taken away upon exiting the country. The tourist visa can also be issued, upon request, in the form of a sticker endorsed in the visitor's passport. However this is only possible if there are any diplomatic representations of North Korea in the visitor's home country. Visitors are not allowed to travel outside designated tour areas without their Korean guides.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: Before 2010, tourists holding United States passports were not granted visas, except during the Arirang Festival mass games. U.S. citizens, journalists and citizens from other nations have also been given special permission to enter as members of the Korean Friendship Association and Choson Exchange. Citizens of South Korea require special permission from both governments to enter North Korea and are typically not granted such permission for regular tourism except in special tourist areas designated for South Koreans.


title: Tourism in North Korea

text: Only citizens of Singapore and Malaysia were allowed to enter North Korea on normal passports without a visa, although the exemptions for both citizens were revoked in February 2017.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilicia plain. The region includes the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, along with parts of Hatay and Antalya.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia is extended along the Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia to the Nur Mountains, which separates it from Syria. North and east of Cilicia lie the rugged Taurus Mountains that separate it from the high central plateau of Anatolia, which are pierced by a narrow gorge called in antiquity the Cilician Gates. Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachea and Cilicia Pedias by the Limonlu River. Salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction. The Greeks invented for Cilicia an eponymous Hellene founder in the purely mythical Cilix, but the historic founder of the dynasty that ruled "Cilicia Pedias" was Mopsus, identifiable in Phoenician sources as "Mpš", the founder of Mopsuestia who gave his name to an oracle nearby. Homer mentions the people of Mopsus, identified as Cilices (Κίλικες), as from the Troad in the northwestern-most part of Anatolia.


title: Cilicia

text: The English spelling "Cilicia" is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in the west in later Vulgar Latin (c. 500–700) accounts for its modern pronunciation in English.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia Trachea ("rugged Cilicia"—Greek: Κιλικία Τραχεῖα; the Assyrian "Hilakku", classical "Cilicia") is a rugged mountain district formed by the spurs of Taurus, which often terminate in rocky headlands with small sheltered harbours, a feature which, in classical times, made the coast a string of havens for pirates and, in the Middle Ages, outposts for Genoese and Venetian traders. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia and Egypt. Cilicia lacked large cities.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia Pedias ("flat Cilicia"—; Assyrian "Kue"), to the east, included the rugged spurs of Taurus and a large coastal plain, with rich loamy soil, known to the Greeks such as Xenophon, who passed through with his mercenary group of the Ten Thousand, for its abundance ("euthemia"), filled with sesame and millet and olives and pasturage for the horses imported by Solomon. Many of its high places were fortified. The plain is watered by the three great rivers, the Cydnus (Tarsus ÇayBerdan River), the Sarus (Seyhan), and the Pyramus (Ceyhan River), each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior and which fed extensive wetlands. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are clear indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus, and that the united rivers ran to the sea west of Kara-tash. Through the rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus (Tarsa) on the Cydnus, Adana (Adanija) on the Sarus, and Mopsuestia (Missis) on the Pyramus.


title: Cilicia

text: The climate of Cilicia shows significant differences between the mountains and the lower plains. At the lower plains, the climate reflects a typical Mediterranean; summers are hot while winters are mild, making the land, particularly, the eastern plains, fertile. In the coldest month (January), the average temperature is 9 °C, and in the warmest month (August), the average temperature is 28 °C. The mountains of Cilicia have an inland climate with snowy winters. The average annual precipitation in the region is 647mm and the average number of rainy days in a year is 76. Mersin and surrounding areas have the highest average temperature in Cilicia. Mersin also has high annual precipitation (1096mm) and 85 rainy days in a year.


title: Cilicia

text: The Mountains of Cilicia are formed from ancient limestones, conglomerate, marlstone, and similar materials. The Taurus Mountains are composed of karstic limestone while its soil is also limestone-derived with pockets of volcanic soil. The lower plain is the largest alluvial plain in Turkey. Expansion of limestone formations and fourth era alluvials brought by the rivers Seyhan and Ceyhan, formed the plains of the region over the course of time.


title: Cilicia

text: Akyatan, Akyayan, Salt Lake, Seven lakes at Aladağ, and Karstik Dipsiz lake near Karaisalı are the lakes of the region. The reservoirs in the region are Seyhan, Çatalan, Yedigöze, Kozan and Mehmetli.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia was settled from the Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows: Aceramic/Neolithic: 8th and 7th millennia BC; Early Chalcolithic: 5800 BC; Middle Chalcolithic (correlated with Halaf and Ubaid developments in the east): c. 5400–4500 BC; Late Chalcolithic: 4500 – c. 3400 BC; and Early Bronze Age IA: 3400–3000 BC; EBA IB: 3000–2700 BC; EBA II: 2700–2400 BC; EBA III A-B: 2400–2000 BC.


title: Cilicia

text: The area had been known as Kizzuwatna in the earlier Hittite era (2nd millennium BC). The region was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya (flat Cilicia), a well-watered plain, and "rough" Cilicia (Tarza), in the mountainous west.


title: Cilicia

text: The Cilicians appear as "Hilikku" in Assyrian inscriptions, and in the early part of the first millennium BC was one of the four chief powers of Western Asia. Homer mentions the plain as the "Aleian plain" in which Bellerophon wandered, but he transferred the Cilicians far to the west and north and made them allies of Troy. The Cilician cities unknown to Homer already bore their pre-Greek names: Tarzu (Tarsus), Ingira (Anchiale), Danuna-Adana, which retains its ancient name, Pahri (perhaps Mopsuestia), Kundu (Kyinda, then Anazarbus) and Azatiwataya (today's Karatepe).


title: Cilicia

text: There exists evidence that circa 1650 BC both Hittite kings Hattusili I and Mursili I enjoyed the freedom of movement along the Pyramus River (now the Ceyhan River in southern Turkey), proving they exerted strong control over Cilicia in their battles with Syria. After the death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, and Cilicia was free for two centuries. The first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu, son of Pariyawatri, was recorded as a "great king" in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs. Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu, king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian.


title: Cilicia

text: In the next century, the Cilician king Pilliya finalized treaties with both King Zidanta II of the Hittites and Idrimi of Alalakh, in which Idrimi mentions that he had assaulted several military targets throughout Eastern Cilicia. Niqmepa, who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni, to try and reduce Cilicia's power in the region. It was soon apparent, however, that increased Hittite power would soon prove Niqmepa's efforts to be futile, as the city of Kizzuwatna soon fell to the Hittites, threatening all of Cilicia. Soon after, King Sunassura II was forced to accept vassalization under the Hittites, becoming the last king of ancient Cilicia. After the death of Mursili I, which led to a power struggle among rival claimants to the throne, eventually leading to the collapse of Hittite supremacy, Cilicia appeared to have regained its independence.


title: Cilicia

text: In the 13th century BC a major population shift occurred as the Sea Peoples overran Cilicia. The Hurrians that resided there deserted the area and moved northeast towards the Taurus Mountains, where they settled in the area of Cappadocia. In the 8th century BC, the region was unified under the rule of the dynasty of Mukšuš, whom the Greeks rendered Mopsos and credited as the founder of Mopsuestia, though the capital was Adana. Mopsuestia's multicultural character is reflected in the bilingual inscriptions of the ninth and eighth centuries, written both in Indo-European hieroglyphic Luwian and West Semitic Phoenician. In the ninth century BC, it became part of Assyria and remained so until the late seventh century BC.


title: Cilicia

text: Before the early foundings of the kingdom, Cilicians had to protect themselves from Assyrian domination. After the dissolution of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 612 BC, they established an independent kingdom from Syria. Given the fact that Cilicia was a strategically significant location, Cilicians were able to expand their kingdom as far north as the Halys River in a short period of time. With these expansions, the Cilician Kingdom became as strong as Babylonia, one of the contemporary powerhouses.


title: Cilicia

text: The Syennesis dynasty emerged in Cilicia and seemed to have been based in its western part during the reign of Appuašu. The peaceful governance of the Syennesis dynasty sustained the kingdom and prevented the Achaemenid Empire from attacking Lydians after the Achaemenid invasions of Median lands. Appuašu, the son of Syennesis, defended the country against the Babylonian king Neriglissar, whose army reached Cilicia and crossed the Taurus mountain range.


title: Cilicia

text: The Achaemenids defeated the Lydians, and Appuašu had to recognize the authority of the Persians in 549 BC to keep the local administration with the Cilicians. Cilicia became an autonomous satrapy under the reign of Cyrus II. Cilicians were independent in their internal affairs and kept this autonomy for almost 150 years. In 401, Syennesis III and his wife Epyaxa supported the revolt of Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II Mnemon. This was sound policy because otherwise, Cilicia would have been looted by the rebel army. However, after the defeat of Cyrus at Cunaxa, keeping Syennesis' position was difficult. Most scholars assume that this behavior marked the end of the independence of Cilicia. After 400, it became a normal satrapy.


title: Cilicia

text: Under the Persian empire, Cilicia (in ) was said to be governed by tributary native kings who bore a Hellenized name or the title of "Syennesis", and it was officially included in the fourth satrapy by Darius. Xenophon found a queen in power, and no opposition was offered to the takeover of Cyrus the Younger.


title: Cilicia

text: The great highway from the west existed before Cyrus conquered Cilicia. On its long rough descent from the Anatolian plateau to Tarsus, it ran through the narrow pass between walls of rock called the Cilician Gates. After crossing the low hills east of the Pyramus it passed through a masonry (Cilician) gate, Demir Kapu, and entered the plain of Issus. From that plain one road ran southward through another masonry (Syrian) gate to Alexandretta, and thence crossed Mt. Amanus by the Syrian Gate, Beilan Pass, eventually to Antioch and Syria. Another road ran northwards through a masonry (Armenian) gate, south of Toprak Kale, and crossed Mt. Amanus by the Armenian Gate, Baghche Pass, to northern Syria and the Euphrates. By the last pass, which was apparently unknown to Alexander, Darius crossed the mountains prior to the battle of Issus. Both passes are short and easy and connect Cilicia Pedias geographically and politically with Syria rather than with Anatolia.


