Gaziantep
Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximately east of Adana and north of Aleppo, Syria. It is thought to be located on the site of ancient Antiochia ad Taurum, and is near ancient Zeugma. As of the 31/12/2021 last estimation, the Metropolitan Province was home to 2,130,432 inhabitants, of whom 1,775,904 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of two (out of three) urban districts of Şahinbey and Şehitkamil, as Oğuzeli  is not conurbated. It is the sixth-most populous city in Turkey. Name. Due to the city's contact with many ethnic groups and cultures throughout its history, the name of the city has many variants and alternatives, such as: The several theories for the origin of the current name include: History. Neolithic period. The archaeological site of "Tell Tülük", which gives its name to the Neolithic Dulicien culture, is situated a few kilometers to the north of the city center. Early Bronze Age. Traces of settlement go back to the fourth millennium BC. Hellenistic period. Gaziantep is the probable  site of the Hellenistic city of Antiochia ad Taurum ("Antiochia in the Taurus Mountains"). Byzantine period. In the center of the city stands the Gaziantep fortress and the Ravanda citadel, which were restored by the Byzantines in the sixth century. Armenian period. Although it was controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia only between 1155–1157 and 1204–1206, for most of the last two millennia, Gaziantep hosted a large Armenian community. Armenians played a significant role in the city's history, culture, welfare, and prosperity. These communities no longer exist in the city due to the Hamidian massacres in 1895 and  the Armenian genocide in 1915. Gaziantep served a significant trade route within the Ottoman Empire. Armenians were active in manufacturing, agriculture production, and most notably, trade, and became the wealthiest ethnic group in the city, until their wealth was confiscated during the Armenian genocide. Medieval history. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant, the city passed to the Umayyads in 661 AD and the Abbasids in 750. It was ravaged several times during the Arab–Byzantine wars. After the disintegration of the Abbasid dynasty, the city was ruled successively by the Tulunids, the Ikhshidids, and the Hamdanids. In 962, it  was recaptured by the Byzantines. The Anatolian Seljuks took Aintab in 1067. They gave way to the Syrian Seljuks in 1086. Tutush I appointed Thoros of Edessa as governor of the region. It was captured by the Crusaders and united to the Maras Seigneurship in the County of Edessa in 1098. It reverted to the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in 1150, was controlled by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1155–1157 and 1204–1206 and captured by the Zengids in 1172 and the Ayyubids in 1181. It was retaken by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in 1218. It was ruled by  the Ilkhanate between 1260 and 1261, 1271–1272, 1280–1281 and 1299–1317 and by the Mamluks between 1261 and 1271, 1272–1280, 1281–1299, 1317–1341, 1353–1378, 1381–1389 and 1395–1516. It was also governed by the Dulkadirids, which was a Turkish vassal state of the Mamluks. Ottoman period. The Ottoman Empire captured Gaziantep after the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516, under the reign of Sultan Selim I. In the Ottoman period, Aintab was a "sanjak "centered initially in the Dulkadir Eyalet (1516–1818), and later in the Aleppo vilayet (1908–1918). It was also a "kaza" in the Aleppo vilayet (1818–1908). The city established itself as  a centre for commerce due to its location straddling trade routes. The 17th-century Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi noted it had 3,900 shops and two "bedesten". By the end of the 19th century, Aintab had a population of about 45,000, two-thirds of whom were Muslim—largely Turkish, but also partially Arabic. A large community of Christians lived in the Armenian community. In the 19th century, considerable American Protestant Christian missionary activity occurred in Aintab. In particular, Central Turkey College was founded in 1874 by the American Mission Board and largely served the Armenian community. The Armenians were systemically slaughtered  during the Hamidian massacres in 1895 and later the Armenian genocide in 1915. Consequently, the Central Turkey College was transferred to Aleppo in 1916. Turkish period. After the First World War and Armistice of Mudros, Gaziantep was occupied by United Kingdom on 17 December 1918, and it was transferred to France on 5 November 1919. French Armenian Legion was also involved in occupation. In April 1920 irregular Turkish troops known as Kuva-yi Milliye sieged the city, but the 10 month long battle resulted in French victory. Around 6,000 Turkish civilians were murdered in progress. On 25 December 