Menemen

Menemen(Turkish:[meneˈmæn]) is a municipality anddistrictofİzmir Province,Turkey.Its area is 573 km,and its population is 200,904 (2022).The district extends on a fertile plain formed by the alluvial soil carried by theGediz River. Adjacent districts are, from east to west;AliağaandFoçato the north andBornova,KarşıyakaandÇiğlito the south. Menemen district has a 27 km (17 mi) long coastline in the west and neighborsManisa Provinceto the east. The town of Menemen is located at a distance of 35 km (22 mi) from İzmir center (Konak Square). Settlement across the district is loosely scattered along the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir in the south and consists of isolated villages along prairies in the north, which results in an averageurbanizationrate of only 42 per cent. The economy still relies on agriculture and stock breeding in large part, although the production and export of leather, ceramic and other earthenware products, as well as potentially of plastic products, based in two separate and specialized organized industrial zones made important steps forward during the last decade. Menemen's earthenwarepotteryproducts have been famous across Turkey for centuries. These two organized industrial zones as well as activities rebounding from the adjacent İzmir metropolitan area gain an increasing importance in the district's economy. Nevertheless,Gediz River, whose lower basin crosses Menemen plain to join the sea within the district boundaries still constitutes the lifeline of the region and matters relating to the river's flow as well as its present rate of rather high pollution is a matter of constant debate.
There are different accounts related to the historical origin of the Greek-derived name of "Menemen" (Μενεμένη or Μαινεμένη in Greek language). The most commonly encountered explanation based on the ancientGreekwordmainómenos(μαινόμενος "furious, raving, out of one's mind"), which refers to a Greek Mythology story when Herakles went out of his mind for which Euripides wrote the play "Herakles Mainomenos" (Greek:Ἡρακλῆς μαινόμενος). In addition, "meneménos" (μενεμένος) meant "flood" or "overflow". In  the absence of moderndamsand other means of waterflow control in antiquity, the Hermos River (now Gediz River) used to cause serious and frequent damages in the valley until recent times. The river was nicknamed in Turkish "Gediz the Sorceress" (Cadı Gediz).
On the other hand, a minority of researchers discuss the possibility of aLuwianorigin.
In any case, it is obvious, particularly in the light of recent discoveries made at the premises of Ege Fertilizer (Ege Gübre; the site being termed in the literature under the name of the industrial installations), at Araptepe and more particularly at Panaztepe and Menemen'sLarissa, that settlement in the region extends far back in prehistoric times, at least until the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic.
With a population of around 136,000, Menemen is the fifth most populous district inİzmir Province, in a ranking that includes İzmir's metropolitan municipalities and this indicates Menemen's degree of prominence within its province. Considering the district population stood at slight above a hundred thousand in 2000, it can be deducted that Menemen and especially the center town has a high rate of population increase. The determining factor in this increase was the immigration the region received from Turkey'sEastern Anatolia Regionin the 2000s, especially from such towns asBulanık,Karayazı,Malazgirt,Midyat,Diyadin,PatnosandAkyaka, Karsaccording to a report, cited below, prepared on the district.
Menemen has, aside from the district center, eight settlements with their own municipalities. The number of depending villages displayed variations in recent times, a result of development and human movements among others, many former villages having been attached to the district center as its neighborhoods, and new villages having been officially constituted at localities where there were mere hamlets previously or some neighborhood saw their previous status of villages accorded back. The count stood at twenty villages at the end of 2005.
There are 22,100 residences in all in Menemen district. The number of pupils per teacher is 19 and the number of patients per doctor is 1,241.
Menemen's yearly per capita income was calculated as 3870 US Dollars in 2006, slightly below the national average despite the region's fertility and its closeness to İzmir center, a rate which could partially be accounted by the high rate of migration Menemen received in recent decades especially fromEastern Anatolia. The district realized exports reaching ten million US Dollars in the same year. Much expected boost to Menemen's economy by the plastic products industrial zone is yet to materialize and the sales made by the district within and beyond Turkey still rely largely on a handful of agricultural and dairy products, such as driedtomatoes, dryraisins,pickledproducts andyogurt, and to two items of industrial products, namely leather and ceramics and other earthenware products. The total number of enterprises in Menemen was 10,723 the same year of 2006. Seven banks provide services through seven branches across Menemen district.
Underground riches includeandesite,basaltandmarble. Drinking water obtained from sources atMount Yamanlarsouth of Menemen, and sold under brand names associated with the mountain are also very popular across İzmir region as a whole.
There are 65neighbourhoodsin Menemen District:
Menemen is serviced by the E87 roadway, and is railroad is serviced byTCDD. TheMenemen Railway Stationhas 7 passenger trains daily.
Historical vestiges of Menemen occupy a small area in the old neighborhood of the town, marked by the recently restored Taşhan (literallythe stonecaravanserai) whose precise date of construction is unknown but is thought to have been built end-16th or early-17th century. A covered bazaar (bedesten) faces Taşhan and is still awaiting restoration. A few shrines-tombs in the Turkish style dating from mid-Ottomancenturies near Taşhan, two old mosques, a number of old houses, as well as the abandoned remains of what is likely to have been the townsynagoguecomplete the picture. In nearby Hıdırtepe, slightly outside the popular quarter of Menemen characterized by low single-storeyed houses with gardens, typical for the climate of the plain, is another Ottoman shrine as well as the memorial area dedicated toMustafa Fehmi Kubilayin a military zone open to visitors and occupying the summit of the hill, with tombs and a renowned high statue.