title: Cilicia

text: Alexander forded the Halys River in the summer of 333 BC, ending up on the border of southeastern Phrygia and Cilicia. He knew well the writings of Xenophon, and how the Cilician Gates had been "impassable if obstructed by the enemy". Alexander reasoned that by force alone he could frighten the defenders and breakthrough, and he gathered his men to do so. In the cover of night, they attacked, startling the guards and sending them and their satrap into full flight, setting their crops aflame as they made for Tarsus. This good fortune allowed Alexander and his army to pass unharmed through the Gates and into Cilicia. After Alexander's death it was long a battleground of the rival Hellenistic monarchs and kingdoms, and for a time fell under Ptolemaic dominion (i.e., Egypt), but finally came to the Seleucids, who, however, never held effectually more than the eastern half. During the Hellenistic era, numerous cities were established in Cilicia, which minted coins showing the badges (gods, animals, and objects) associated with each polis.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia Trachea became the haunt of pirates, who were subdued by Pompey in 67 BC following a Battle of Korakesion (modern Alanya), and Tarsus was made the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. Cilicia Pedias became Roman territory in 103 BC first conquered by Marcus Antonius Orator in his campaign against pirates, with Sulla acting as its first governor, foiling an invasion of Mithridates, and the whole was organized by Pompey, 64 BC, into a province which, for a short time, extended to and included part of Phrygia.


title: Cilicia

text: It was reorganized by Julius Caesar, 47 BC, and about 27 BC became part of the province Syria-Cilicia Phoenice. At first, the western district was left independent under native kings or priest-dynasts, and a small kingdom, under Tarcondimotus I, was left in the east; but these were finally united to the province by Vespasian, AD 72. Containing 47 known cities, it had been deemed important enough to be governed by a proconsul.


title: Cilicia

text: Under Emperor Diocletian's Tetrarchy (c. 297), Cilicia was governed by a "consularis"; with Isauria and the Syrian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Libyan provinces, formed the Diocesis Orientis (in the late 4th century the African component was split off as Diocese of Egypt), part of the pretorian prefecture also called "Oriens" ('the East', also including the dioceses of Asiana and Pontica, both in Anatolia, and Thraciae in the Balkans), the rich bulk of the eastern Roman Empire. After the division of the Roman Empire, Cilicia became part of the eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire. Cilicia was one of the most important regions of the classical world and can be considered as the birthplace of Christianity.


title: Cilicia

text: In the 7th century Cilicia was invaded by the Muslim Arabs. The area was for some time an embattled no-man's land. The Arabs succeeded in conquering the area in the early 8th century. Under the Abbasid Caliphate, Cilicia was resettled and transformed into a fortified frontier zone ("thughur"). Tarsus, re-built in 787/788, quickly became the largest settlement in the region and the Arabs' most important base in their raids across the Taurus Mountains into Byzantine-held Anatolia. The Muslims held the country until it was reoccupied by the Emperor Nicephorus II in 965. From this period onward, the area increasingly came to be settled by Armenians, especially as Imperial rule pushed deeper into the Caucasus over the course of the 11th century.


title: Cilicia

text: During the time of the First Crusade, the area was controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The Seljuk Turkish invasions of Armenia were followed by an exodus of Armenians migrating westward into the Byzantine Empire, and in 1080 Ruben, a relative of the last king of Ani, founded in the heart of the Cilician Taurus a small principality which gradually expanded into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. This Christian state, surrounded by Muslim states hostile to its existence, had a stormy history of about 300 years, giving valuable support to the Crusaders, and trading with the great commercial cities of Italy.


title: Cilicia

text: It prospered for three centuries due to the vast network of fortifications which secured all the major roads as well as the three principal harbours at Ayas, Koŕikos, and Mopsuestia. Through their complex alliances with the Crusader states, the Armenian barons and kings often invited Crusaders to maintain castles in and along the borders of the Kingdom, including Bagras, Trapessac, T‛il Hamtun, Harunia, Selefkia, Amouda, and Sarvandikar.


title: Cilicia

text: Gosdantin (r. 1095 – c. 1100) assisted the Crusaders on their march to Antioch, and was created knight and marquis. Thoros I (r. c. 1100 – 1129), in alliance with the Christian princes of Syria, waged successful wars against the Byzantines and Seljuk Turks. Levon II (Leo the Great (r. 1187–1219)), extended the kingdom beyond Mount Taurus and established the capital at Sis. He assisted the Crusaders, was crowned King by the Archbishop of Mainz, and married one of the Lusignans of the Crusader Kingdom of Cyprus.


title: Cilicia

text: Hetoum I (r. 1226–1270) made an alliance with the Mongols, sending his brother Sempad to the Mongol court in person. The Mongols then assisted with the defence of Cilicia from the Mamluks of Egypt, until the Mongols themselves converted to Islam.


title: Cilicia

text: The Ilkhanate lost cohesion after the death of Abu Sa'id (r. 1316–1335), and thus could not support the Armenian Kingdom in guarding Cilicia. Internal conflicts within the Armenian Kingdom and the devastation caused by the Black Death that arrived in 1348, led nomadic Türkmens to turn their eyes towards unstable Cilicia. In 1352, Ramazan Beg led Turkmens settled south of Çaldağı and founded their first settlement, Camili. Later that year, Ramazan Beg visited Cairo and was assented by the Sultan to establish the new frontier "Turkmen Emirate" in Cilicia.


title: Cilicia

text: When Levon V died (1342), John of Lusignan was crowned king as Gosdantin IV; but he and his successors alienated the native Armenians by attempting to make them conform to the Roman Church, and by giving all posts of honour to Latins, until at last the kingdom, falling prey to internal dissensions, ceded Cilicia Pedias to the Ramadanid-supported Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt in 1375.


title: Cilicia

text: In 1359, Mamluk Sultanate Army marched into Cilicia and took over Adana and Tarsus, two major cities of the plain, leaving few castles to Armenians. In 1375, Mamluks gained the control of the remaining areas of Cilicia, thus ending the three centuries rule of Armenians. Cilicia Pedias became part of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1375.


title: Cilicia

text: The Karamanid Principality, one of the Turkmen Anatolian beyliks emerged after the collapse of the Anatolian Seljuks, took over the rule of Cilicia Thracea.


title: Cilicia

text: In 1516, Selim I incorporated the beylik into the Ottoman Empire after his conquest of the Mamluk state. The beys of Ramadanids held the administration of the Ottoman sanjak of Adana in a hereditary manner until 1608, with the last 92 years as a vassal of the Ottomans.


title: Cilicia

text: Ottomans ended the Ramadanid administration of Adana sanjak in 1608, and ruled it directly from Constantinople then after. The autonomous sanjak was then split from the Aleppo Eyalet and established as a new province under the name of Adana Eyalet. A governor was appointed to administer the province. In late 1832, Eyalet of Egypt Vali Muhammad Ali Pasha invaded Syria, and reached Cilicia. The Convention of Kütahya that was signed on 14 May 1833, ceded Cilicia to the "de facto" independent Egypt. After the Oriental crisis, the Convention of Alexandria that was signed on 27 November 1840, required the return of Cilicia to Ottoman sovereignty. The American Civil War that broke out in 1861 disturbed the cotton flow to Europe and directed European cotton traders to fertile Cilicia. The region became the centre of cotton trade and one of the most economically strong regions of the Empire within decades. In 1869, Adana Eyalet was re-established as Adana Vilayet, after the re-structuring in the Ottoman Administration.


title: Cilicia

text: Thriving regional economy, doubling of Cilician Armenian population due to flee from Hamidian massacres, the end of autocratic Abdulhamid rule with the revolution of 1908, empowered the Armenian community and envisioned an autonomous Cilicia. Enraged supporters of Abdulhamid that organized under Cemiyet-i Muhammediye amidst the countercoup, led to a series of anti-Armenian pogroms in 14–27 April 1909. The Adana massacre resulted in the deaths of roughly 25,000 Armenians, orphaned 3500 children and caused heavy destruction of Christian neighbourhoods in the entire Vilayet.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia section of the Berlin–Baghdad railway were opened in 1912, connecting the region to Middle East. Over the course of Armenian genocide, Ottoman telegraph was received by the Governor to deport the more than 70,000 Armenians of the Adana Vilayet to Syria. Armenians of Zeitun had organized a successful resistance against the Ottoman onslaught. In order to finally subjugate Zeitun, the Ottomans had to resort to treachery by forcing an Armenian delegation from Marash to ask the "Zeituntsi"s to put down their arms. Both the Armenian delegation, and later, the inhabitants of Zeitun, were left with no choice.


title: Cilicia

text: Armistice of Mudros that was signed on 30 October 1918 to end the World War I, ceded the control of Cilicia to France. French Government sent four battalions of the Armenian Legion in December to take over and oversee the repatriation of more than 170,000 Armenians to Cilicia.


title: Cilicia

text: The French forces were spread too thinly in the region and, as they came under withering attacks by Muslim elements both opposed and loyal to Mustafa Kemal Pasha, eventually reversed their policies in the region. A truce arranged on May 28 between the French and the Kemalists, led to the retreat of the French forces south of the Mersin-Osmaniye railroad.


title: Cilicia

text: With the changing political environment and interests, French further reversed their policy: The repatriation was halted, and the French ultimately abandoned all pretensions to Cilicia, which they had originally hoped to attach to their mandate over Syria. Cilicia Peace Treaty was signed on 9 March 1921 between France and Turkish Grand National Assembly. The treaty did not achieve the intended goals and was replaced with the Treaty of Ankara that was signed on 20 October 1921. Based on the terms of the agreement, France recognized the end of the Cilicia War, and French troops together with the remaining Armenian volunteers withdrew from the region in early January 1922.


title: Cilicia

text: The region become part of the Republic of Turkey in 1921 with the signing of the Treaty of Ankara. On 15 April 1923, just before the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Turkish government enacted the "Law of Abandoned Properties" which confiscated properties of Armenians and Greeks who were not present on their property. Cilicia were one of the regions with the most confiscated property, thus muhacirs (en: immigrants) from Balkans and Crete were relocated in the old Armenian and Greek neighbourhoods and villages of the region. All types of properties, lands, houses and workshops were distributed to them. Also during this period, there was a property rush of Muslims from Kayseri and Darende to Cilicia who were granted the ownership of large farms, factories, stores and mansions. Within a decade, Cilicia had a sharp change demographically, socially and economically and lost its diversity by turning into solely Muslim/Turkish.


title: Cilicia

text: The modern Cilicia is split into four administrative provinces: Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay. Each province is governed by the Central Government in Ankara through an appointed Provincial governor. Provinces are then divided into districts governed by the District Governors who are under the provincial governors.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia is heavily populated due to its abundant resources, climate and plain geography. The population of Cilicia as of December 31, 2021 is 6,378,242.


title: Cilicia

text: Hatay is the most rural province of Cilicia and also Hatay is the only province that the rural population is rising and the urban population is declining. The major reason is the mountainous geography of Hatay.


title: Cilicia

text: Significant Christian communities (Antiochian Greek Christians and Armenians) found in Adana, İskenderun, and Mersin.


title: Cilicia

text: Adana Province is the most urbanized province, with most of the population centred in the city of Adana. Mersin Province has a larger rural population than Adana Province, owing to its long and narrow stretch of flat land in between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia is well known for the vast fertile land and highly productive agriculture. The region is also industrialized; Tarsus, Adana and Ceyhan host numerous plants. Mersin and İskenderun seaports provide transportation of goods manufactured in Central, South and Southeast Anatolia. Ceyhan hosts oil, natural gas terminals as well as refineries and shipbuilders.


title: Cilicia

text: The Cilicia plain has some of the most fertile soil in the world in which 3 harvests can be taken each year. The region has the second richest flora in the world and it is the producer of all agricultural products of Turkey except hazelnut and tobacco. Cilicia leads Turkey in soy, peanuts and corn harvest and is a major producer of fruits and vegetables. Half of Turkey's citrus export is from Cilicia. Anamur is the only sub-tropical area of Turkey where bananas, mango, kiwi and other sub-tropical produce can be harvested.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia is the second largest honey producer in Turkey after the Muğla–Aydın region. Samandağ, Yumurtalık, Karataş and Bozyazı are some of the towns in the region where fishing is the major source of income. Gray mullet, red mullet, sea bass, lagos, calamari and gilt-head bream are some of the most popular fish in the region. There are aquaculture farms in Akyatan, Akyağan, Yumurtalık lakes and at Seyhan Reservoir. While not as common as other forms of agriculture, dairy and livestock are also produced throughout the region.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia is one of the first industrialized regions of Turkey. With the improvements in agriculture and the spike of agricultural yield, agriculture-based industries are built in large numbers. Today, the manufacturing industry is mainly concentrated around Tarsus, Adana and Ceyhan. Textile, leather tanning and food processing plants are plentiful. İsdemir is a large steel plant located in İskenderun.


title: Cilicia

text: The petrochemical industry is rapidly developing in the region with the investments around the Ceyhan Oil Terminal. Petroleum refineries are being built in the area. Ceyhan is also expected to host the shipbuilding industry.


title: Cilicia

text: Adana is the commercial centre of the region where many of the public and private institutions have their regional offices. Mersin and Antakya are also home to regional offices of public institutions. Many industry fairs and congresses are held in the region at venues such as the TÜYAP Congress and Exhibition Centre in Adana and the Mersin Congress Centre.


title: Cilicia

text: Mersin Seaport is the third largest seaport in Turkey, after Istanbul and İzmir. There are 45 piers in the port. The total area of the port is 785 square kilometres (194,000 acres), and the capacity is 6,000 ships per year.


title: Cilicia

text: Ceyhan Oil Terminal is a marine transport terminal for the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (the "BTC"), the Kirkuk–Ceyhan Oil Pipeline, the planned Samsun-Ceyhan and the Ceyhan-Red Sea pipelines. Ceyhan will also be a natural gas terminal for a planned pipeline to be constructed parallel to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline, and for a planned extension of the Blue Stream Gas Pipeline from Samsun to Ceyhan.


title: Cilicia

text: Dörtyol Oil Terminal is a marine transport terminal for Batman-Dörtyol oil pipeline which started operating in 1967 to market Batman oil. The pipeline is 511 km long and has an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons.


title: Cilicia

text: While the region has a long coastline, international tourism is not at the level of the neighbouring Antalya Province. There are a small number of hotels between Erdemli and Anamur that attracts tourists. Cilicia tourism is mostly cottage tourism serving the Cilicia locals as well as residents of Kayseri, Gaziantep and surrounding areas. Between Silifke and Mersin, high-rise and low-rise cottages line the coast, leaving almost no vacant land. The coastline from Mersin to Karataş is mostly farmland. This area is zoned for resort tourism and is expected to have a rapid development within the next 20 years. Karataş and Yumurtalık coasts are home to cottages with a bird conservatory between the two areas. Arsuz is a seaside resort that is mostly frequented by Antakya and İskenderun residents.


title: Cilicia

text: Plateaus on the Taurus mountains are cooler escapes for the locals who wants to chill out from hot and humid summers of the lower plains. Gözne and Çamlıyayla (Namrun) in Mersin Province, Tekir, Bürücek and Kızıldağ in Adana Province, Zorkun in Osmaniye Province and Soğukoluk in Hatay Province are the popular high plain resorts of Cilicia which are often crowded in summer. There are a few hotels and camping sites in the Tekir plateau.


title: Cilicia

text: The region is a popular destination for thermal springs. Hamamat Thermal Spring, located on midway from Kırıkhan to Reyhanlı, has a very high sulphur ratio, making it the second in the world after a thermal spring in India. It is the largest spa in the region and attracts many Syrians due to proximity. Haruniye Thermal Spring is located on the banks of the Ceyhan River near Düziçi town and has a serene environment. Thermal springs are a hot spot for people with rheumatism. Kurttepe, Alihocalı and Ilıca mineral springs, all located in Adana Province, are popular for toxic cleansing. Ottoman Palace Thermal Resort & Spa in Antakya is one of Turkey's top resorts for revitalization.


title: Cilicia

text: Lying at a crossroads of three major religions, namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the region is home to numerous landmarks that are important for people of faith. Tarsus is the birthplace of St. Paul, who returned to the city after his conversion. The city was a stronghold of Christians after his death. Ashab-ı Kehf cavern, one of the locations claimed to be the resting place of the legendary Seven Sleepers, holy to Christians and Muslims, is located north of Tarsus. Tarsus was the birthplace of Paul the Apostle.


title: Cilicia

text: Antakya is another destination for the spiritual world, where the followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians. It is the home of Saint Peter, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus. Antioch was called "the cradle of Christianity" as a result of its longevity and the pivotal role that it played in the emergence of both Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity, The Christian New Testament asserts that the name "Christian" first emerged in Antioch. the Church of Saint Peter near Antakya (Antioch) is one of Christianity's oldest churches.


title: Cilicia

text: Kizkalesi (Maiden Castle), a fort on a small island across Kızkalesi township, was built during the early 12th century by Armenian kings of the Rubeniyan dynasty, to defend the city of Korykos (today Kızkalesi).


title: Cilicia

text: Heaven & Hell, situated on a large hill north of Narlıkuyu, consists of the grabens result from assoil of furrings for thousands of years. Natural phenomena of the grabens is named 'Hell & Heaven' because of the exotic effects on people. From an ancient path, 260 meter long mythological giant Typhon's cave can be accessible.


title: Cilicia

text: Yılanlı Kale (Castle of Serpents), an 11th-century crusader castle built on a historical road connecting Taurus mountains to the city of Antakya. Castle has 8 round towers, and there ıs a military guardhouse and a church in the castle. Castle is located 5 km. west of Ceyhan.


title: Cilicia

text: Anazarbus Castle was built in the 3rd century and served as the centre of the ancient metropolis of Anavarza. The city was built on a hill and had a strategic importance, controlling the Cilicia plain. Main castle and the city walls are remains of the city. City wall is 1500m. long and 8-10m. high and there are 4 entrances to the city. Castle is located 80 km. northeast of Adana.


title: Cilicia

text: Şar (Comona), ancient city located in northernmost Cilicia, some 200 km. north of Adana, near Tufanbeyli. It is a historical centre of Hittites. Remaining structures today are, the amphitheatre built during Roman period, ruins of a church from Byzantine and rock works from Hittites.


title: Cilicia

text: Church of St. Peter in Antakya, was converted into a church while it was a cave on the slopes of Habibi Neccar mountain. The church is known as the first Christians' traditional meeting place. The church was declared a "Place of Pilgrimage" for Christians by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and since then a special ceremony is held on the 29 of June of each year.


title: Cilicia

text: St. Simeon Monastery, a 6th-century giant structure built on a desolate hill 18 km south of Antakya. The most striking features of this monastery are its cisterns, its storage compartment, and the walls. It is believed that St. Simeon resided here atop a 20-meter stone column for 45 years.


title: Cilicia

text: Akyatan Lagoon is a large wildlife refuge which acts as a stopover for migratory birds voyaging from Africa to Europe. The wildlife refuge has a area made up of forests, lagoon, marsh, sandy and reedy lands. Akyatan lake is a natural wonder with endemic plants and endangered bird species living in it together with other species of plants and animals. 250 species of birds are observed during a study in 1990. The conservation area is located 30 km south of Adana, near Tuzla.