A late Bronze Age settlement in Panaztepe with a number oftholos tombsindicates an apparentMycenaeaninfluence.The first nucleus of Menemen was formed on the left bank of the River Gediz in the immediate vicinity of today's Yahşelli village. This settlement dates back to 1000 B.C. and is on the natural fluvial frontier betweenIoniaandAeoliaof antiquity. It is believed that the settlement was moved from its former place to today's Asarlık village between 263 and 241 B.C. and later to its actual place during theTurkishprincipalities era inAnatolia(13th-14th centuries).
The city was founded byGreeksettlers and the region was first under Greek political influence and later came under the rule ofPhrygianKingdom. The region was taken over by theLydiansand their rule lasted between 676 and 546 B.C. until the commencement of thePersianrule in the western Anatolia after the defeat suffered by the Lydians in the face of the famous Persian KingCyrus.
As thePersian Empirecollapsed after a series of definitive defeats against theMacedonians, the region became a part of Alexander's Empire. After Alexander's death in 323 B.C. Menemen and its environs had been ruled by thePergamonKingdom.
In 64 B.C. the region became a part of theRoman Empire. Later, with the division of the Roman territory into two independent states in 395 A.C., it came under theByzantinerule with the rest of the eastern Roman provinces.
With the commencement of theTurkishrule in Anatolia after theBattle of Manzikert(Malazgirt) (1071 A.C.), the region became a part of theSeljuk Empirein 1084 A.C. But the Seljuk rule was frequently interrupted by theCrusadeswhich had a devastating influence on both Byzantine and Seljuk territories inAsia Minor.
With the decadence of Seljuks in the last quarter of the 13th century, local feudal lords had founded several principalities on the Anatolian territory. TheBeylikofSaruhan, founded aroundManisa, captured the site of Menemen together withFoçaand its surroundings in 1313. At the moment of the Turkish conquest, Menemen didn't exist as a town: it was only the center of the domanial complex the aristocratic Byzantine family of Tarchaneiotes possessed in the area. But it seems that under the Saruhanoglu its emergence as a locality was relatively fast. As a reminder of its origin, this new locality was called Tarhaniyat, and this alternative name survived for a long time, as the Ottoman documentation shows, in particular census registers.
But the Saruhan rule on Menemen did not last too long as the new emerging power in Anatolia, theOttomanstook over the city in the last quarter of the 14th century during the reign ofBayezid Ithe Thunderbolt.
AsTimurinvaded Anatolia following theBattle of Ankarain 1402, the Ottoman state was dismembered and the Saruhan Principality took over the region once more until a definitiveannexationto Ottoman territory in 1425 during the reign of Murad II.
At least under the end of the 18th century, Menemen was one of the important traditional centers of production oftextilesand clothing in western Anatolia, advantaged by its location right in the middle of a region where cotton was cultivated in a large scale. Its fabrics, and particularly those called the"demite","demiton"and"escamite"were much sought after, notably as export products in overseas markets
From 1867 until 1922, Menemen was part of theAydin Vilayetof theOttoman Empirewith its seat in İzmir.
In 1914, the local Greek population in the area was affected by theviolent ethnic cleansing campaignof the Ottoman state, while Ottoman irregular bands,Bashi-bazouks, some wereCretan Muslims, many of them were Muslim refugees, were looting and murdering local Greeks, looting villages south of Menemen. TheCUPsaw this as retaliation for the Muslims suffering under Greek domination since theBalkan wars (1912-1913), in which tens of thousands had left their homes. In Serekieuy, Menemen district, the Greek villagers were killed by these irregulars, after attempting to form some kind of resistance. A few escaped to the town of Menemen, which had a population of 20.000, the Bashi-bazouks shot who left the town but didn't attack the town itself.
After World War I Greek troops landed at Smyrna and advanced inland during theGreco-Turkish War (1919-1922). After the battle at Bergamaretreating Greek army units managed to enter Menemen as part of theGreek occupation zone of Smyrna. However, they had to retreat temporarily from the town after fierce Turkish resistance during which excesses were committed by both sides.Thesubsequent massacre, on 17 June 1919, due to these developments, resulted in 200 Turkish civilians being killed and 200 others being wounded by the Greeks,while Turkish sources themselves claim 1000 dead.The events were protested by the Ottoman Sheikhulislam.The Greek military claimed that they were attacked in the town, on the other hand an Allied commission, after investigation, believed that their statements was not correctand found the Greeks alone responsible for the bloodshed,however they agreed that the massacre was not organized by the Greek Command,but was as a result of the panic and anger of the young Greek troops who were still affected by theBergamaevents and whom their officers were not able to calm.
The city was recaptured, three years later on 9 September 1922 by the Turkish Army, during theGreco-Turkish War (1919-1922). The Greek inhabitants of the town had to leave Menemen late in 1923 and in 1924 under the agreement for theExchange of Greek and Turkish Populationsbetween the two countries according to which Turkish immigrants from different parts of Greece were later lodged in town.
On December 23, 1930, Dervish Mehmed, aCretan MuslimSufiand self-proclaimed prophet, arrived in Menemen with six followers in an attempt to incite rebellion against the secular government and reestablish Islamic law. Mehmed and his enthusiastic supporters overwhelmed the local army garrison and killed the commander, LieutenantMustafa Fehmi Kubilay. Kubilay's severed head was put on a pole and paraded through the town. The army soon regained control, killing Mehmed and several of his followers.
The youngTurkish Republicconsidered the incident a serious threat against secular reform. After a series of trials, 37 people were sentenced to death and later hanged in the town square; and several others were sent to prison. In 1932 a monument was erected in Menemen to commemorate the incident.
In May 2015, theGreekChurch "Agios Konstantinos" has reopened and held a mass for first time in 93 years.