title: Cilicia

text: Yumurtalık Nature Reserve covers an area of 16,430 hectares within the Seyhan-Ceyhan delta, with its lakes, lagoons and wide collection of plant and animal species. The area is an important location for many species of migrating birds, the number gets higher during the winters when the lakes become a shelter when other lakes further north freeze.


title: Cilicia

text: Aladağlar National Park, located north of Adana, is a huge park of around 55,000 hectares, the summit of Demirkazik at 3756 m is the highest point in the middle Taurus mountain range. There is a huge range of flora and fauna, and visitors may fish in the streams full of trout. Wildlife includes wild goats, bears, lynx and sable. The most common species of plant life is black pine and cluster pine trees, with some cedar dotted between, and fir trees in the northern areas with higher humidity. The Alpine region, from the upper borders of the forest, has pastures with rocky areas and little variety of plant life because of the high altitude and slope.


title: Cilicia

text: Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park located on the west bank of Ceyhan River in Osmaniye Province. The park includes the Karatepe Hittite fortress and an open-air museum.


title: Cilicia

text: Tekköz-Kengerlidüz Nature Reserve, located 30 km north of Dörtyol, is known for having an ecosystem different from the Mediterranean. The main species of trees around Kengerliduz are beech, oak and fir, and around Tekkoz are hornbeam, ash, beach, black pine and silver birch. The main animal species in the area are wild goat, roe deer, bear, hyena, wild cat, wagtail, wolf, jackal and fox.


title: Cilicia

text: Habibi Neccar Dağı Nature Reserve is famous for its cultural as well as natural value, especially for St Pierre Church, which was carved into the rocks. The Charon monument, 200 m north of the church, is huge sculpture of Haron, known as Boatman of Hell in mythology, carved into the rocks. The main species of tree are cluster pine, oaks and sandalwood. The mountain is also home to foxes, rabbits, partridges and stock doves. Nature reserve is 10 km east of Antakya and can be accessible by public transport.


title: Cilicia

text: There are numerous private primary and high schools besides the state schools in the region. Most popular high school in the region is Tarsus American College, founded as a missionary school in 1888 to serve Armenian community and then became a secular school in 1923. Adana Anatolian High School and Adana Science High School most important high schools in the Cilicia. In other cities, Anatolian High School and School for Science are the most popular high schools of the city.


title: Cilicia

text: Çukurova University is a state university founded in 1973 with the union of the faculties of Agriculture and Medicine.. Main campus is in the city of Adana, and the College of Tourism Administration is in Karataş. There is an engineering faculty in Ceyhan, and vocational schools in Kozan, Karaisalı, Pozantı and Yumurtalık. The university is one of the well-developed universities of Turkey with many cultural, social and athletic facilities, currently enrolls 40,000 students.


title: Cilicia

text: Mersin University is a state university founded in 1992, and currently serving with 11 faculties, 6 colleges and 9 vocational schools. The university employs more than 2100 academicians and enrolls 26,980 students. Main campus is in the city of Mersin. In Tarsus, there is Faculty of Technical Education and Applied Technology and Management College. In Silifke and Erdemli, university has colleges and vocational schools. There are also vocational schools in Anamur, Aydıncık, Gülnar, and Mut.


title: Cilicia

text: Mustafa Kemal University is a state university located in Hatay Province. University was founded in 1992, currently has 9 faculties, 4 colleges and 7 vocational schools. Main campus is in Antakya and Faculty of Engineering is in İskenderun. The university employs 708 academicians and 14,439 students as of 2007.


title: Cilicia

text: Korkut Ata University was founded in 2007 as a state university with the union of colleges and vocational schools in Osmaniye Province and began enrollment in 2009. The university has 3 faculties and a vocational school at the main campus in the city of Osmaniye and vocational schools in Kadirli, Bahçe, Düziçi and Erzin. University employs 107 academicians and enrolled 4000 students in 2009.


title: Cilicia

text: Adana Science and Technology University is a recently founded state university that is planned to have ten faculties, two institutions and a college. It will accommodate 1,700 academic, 470 administrative staff, and it is expected to enroll students by 2012.


title: Cilicia

text: Çağ University is a not-for-profit tuition based university founded in 1997. It is located on midway from Adana to Tarsus. University holds around 2500 students, most of them commuting from Adana, Tarsus and Mersin.


title: Cilicia

text: Toros University is a not-for-profit tuition based university located in Mersin. The university started enrolling students in 2010.


title: Cilicia

text: Football is the most popular sport in Cilicia, professionally represented at all levels of the Football in Turkey.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia has a well-developed transportation system with two airports, two major seaports, motorways and railway lines on the historical route connecting Europe to Middle East.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia is served by two airports. Adana Şakirpaşa Airport is an international airport that have flights to European destinations. There are daily domestic flights to Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Antalya and Trabzon. Adana Şakirpaşa Airport serves the provinces of Mersin, Adana and Osmaniye.


title: Cilicia

text: Hatay Airport, opened in 2007, is a domestic airport, and currently has flights to Istanbul, Ankara and Nicosia, TRNC. Hatay Airport mostly serves Hatay Province.


title: Cilicia

text: Another under construction airport is Çukurova Regional Airport, According to the newspaper Hürriyet, the project's cost will be 357 million Euro. When finished, it will serve to 15 million people, and the capacity will be doubled in the future.


title: Cilicia

text: There are daily seabus and vehicle-passenger ferry services from Taşucu to Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus. From Mersin port, there are ferry services to Famagusta.


title: Cilicia

text: The O50 - O59 motorways crosses Cilicia. Motorways of Cilicia extends to Niğde on the north, Erdemli on the west and Şanlıurfa on the east, and İskenderun on the south. State road D-400 connects Cilicia to Antalya on the west. Adana–Kozan, Adana–Karataş, İskenderun–Antakya–Aleppo double roads are other regional roads.


title: Cilicia

text: Parallel to the highway network in Cilicia, there is an extensive railway network. Adana-Mersin train runs as a commuter train between Mersin, Tarsus and Adana. There are also regional trains from Adana to Ceyhan, Osmaniye and İskenderun.


title: Cilicia

text: Cilicia was one of the most important regions for the Ottoman Armenians because it managed very well to preserve Armenian character throughout the years. In fact, the Cilician highlands were densely populated by Armenian peasants in small but prosperous towns and villages such as Hadjin and Zeitun, two mountainous areas where autonomy was maintained until the 19th century. In ports and cities of the Adana plain, commerce and industry were almost entirely in the hands of the Armenians and they remained so thanks to a constant influx of Armenians from the highlands. Their population was continuously increasing in numbers in Cilicia in contrast to other parts of the Ottoman Empire, where it was, since 1878, decreasing due to repression.


title: Cilicia

text: Greek mythology mentions another Cilicia, as a small region situated immediately southeast of the Troad in northwestern Anatolia, facing the Gulf of Adramyttium. The connection (if any) between this Cilicia and the better-known and well-defined region mentioned above is unclear. This Trojan Cilicia is mentioned in Homer's "Iliad" and Strabo's "Geography", and contained localities such as Thebe, Lyrnessus and Chryse (home to Chryses and Chryseis). These three cities were all attacked and sacked by Achilles during the Trojan War.


title: Cilicia

text: In "Prometheus Bound" (v 353), Aeschylus mentions the Cilician caves (probably Cennet and Cehennem), where the earth-born, hundred-headed monster Typhon dwelt before he withstood the gods and was stricken and charred by Zeus's thunderbolt.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, a large and extremely violent EF5 tornado ravaged through Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, with peak winds estimated at , killing 24 people (plus two indirect fatalities) and injuring 212 others. The tornado was part of a larger weather system that had produced several other tornadoes across the Great Plains over the previous two days, including five that struck portions of Central Oklahoma the day prior on May 19.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado touched down just northwest of Newcastle at 2:56 p.m. CDT (19:46 UTC), and stayed on the ground for 39 minutes over a path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. The tornado was wide at its peak. It followed a roughly similar track to the deadlier 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado, which was smaller in size but just as severe; however, very few homes and neither of the stricken schools in the area had purpose-built storm shelters in the intervening years since the earlier tornado struck Moore.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: On May 20, 2013, a prominent central upper trough moved eastward toward the Central United States, with a lead upper low pivoting over the Dakotas and Upper Midwest region. A Southern stream shortwave trough and a moderately strong polar jet moved east-northeastward over the southern Rockies to the southern Great Plains and Ozarks area, with severe thunderstorms forming during the peak hours of heating. With the influence of moderately strong cyclonic flow aloft, the air mass was expected to become unstable across much of the southern Great Plains, Ozarks, and middle Mississippi Valley by the afternoon hours.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Evidence of an unstable air mass included temperatures in the low to mid 80s °F (27–30 °C), dewpoints that ranged in the upper 60s °F (20 °C) to the lower 70s °F (20–22 °C), and CAPE values ranging from 3500 to 5000 J/kg. Deep-layer wind shear speeds of enhanced storm structure and intensity. These were present ahead of a cold front extending from a surface low in the eastern Dakotas, southwestward to near the Kansas City area and western Oklahoma, and ahead of a dry line extending from southwest Oklahoma southward into northwestern and west-central Texas. Outflow remnants from the previous night and the early day convection across the Ozarks and the middle Mississippi Valley were a factor in severe weather development with the most aggressive heating and destabilization on the western edge of this activity across the southern Great Plains and just ahead of a cold front. The National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma had warned as early as May 15 that there would be a possibility of severe weather on May 20.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The most intense severe weather activity was expected to come across the southern Great Plains, specifically Central Oklahoma, during the afternoon hours on that Monday. As such, the Storm Prediction Center issued a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms during the early morning hours of May 20 from southeastern Missouri to north-central Texas. The degree of wind shear, moisture, and instability within the warm sector favored the development of supercells. Very large hail and tornadoes were both expected with these supercells, with the possibility of a few strong tornadoes. The Storm Prediction Center issued a tornado watch at 1:10 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) early that afternoon for the eastern two-thirds of Oklahoma, northwestern Arkansas, and portions of north-central Texas. Given the atmospheric parameters thought to be in place at the time, the Storm Prediction Center inadvertently underestimated the threat of tornadic activity that afternoon; the probability table for the tornado watch – the 191st severe weather watch issued by the guidance center in 2013 – indicated a 40% (or "moderate") probability of two or more tornadoes and a 20% (or "low") probability of one or more tornadoes reaching between EF2 and EF5 intensity within the watch area.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The thunderstorm that eventually produced the tornado developed less than one hour after the tornado watch was issued, around 2:00 p.m. CDT, across northern Grady County. Its rapid intensification resulted in the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Norman issuing a severe thunderstorm warning for northern Grady, northwestern Cleveland, northern McClain, and southwestern Oklahoma Counties (including southwestern portions of the immediate Oklahoma City area) at 2:12 p.m. CDT. The thunderstorm quickly attained supercell characteristics, with rotation at the mid-levels of the storm's cloud structure becoming apparent even before it was officially classified as severe, due to the sufficient amounts of wind shear present over central Oklahoma.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Due to the expected intensity of the storms, which were expected to be equal – if not, stronger – in severity to the supercells that produced the five tornadoes in the expected area of greatest tornadic threat the day prior, three of the Oklahoma City market's five television news outlets − NBC affiliate KFOR-TV (channel 4), ABC affiliate KOCO-TV (channel 5) and CBS affiliate KWTV (channel 9) − suspended normal programming and went into wall-to-wall weather coverage immediately after the tornado watch went into effect (Fox affiliate KOKH-TV (channel 25) and Telemundo affiliate KTUZ-TV (channel 30) began their coverage as the first severe thunderstorms erupted southwest of the state capital), and subsequently began relaying their audio feeds to radio stations throughout central Oklahoma. As the forecast suggested that the most significant severe weather would occur in the mid-afternoon, around the time classes concluded for the day, many worried parents began arriving at schools throughout Moore and south Oklahoma City to pick up their children in advance of the storm. At 2:40 p.m. CDT, as rotation in the supercell was increasing at the cloud base, a tornado warning was issued for far northeastern Grady, western Cleveland, northern McClain, and southern Oklahoma Counties, as the storm approached the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. CDT in northwestern McClain County, near Long Drive and the southwest corner of the North Country Club Road and Northwest 32nd Street intersection, roughly northwest of downtown Newcastle. Initially a narrow cone-shaped tornado, it first caused EF1 damage to a home and some trees before rapidly intensifying and striking a semi-rural subdivision on the north side of Northwest 32nd, where several homes were destroyed, two of which were leveled at EF4 intensity. At this point, the tornado began to grow rapidly in size, evolving into a large, wedge-shaped structure. Slight ground scouring began in this area, and several homes in a subdivision further to the northeast sustained EF3 damage. By 3:01 p.m. CDT, the National Weather Service issued a second, more strongly worded warning for the area: in a severe weather statement updating the existing tornado warning, the Norman forecast office declared a tornado emergency for southern Oklahoma City and Moore as various storm spotters confirmed that the large, violent tornado was approaching the area. The Twin Lakes dual-polarization NEXRAD radar (near Lake Stanley Draper) detected a tornado debris signature one mile in diameter within the accompanying hook echo, as the tornado crossed into portions of south Oklahoma City in northern Cleveland County. The supercell also produced straight-line winds of for at least one mile surrounding the tornadic circulation.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado maintained EF3 intensity as it crossed the Canadian River into Cleveland County, and a decommissioned U.S. 62/U.S. 277 bridge was severely damaged; this bridge had to be demolished after the tornado ripped part of it from its mount and tossed it across Interstate 44. The tornado then continued directly toward south Oklahoma City and Moore, roughly following Southwest 149th Street. At that point, it began to grow rapidly in width, and a second brief area of EF4 damage was noted near South May Avenue, where several homes were leveled, and one was swept clean from its foundation (this home was determined to have been nailed, rather than bolted to its foundation). A vehicle frame, engine block, and various other vehicle parts were found tangled within a grove of completely debarked trees in this area. As the tornado began to cross into south Oklahoma City, a traffic jam had occurred for a stretch of several miles along Santa Fe Avenue, as residents attempted to either escape from or pick up their children at schools located near the tornado's path. As the station's news helicopter was capturing live video of the tornado, then-KWTV chief meteorologist Gary England − upon seeing footage of the backup that was being relayed by pilot Jim Gardner − urged drivers caught in the jam that may have been listening to the station's audio simulcast on area radio outlets to use nearby streets to detour out of the tornado's expected track. The tornado weakened briefly to an EF3 before re-intensifying to EF4 intensity near Forman Drive, flattening several homes as it moved through mostly rural areas south of Southwest 149th Street. As the tornado struck an oil production site, four oil tanks were blown away, one of which was never found. The others were thrown considerable distances; one was found a mile away.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado maintained its intensity as it struck the Orr Family Farm and the Celestial Acres horse training area, where up to 100 horses were reported killed, some being tossed into and tangled in downed power lines or thrown on top of nearby buildings; several horses that survived the tornado suffered severe injuries, with some being impaled by tree limbs or boards. Every building at Celestial Acres was either leveled or swept away at EF4 intensity, the ground on the property was scoured to bare soil, debris from structures was granulated, and vehicles were thrown and stripped down to their frames. Surveyors noted that based on the contextual damage, the tornado was likely at EF5 intensity in this area, though the construction quality of the affected buildings only permitted an EF4 rating. A 10-ton propane tank on the Orr Farm property was picked up and thrown more than a half-mile through the air by the tornado, and a strip mall near the farm was completely leveled as well. The tornado continued east, heavily scouring an open grassy field before slamming into Briarwood Elementary School, which was completely destroyed. The NWS originally rated this damage EF5, but further evaluation and a 2014 study published by the American Meteorological Society revealed evidence of poor construction at the school, and the rating was downgraded to EF4. Remarkably, no fatalities occurred at the school. Two 12,000-gallon water tanks that were also swept off of the Orr Family Farm grounds were thrown into this area; the roof of Briarwood Elementary was struck by one of them − potentially aiding in compromising the building's structural integrity as it bent the steel girders that held up the roof − shortly before the main vortex struck the building, while the other fell onto and destroyed a home a few blocks east of the school. Past Briarwood Elementary, the tornado intensified even further and entered densely populated areas of western Moore, including the Westmoor subdivision where many well-built, anchor-bolted brick homes were flattened at EF4 intensity, and two were swept clean from their foundations, with damage at those two homes rated EF5.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado continued generally northeast at EF4 strength, completely debarking trees and leveling entire neighborhoods. Many homes were flattened in neighborhoods to the east of South Santa Fe Avenue. One anchor-bolted home that was reduced to a bare slab in this area was initially rated EF5, but was later downgraded to EF4 as closer inspection of the foundation revealed that the anchor bolts were missing their nuts and washers. The tornado then destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School at EF4 intensity, where seven children were killed when a cinder block wall collapsed on top of them. More than a dozen homes in a subdivision just to the south of Plaza Towers Elementary were swept cleanly away, though they were revealed to have been nailed rather than bolted to their foundations, and damage to this subdivision was subsequently rated EF4, though the tornado was likely extremely violent as lawns in this area were completely scoured down to bare soil. Entire blocks of homes were flattened, trees were completely debarked and denuded, vehicles were thrown and mangled, and the ground was severely scoured in other residential areas nearby, with the damage also rated EF4 in these areas. Most of the fatalities from the tornado occurred in the Plaza Towers neighborhood of Moore. In one of these houses (a block away from Plaza Towers Elementary), a woman was killed as she tried to seek shelter in a closet.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Further to the northeast, at least a dozen cars were piled up against the front entrance of the Moore Medical Center, which sustained EF4 damage. One car was lofted and thrown onto the roof. Many homes in neighborhoods near the medical center were completely destroyed, including a row of four well-built brick homes with anchor bolts that were swept away, with damage to those four homes rated EF5. An open field directly behind this row of homes was deeply scoured, with only bare soil and clumps of dirt remaining. A nearby manhole cover was removed, and multiple vehicles were mangled beyond recognition and caked in mud in this area as well. The nearby Warren Theater was spared a direct hit, but still sustained considerable damage to its exterior. A bowling alley in the area was leveled, and a 7-Eleven which was on the northern part of the damage path, was completely flattened with four people killed inside (including a three-month-old infant). The nearby Moore Cemetery was heavily damaged as well.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado briefly weakened and caused EF3 damage to some other businesses near Interstate 35, before crossing and mangling several vehicles in the process. The tornado regained EF4 intensity on the other side of the Interstate as it tore through several neighborhoods and destroyed numerous additional homes (though the EF4 damage swath was narrower at this point). A large grassy field between two subdivisions in this area was scoured to bare soil, with wind-rowed structural debris and several mangled vehicles strewn to the east. One brick home on Hunters Glen Court sustained EF5 damage, with only the slab foundation and anchor bolts remaining. Very little structural debris or house contents was recovered from that residence, and the small amount of debris that remained was wind-rowed well away from the site. Two vehicles were also lofted from the residence, one of which was thrown over .


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The tornado continued through Moore's eastern neighborhoods. Highland East Jr. High's main building was spared, but the separate gymnasium building was completely destroyed, and a set of lockers from the structure was lofted and thrown a considerable distance into a nearby neighborhood. The Moore Public Schools administration building, a converted former hospital located a few blocks to the east, was also struck and destroyed. The tornado was noticeably narrower at this point, but was still causing a continuous swath of EF4 damage to numerous homes as it moved through multiple subdivisions. A well-built, anchor-bolted home at the corner of Heatherwood Drive and Southeast 5th Street was reduced to a bare slab, sustaining EF5 damage. A large, well-bolted-down home at the end of a private drive near South Olde Bridge Road was also swept cleanly away at EF5 intensity. Debris was scattered well away from the site, a vehicle was thrown over 100 yards, and wind-rowing was again noted at that location.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Further east, the tornado weakened to EF3 strength and exited the most populated parts of Moore, destroying six industrial buildings and damaging two others. A final small area of EF4 damage was noted nearby as two homes and a concrete building were leveled. The tornado then began to rapidly narrow and weaken, snapping and uprooting several trees and causing EF2 damage to a farm just east of Moore, where the house lost its roof and an outbuilding was destroyed. A pickup truck slid away from the farm into a field while remaining upright. The violent updrafts in the supercell that produced the tornado lofted debris from homes and other buildings in Moore at least outside of the tornado's outer circulation, with reports of various objects and personal possessions being found as far away as Midwest City. At 3:35 p.m. CDT, the tornado dissipated at a nearby tree line about one-third of a mile east of Air Depot Boulevard.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management reported that 25 people were killed (with another death indirectly attributed to the tornado). An estimated 1,150 homes were destroyed, resulting in an estimated $2 billion in damages. The number of injured was 377. Entire subdivisions were obliterated, and houses were flattened in a large swath of the city. The majority of a neighborhood just west of the Moore Medical Center was destroyed. Witnesses said the tornado more closely resembled "a giant black wall of destruction" than a typical twister.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Among the hardest hit areas were two public schools: Briarwood Elementary School and Plaza Towers Elementary School. A preliminary study of Briarwood Elementary School conducted in September 2013 by a group of structural engineers found some structural deficiencies that led to its collapse during the tornado. Chris Ramseyer, a structural engineer and an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma determined that the building's walls that were not reinforced with concrete, there had been a lack of connection between the masonry walls and support beams in several portions of the building, and anchor bolts were pulled from the ground by the tornado. Another engineer that was involved in the study stated that the deficiencies that Ramseyer pointed out were not uncommon building practices at the time, and that current building code standards would not ensure that Briarwood would have withstood winds in excess of 200 mph.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: At Plaza Towers, the second school to be hit, parents had been allowed to collect their children early in preparation for the oncoming storm. Therefore, by the time the tornado struck only about 75 students and teachers were in the building. Many students and teachers took shelter in bathrooms and closets, but in a newer addition to the building which housed the school's second and third grade classrooms, seven fatalities occurred. Third grade teacher Jennifer Doan was taking shelter with eleven of her students in a hallway when the tornado struck. Doan and her students were trapped when the walls of the corridor collapsed on top of them. Doan, who was two months pregnant with her third child at the time, suffered severe injuries to her back, but did not lose the baby. She and five of her students were pulled out, with the children suffering only minor to moderate injuries. Another six of her students along with a student from another third grade class died.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The Moore Medical Center was heavily damaged, but no one present in the building was injured by the tornado. The center's staff had to relocate 30 patients to a hospital in Norman and another hospital. Part of Interstate 35 was shut down due to debris that had been thrown onto the freeway. On May 21, Moore still did not have running water. There were more than 61,500 power outages related to the tornado. More than 100 people were rescued from areas that sustained significant damage from the tornado.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The Oklahoma Department of Insurance estimated that insurance claims for damage would likely be more than $1 billion. Some meteorologists estimated that the energy released by the storm could have been eight to more than 600 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: In addition to erroneous reports concerning the status of Briarwood and Plaza Towers students, various reports regarding fatality and injury counts as well as persons unaccounted for were circulated by traditional and social media outlets in the immediate hours after the tornado struck, which could not immediately be confirmed or refuted due to communications disruptions in the affected areas or were the result of incorrect counting due to miscommunication of estimates. Within the first two days, it was reported that between 237 and 240 people had been injured, with the tally later increasing to over 350. The final count of injuries was later adjusted downward to 212.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: On the morning of May 21, the medical examiner's office incorrectly stated that 91 bodies of tornado victims had been received. This number was up from the earlier report of 51 bodies that were incorrectly stated as having been received. Upon the office's discovery that some victims were mistakenly counted twice due to communication errors made by Moore rescue response units that the bodies were admitted to area funeral homes (nearly all of the deceased were actually transported to the examiner's office in Oklahoma City), the actual number was revised downward and later confirmed at 24 tornado victims and two indirect victims. The first two deaths occurred in a house east of Briarwood Elementary School; one occurred near Santa Fe Avenue; seven occurred following a wall collapse at Plaza Towers Elementary; nine occurred within the neighborhoods mainly south of Plaza Towers Elementary; one occurred just east of Interstate 35; and one occurred in a home between Eastern Avenue and Bryant Avenue. A 90-year-old woman who suffered a fractured skull during the tornado later suffered a pair of strokes and died on August 5. On May 6, 2018, nearly five years after the tornado, a 14-year-old survivor who suffered posttraumatic stress disorder after losing seven of his friends at Plaza Towers Elementary School committed suicide. The 2013 Moore tornado was the deadliest tornado recorded in the U.S. since the Joplin, Missouri tornado that killed 158 people in May 2011.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Patients were taken to Integris Southwest Medical Center and The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Over 140 patients, including at least 70 children, were treated at hospitals.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency on May 20. She held her first post-tornado news conference at noon on May 21. The Federal Emergency Management Agency deployed urban search and rescue teams to the tornado-hit areas, and provided incident command personnel to organize and support rescue efforts. The Oklahoma National Guard was also deployed. Governor Mary Fallin requested assistance from then-President Barack Obama who declared a major disaster in the state and ordered federal aid to the affected areas. Governor Fallin quickly dismissed an idea to make a law that would require all schools in Oklahoma to have a shelter that would protect children during severe weather (prior to the tornado, only two of the twelve schools in the Moore Public Schools district had storm shelters, Kelley Elementary and Westmoore High School, which were rebuilt with concrete safe rooms after both were destroyed in the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado).


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie Counties received federal funding for hazard mitigation measure statewide. Obama visited the disaster-stricken areas on May 26.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The third season finale of the sitcom "Mike & Molly", titled "Windy City", was pulled by CBS from its original May 20 airdate within hours of the event due to the episode featuring a plotline involving a tornado descending on Chicago; the network later rescheduled the episode to air ten days later on May 30, 2013.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: At noon on May 21, the U.S. Senate held a moment of silence for the victims. Delegates from several countries and Pope Francis offered condolences, and the United Nations offered assistance in the recovery efforts. The Canadian Red Cross began accepting donations of money and supplies for their American counterparts, to assist with disaster relief and recovery.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The United Methodist Committee on Relief, Direct Relief, Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Continental Resources, Devon Energy, ONEOK, Koch Industries, Hobby Lobby, and Carrie Underwood all pledged donations to the relief efforts.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis stated that he would attempt to get an ordinance passed requiring storm shelters or safe rooms in new housing projects.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: On May 29, 2013, NBC aired "Healing in the Heartland: Relief Benefit Concert", a fundraising concert that was held at Chesapeake Energy Arena in downtown Oklahoma City. The benefit was hosted by country singer and Oklahoma native Blake Shelton and featured performances from Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Usher, Darius Rucker and Luke Bryan. The concert raised more than $6 million for the United Way of Central Oklahoma.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: On June 2, 2013, Discovery Channel aired an hour-long documentary about the storm titled "Mile-Wide Tornado: Oklahoma Disaster". The documentary provides a comprehensive look at the tornado's impact and drew comparisons of the storm to the 1999 Bridge Creek-Moore tornado.


title: 2013 Moore tornado

text: The Moore City Council proposed a measure making twelve changes to its residential building codes, include requiring that new home construction in the city include hurricane clips or framing anchors, continuous plywood bracing and wind-resistant garage doors in order for homes to withstand winds up to 135 mph (equivalent to a high-end EF2 tornado). When the measure was passed in a unanimous vote held on March 17, 2014, Moore became the first city in the United States to adopt a building code addressing the effects of tornadoes on homes, which exceed the national standards set by the National Association of Home Builders.


title: Sinestro

text: Thaal Sinestro () (or simply Sinestro) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, particularly those featuring Green Lantern. Sinestro is a former Green Lantern Corps member who was dishonorably discharged for abusing his power. He is the archnemesis of Hal Jordan and founder of the Sinestro Corps.


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro has appeared in various forms of non-comics media including shows, films, and video games, and he made his live-action debut in the 2011 film "Green Lantern", played by Mark Strong.


title: Sinestro

text: The character was created by John Broome and Gil Kane, and first appeared in "Green Lantern" (vol. 2) #7 (August 1961).


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro is born on the planet Korugar in space sector 1417. His dedication to preserving order originally manifests in his previous career, an anthropologist specializing in reconstructions of ruins of long-dead civilizations. One day, a Green Lantern named Prohl Gosgotha crash-lands near him, injured and apparently dying. Prohl gives his ring to Sinestro, who barely understands what to do with it. He uses it to defend himself from the Lantern's pursuer: a Weaponer of Qward. In the end, Sinestro has to destroy the ruins he was restoring to crush the Qwardian. Afterwards, Gosgotha turns out to still be alive and asks for his ring back to keep him alive long enough to get help. Knowing this would mean to stop being a Green Lantern, Sinestro lets him die and takes over his post. The Guardians are unaware of his actions.


title: Sinestro

text: In "Green Lantern" #45, his wife is shown for the first time in a flashback and revealed to be the sister of Abin Sur.


title: Sinestro

text: When Hal Jordan joins the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro is assigned to be his instructor. Jordan is horrified at his new mentor's totalitarian methods, though Sinestro maintains that his iron-fisted rule is necessary to protect the people from alien forces. During his training, Jordan helps Sinestro repel an attempted invasion of Korugar by the alien warlords known as the Khunds. When Jordan calls for help from the other Green Lanterns, Sinestro's dictatorship is exposed and he is forced to appear before the Guardians for punishment. Katma Tui, the leader of a Korugarian resistance movement who feels that Sinestro's "protection" keeps her people from growing as a society through contact with other alien races, is recruited as his replacement in the Corps. Katma Tui eventually grows into one of the most respected Green Lanterns, but she and the rest of Korugar initially resists her appointment to the Corps. Due to Sinestro's actions, Korugar has come to consider the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps an emblem of terror and oppression.


title: Sinestro

text: For using the power of the Green Lantern to instill fear rather than combat it, the Guardians banish Sinestro to the antimatter universe, a counterpart to the "real" universe made up of "negative matter". Sinestro ends up on the antimatter world of Qward, that universe's counterpart of the Guardians' homeworld Oa, which is ruled by the Weaponers of Qward, a race of warriors and scientists that bare a fierce hatred of the Guardians and all Green Lanterns. By exiling Sinestro to a world ruled by evil beings who specifically hate Green Lanterns, the Guardians hope to humble him. However, their attempt at punishment will be a major miscalculation. Sinestro believes himself to have been wronged by his former masters and now hates them just as much as the Weaponers do. Through their mutual hatred of the Guardians, Sinestro and the Weaponers become allies, with the Weaponers offering to help Sinestro gain his revenge.


title: Sinestro

text: Creating a yellow power ring for Sinestro to use, the Weaponers send him back to the "positive matter" universe to seek revenge. Sinestro quickly becomes the Green Lantern Corps' most powerful nemesis, partially due to a weakness in their power rings that prevent them from directly affecting the color yellow. Despite this, skilled Green Lanterns like Jordan, Sinestro's most hated enemy, always find ways to defeat him.


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro first meets Hal after already making an alliance with Qward. Hal had already beaten the Weaponers three times. Sinestro tries to kidnap him using a device which can transport people to Qward and is able to imprison him in a yellow bubble by threatening to kill 100,000 people. Hal uses his ring to speed up a clock, making Sinestro think his ring ran out of power. After releasing Hal from the bubble to eliminate him, Sinestro is defeated and imprisoned in a green bubble by Hal, who does not take him back to his universe as it would go against the jurisdiction of the Guardians. Using a ring that can drain the Green Lantern's ring-power, Sinestro escapes and continues to menace Hal. He tries to attack the Guardians after trapping Hal, before disguising himself as Hal so he can occupy a meeting of Green Lanterns and absorb power from their rings by casting an illusion of a monster so that they would use their rings. However, Jordan escapes and defeats Sinestro on Oa, who is placed in a green energy container which orbits the Universe by the power of many Green Lanterns. He escapes with a power ring hidden in his boot.


title: Sinestro

text: Before the Guardians take a leave of absence from their universe to attempt mating with their female counterparts, the Zamarons, they construct an inescapable prison for Sinestro and thousands of others on Oa. Sinestro manages to free himself through the mental manipulation of the Mad God of Sector 3600. Wielding nearly unlimited power, Sinestro murders entire star systems until he is finally subdued by the Green Lantern Corps of Earth. Guilty of multiple acts of genocide, Sinestro is put on trial again by the assembled membership of the Green Lantern Corps. Finding him guilty, they condemn him to death and execute him. Sinestro manages to cheat death by sending his essence into the Central Power Battery and shutting it down. While in the Battery, he also makes a startling discovery about the ancient weakness to yellow within the Green Lanterns' light.


title: Sinestro

text: Hal Jordan enters the Battery in a desperate attempt to restore the powers of his fellow Lanterns and ultimately defeats Sinestro, whose spirit is condemned to remain trapped inside the Central Battery, powerless, for eternity. Yet Sinestro earns an even greater personal victory as the so-called "yellow impurity" turns out to be a sentient entity known as Parallax, the living embodiment of fear. He also discovers the battery's power source is Parallax's green counterpart, Ion, the embodiment of willpower. Thanks to Sinestro's actions, Parallax successfully infects Jordan's mind, leaving the so-called "greatest Green Lantern" vulnerable to fear for the first time in his life and setting up Sinestro's ultimate triumph.


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro's original yellow ring is stolen by Guy Gardner from Oa's "Crypt of the Green Lantern Corps". During the encounter, Sinestro possesses John Stewart to confront Guy, but his spirit is not strong enough to defeat Gardner's willpower.


title: Sinestro

text: As the yellow ring only "speaks" Sinestro's native language, Guy was unable to communicate with it, which seems to understand him to a degree.


title: Sinestro

text: Guy only wears the yellow ring for a short time before Hal Jordan, possessed by Parallax, destroys it.


title: Sinestro

text: In the meantime, the return of the Guardians result in the Corps being re-established. The newly restored Corps is short-lived, thanks to the inadvertent efforts of the alien warlord Mongul and Hank Henshaw, a cyborg who is at the time impersonating Superman. As part of their ultimately thwarted plot to transform Earth into a new version of Mongul's interstellar fortress Warworld and gain revenge on Superman, Mongul and the Cyborg use several nuclear devices to destroy Coast City, California, which is Hal Jordan's home, and everyone living in it. Driven mad with grief by the destruction of his city and the Guardians' apathy towards his plight, Jordan's previously indomitable willpower is shattered. Parallax is thus able to possess him completely and push him towards a homicidal rampage that wipes out most of the Guardians and leaves scores of Green Lanterns dead or maimed, as Parallax seeks to absorb the Central Power Battery's energies into his being.


title: Sinestro

text: As a last-ditch effort to halt Jordan's rampage, the Guardians free Sinestro from the Central Power Battery and send him to stop Jordan. After a battle, Jordan snaps Sinestro's neck, apparently killing him. It is later revealed that what the Guardians actually extracted from the Battery was a hard-light construct of Sinestro, created by Parallax and mentally puppeteered by the real Sinestro from within the Battery. Parallax then bonds to Jordan, who takes the entity's name for himself, and promptly finishes off the Green Lantern Corps by absorbing the Central Battery's energies into himself. With the Battery destroyed, Sinestro escapes and goes into hiding as he watches Jordan become what he always hated Sinestro for being: a traitor and a murderer reviled by his friends and his allies. When the last surviving Guardian, Ganthet, gives the last remaining power ring to Kyle Rayner, Sinestro becomes obsessed with the young Earthman, realizing that despite Jordan's downfall, his plot to extinguish the Green Lanterns' light failed.


title: Sinestro

text: During the period when he is believed to be dead, Sinestro has two indirect encounters with other heroes. Wonder Woman faces a duplicate of Sinestro created by an artificial intelligence based on the dead son of its creator. The A.I. created the duplicate Sinestro after watching videos of his old battles, believing that he is just playing a computer game, and unaware of the real-world damage that he is causing. Although he lacks Sinestro's tactical genius, the unrestrained use of his power destroys a bridge and a building, nearly suffocating Wonder Woman before he is defeated by the hero Champion (really a disguised Hercules).


title: Sinestro

text: On another occasion, Kyle Rayner is accidentally sent approximately a decade into the past, where he witnesses a battle between Hal and Sinestro. Although he initially distracts Hal at a crucial moment, Kyle's ring's immunity to yellow proves vital in preventing Sinestro from executing the Guardians of the Universe. Kyle and Hal subsequently sabotage his attempt to crash a planetoid into Oa by switching rings. Hal allows Sinestro to throw him away before using Kyle's ring to destroy the villain's equipment. Kyle keeps Sinestro occupied, using Hal's ring to protect him from mortal injury. However, after Sinestro's actions result in Hal unintentionally traveling to Kyle's future, this encounter is apparently erased from history when Hal, Kyle, and a Parallax-possessed older Hal Jordan (who detected his younger self's displacement and intervenes to try and send him home) work together to send Hal and Parallax back to their proper place in time to ensure that a Hal Jordan is present with powers to defeat the Sun-Eater, Hal returning to his own time just before Kyle's arrival changes history and defeating Sinestro on his own.


title: Sinestro

text: Later, Hal Jordan's Spectre also clashes with the ghost of Sinestro, who traps him in a dream where he never becomes a Green Lantern. Upon his defeat, Sinestro is given the chance to choose his fate. He chooses Hell, and is dragged into the Underworld. In retrospect, it is assumed that this version of Sinestro is another hard light construct created by Parallax at Sinestro's behest, as the fear entity is still bonded to Jordan's soul during his time as the Spectre, continuously breaking his will.


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro eventually reveals the charade of his 'death' when Kyle Rayner discovers the existence of Parallax and reveals it to Green Arrow and the Justice League. Nearly killing the two heroes, Sinestro is stopped by the newly resurrected Hal Jordan, who reclaims his ring and is purged of Parallax's influence. The two fight to a draw, with Sinestro escaping to the antimatter universe when his ring is damaged by Hal.


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro later appears in the mini-series "Villains United", in which he captures Lady Quark for the Secret Society of Super Villains, a group of which Sinestro previously was a member. Here, he plays a major role in the Society's massacre of the Freedom Fighters, who are investigating the meeting place of other villains, but walk into an ambush. Sinestro begins the fight by blowing a hole through the chest of the second Black Condor, killing him instantly. He then defeats Uncle Sam, leaving him for dead.


title: Sinestro

text: After the Battle of Metropolis, Sinestro retreats to the antimatter universe. He makes a pact with the Anti-Monitor and embraces the doctrine of spreading fear. The Green Lantern Corps is once again reformed with the return of Hal Jordan so Sinestro decides to found the Sinestro Corps, offering yellow power rings to the most feared and savage warriors of the universe. He is also revealed to have masterminded the death of Kyle Rayner's mother by having the sentient virus Despotellis invade her as part of a plot to break Kyle's will so that he can become Parallax's latest host.


title: Sinestro

text: The Sinestro Corps War begins with an attack on Oa. Sinestro himself returns to Korugar to confront his successor, Soranik Natu. Sinestro defeats her, but makes it appear she has defeated him. This will force her to stay on Korugar to fulfill her responsibilities as "the Savior of Korugar".


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro returns to Qward and joins the battle occurring there. He confronts Earth's Green Lanterns, and upon their escape, follows them toward Earth, the Sinestro Corps' real target. The Sinestro Corps begin attacking Earth. Sinestro reveals to Hal, Guy and John that he intends to turn Earth into the new homeworld for the Sinestro Corps and the site of the new Coast City into a mass graveyard, "A mecca of fear". During the battle, the Guardians enacted new laws to the Book of Oa. The first new law was to give the Green Lanterns the ability to use lethal force. Sinestro claims he has achieved his overall goal because now the Green Lanterns spread fear by being unchecked. Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner beat Sinestro in hand-to-hand combat. Sinestro is then imprisoned in Oa's Sciencells where he learns from Hal Jordan that he has received a death penalty. Despite his personal defeat, Sinestro claims victory. Sinestro's overall goal through his war was to groom his former Corps for a more active, forceful role in the universe. With the enactment of the Corps' new laws and the approval of lethal force, the Green Lantern corps will inspire fear, creating the same effect as the Sinestro Corps: order through fear.


title: Sinestro

text: With the hunt for the members of the Sinestro Corps becoming one of the Green Lantern Corps' highest priorities, many of those who wield yellow power rings have been incarcerated in Oa's Sciencells, with their power rings stored in the large chamber that houses the entire detention facility. Sinestro has been shown to have chewed a very large hole in his finger, and he used his blood to paint the insignia of the Sinestro Corps on his cell window. All Sinestro Corps members followed his example, with the result of thousands of emblems across the cosmic jail. When Sinestro formed his insignia from blood, the power rings stationed on Oa seemed to react violently, threatening to break free of their confines.


title: Sinestro

text: Sinestro is to be executed on his homeworld of Korugar. During the transport, a group of Sinestro Corps members attempt to free him. Atrocitus and his Red Lanterns intervene by attacking both Corps and kidnapping Sinestro. In the midst of the battle, a Blue Lantern named Saint Walker tells Hal Jordan that Sinestro's survival is crucial to stop the Blackest Night. After being taken to Ysmault, he is nailed to a cross to await his execution at the hands of Atrocitus, who wishes to make Sinestro suffer greatly by taking his revenge on everything he has ever cared about. His targets include Korugar and Sinestro's hidden daughter. Sinestro breaks free and goes back to his home world to see to family business.


title: Sinestro

text: After escaping the assault by the Red Lanterns, Sinestro finally reaches his homeworld of Korugar. After rapidly incapacitating Princess Iolande, he confronts Soranik Natu and reveals that she is his daughter. He informs Soranik that his wife took her as a child and left him as he began his rise to power on Korugar. He was eventually able to locate his daughter and give her the mark on her face, his family's coat of arms, along with a micro-transmitter so he could locate her. He visited Soranik throughout her life using his ring to alter his appearance. He even took a picture of her and the Natus at her medical school graduation. Sinestro then says that he is proud of his daughter for succeeding where he could not, namely bringing order to Korugar as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. He then tells her that they must work together to stop the Blackest Night. After leaving Korugar, Sinestro travels to visit the grave of Abin Sur and makes plans to lead an assault on the homeworld of the Star Sapphires.


title: Sinestro

text: When he arrives, he first encounters Carol Ferris. While Sinestro holds no ill will towards Carol and only wishes to free his Corpswomen from Zamaron, he warns Carol that he will hurt her if she stands in his way. Carol then encases Sinestro in a crystal structure, forcing him to relive the death of his love, Arin Sur (Abin Sur's sister). Angered by this, Sinestro bursts free, staggering Carol enough for his Corpsmen to seize her. However, before he can capitalize on the advantage, the Black Lanterns invade, led by Amon Sur, shocking both Sinestro and Carol. Hal Jordan and Indigo-1 then appear, initially fighting off some of the Black Lanterns. Indigo-1 teleports the group to Korugar so that Sinestro may finally confront Mongul. Sinestro defeats Mongul by overriding his rings, then imprisons him within the Yellow Central Battery. Sinestro vows to keep Mongul alive (and torture him), then kill him when the Blackest Night is over. He also proclaims himself to be "leading this coalition" against the Black Lanterns. The Sinestro Corps' celebration is cut short when a ship crash lands nearby, containing Black Lanterns Abin and Arin Sur.


title: Sinestro

text: As the Black Lanterns attack, Sinestro is emotionally manipulated by the corpse of Arin. At one point, the corpse even alters itself to look more like a living person and addresses Sinestro by his full name (revealing his first name, Thaal, for the very first time). Just then Hal, Abin and Carol burst through the streets to where the others are. With all four in place, they destroy Abin's and Arin's rings. Afterward, Hal and Sinestro debate whether to contact the Blue or Red Lanterns, respectively. Hal then makes the decision himself. Sinestro relents, tells his Corps that there is a temporary truce with the GLC, and travels with the others to Odym. After gathering the other Corps leaders, Sinestro and the others follow the Black Lantern battery to Earth, where Nekron has already risen. Under Indigo-1's direction, they combine their lights, thinking it will destroy the Black Lanterns' source of power, but this fails and in an attempt to bolster their ranks, Ganthet duplicates the Corps leaders' rings, having them seek out candidates to deputize. Sinestro's ring chooses the Scarecrow. The Black Lantern Spectre then attacks the group. To defeat it, Hal releases Parallax from its prison, intending to let it possess him again. Sinestro offers to join with Parallax instead, but is rebuffed. When the restored Spectre manages to separate Parallax from Hal, Sinestro again tries to claim the fear entity as his own, but is foiled when Parallax is pulled away by an unknown force.


title: Sinestro

text: In the midst of the battle, Nekron kills a Guardian and uses its blood to summon a large white figure from Earth. Ganthet reveals this is the Entity, the living embodiment of the life force of the universe. It seems Earth is where life first began, a fact the Guardians did their best to hide so as to keep the Entity safe. Outraged at how the Guardians' need for control caused the death of Abin Sur, Sinestro stabs Ganthet with his ring. Hal Jordan realizes the Entity needs a mind to guide it and prepares to fly in, but Sinestro cuts him off. He dives into the white energy and emerges as a figure all in white, declaring he is about to show the universe he truly is the "greatest Lantern of them all". Entity intones "Thaal Sinestro of Korugar...Destiny awaits".


title: Sinestro

text: Later, Sinestro is apparently killed by Nekron, but healed back to life by the White Entity, claiming to be in harmony with every living being in the universe and thus reborn as the true Guardian of the Universe. However, Sinestro proves unable to fully control the Entity's power because of his ego-maniacal personality, and Nekron is able to separate them. Hal then comes to the realization that, even though Nekron allowed the various resurrections of the heroes he transformed into Black Lanterns, it was they who chose to live again. This enables Hal to access the Entity's power and transform himself and the other heroes into White Lanterns, resurrecting Black Hand and breaking Nekron's tether to the living universe. As the various corps part ways, Sinestro notes that Larfleeze himself has changed, as he actually returns Lex Luthor to the other gathered Corps rather than keeping Luthor for himself after he was forced to briefly share his power with the bald billionaire.


title: Sinestro

text: In the "Brightest Day" crossover, Sinestro discovers a white power battery in a crater on Earth. In the first issue of the "New Guardians" story arc, Sinestro reveals that the white power battery wants Hal Jordan. He and the other Corps leaders must pursue Krona, who is trying to capture all of the emotional entities. Sinestro must also work with Kyle Rayner and the Green Lantern Corps in an effort to rescue Soranik Natu from a Qwardian who made Sinestro's original yellow ring.


title: Sinestro

text: In the "War of the Green Lanterns" storyline Sinestro and the other 'New Guardians' are trapped in the Book of the Black by Lyssa Drak while trying to recover the emotional entities from Krona. Hal Jordan alone is able to avoid the book and escapes with the other "New Guardians's" rings. He later uses Sinestro's ring when Parallax is returned to the Central Power Battery, allowing Krona to control all Green Lanterns. Hal and others escaped only thanks to their prior experience with Parallax granting them an immunity to the initial assault, to give himself a weapon against the other Lanterns. While attempting to escape the Book which forces the New Guardians to re-live their lives prior to acquiring their current rings, Sinestro discovers Indigo-1 in a prison cell, angrily proclaiming that she will escape whatever Abin Sur has planned for her, although he chooses to focus on his own escape rather than remain to question her more about this, only for Krona to burn the page that Sinestro is on before he can escape. Sinestro and the others are later freed by Kyle Rayner, who 'draws' their escape. Sinestro's ring attempts to return to him, but is overridden by Krona, who wields all seven varieties of power rings. As Hal Jordan battles Krona, Sinestro hears him as he declares his dedication to the cause of the Green Lanterns and is inspired to join his old enemy in battle. As he fights Krona, a green power ring comes to him, making Sinestro a Green Lantern once more. Sinestro is not interested in becoming a Green Lantern, but the Guardians of the Universe convince him to join the Corps. Later, when the Green Lantern Corps are in disagreement and attempt to kill him, the Corps break into the sciencells, but they discover that Sinestro was in captivity by the Guardians, who are trying to remove Sinestro's green ring, but the ring will not be removed. Later, the Green Lantern Corps were in a meeting with the Guardians and told that they should choose between discipline, continuing the fight, and starting a mutiny. The other Green Lantern Corps are in agreement.


title: Sinestro

text: In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Sinestro is angry that he has a Green Lantern power ring. The Guardians of the Universe state that the ring wishes to redeem him. With the aid of Hal Jordan, Sinestro returns to his home world of Korugar and liberates his people from the out-of-control Sinestro Corps, although his people are still afraid. Disabling his former group by rendering them comatose, he heads back out into space with the intent of shutting down the entire Sinestro Corps.