1921, Treaty  of Ankara was signed and as a result French evacuated the city. The French made the last attempt to revive the Armenian community in the city during the Siege of Aintab, where the Armenians who fled the gGenocide were promised their homes back in their native lands. However, on 25 December 1921, the Treaty of Ankara was signed, and as a result, the French evacuated the city. According to Ümit Kurt, born in modern-day Gaziantep and an academic at Harvard's Center for Middle East Studies, "The famous battle of Aintab against the French … seems to have been as  much the organized struggle of a group of genocide profiteers seeking to hold onto their loot as it was a fight against an occupying force. The resistance … sought to make it impossible for the Armenian repatriates to remain in their native towns, terrorizing them [again] to make them flee. In short, not only did the local … landowners, industrialists, and civil-military bureaucratic elites lead to the resistance movement, but they also financed it to cleanse Aintab of Armenians." The same Turkish families who made their wealth through the expropriation of Armenians in 1915 and 1921/1922 continued to dominate the city 's politics through the single-party period of the Republic of Turkey. In 2013, Turkey, a member state of NATO, requested deployment of MIM-104 Patriot missiles to Gaziantep to be able to respond faster in a case of military operation against Turkish soil in the Syrian Civil War, which was accepted. Politics. The current Mayor of Gaziantep is Fatma Şahin, who had previously served as the Minister of Family and Social Policies in the third cabinet of Erdoğan. Economy. Gaziantep is famous for its regional specialities: Copperware and "Yemeni" sandals, specific to the region, are two examples. The city is  an economic center for Southeastern and Eastern Turkey. The number of large industrial businesses established in Gaziantep comprise four percent of Turkish industry in general, while small industries comprise six percent. Also, Gaziantep has the largest organized industrial area in Turkey and holds first position in exports and imports. The city is centre of the Green olive oil-based Nizip Soap industry. Traditionally, commerce in Gaziantep was centre in covered markets known as 'Bedesten' or 'Hans', the best known of which are the Zincirli Bedesten, Hüseyin Pasha Bedesten and Kemikli Bedesten. Gaziantep also has a developing tourist industry. Development around  the base of the castle upgrades the beauty and accessibility to the castle and to the surrounding copper workshops. New restaurants and tourist-friendly businesses are moving into the area. In comparison with some other regions of Turkey, tourists are still a novelty in Gaziantep and the locals make them very welcome. Many students studying the English language are willing to be guides for tourists. Gaziantep is one of the leading producers of machined carpets in the world. It exported approximately US$700 million of machine-made carpets in 2006. There are over 100 carpet facilities in the Gaziantep Organized  Industrial Zone. With its extensive olive groves, vineyards, and pistachio orchards, Gaziantep is one of the important agricultural and industrial centres of Turkey. Gaziantep is the center of pistachio cultivation in Turkey, producing in 2007, and lends its name to the Turkish word for pistachio, "Antep fıstığı", meaning "Antep nut". In 2009, the largest enclosed shopping center in the city and region, Sanko Park, opened, and began drawing a significant number of shoppers from Syria. Ties between Turkey and Syria have severely deteriorated since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Demographics. Originally a town with Semitic peoples , the city's Armenian community substantially increased in the early sixteenth century. According to Ümit Kurt, a Turkish historian from Gaziantep of Kurdish-Arab origin, there were 236 Armenians living in the town in 1536. During that time, Arabic and Turkish were widely used, since the region was substantially Muslim, Turkish and also Arab. According to Asadur Khederian, an Armenian originally from Kayseri who lived in Aintab, Armenians have been in Aintab long before the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, because they were involved in trade in a vast region from Cilicia to Egypt. There were 300 Armenian villages around the  town in the first years of the 10th century. According to the Ottoman census of 1543, the Aintab sanjak of the eyalet of Aleppo contained fifteen Turkmen tribes. Similar to the Armenians, the ethnic Turkish population of Aintab, the history of which goes back to the Beylik of Dulkadir, increased in the sixteenth century, as groups of Turkmen tribes (also known as Barak Turkmens) from Anatolia were forced to settle in the nearby villages, some of which gradually settled in the town and adapted to the urban lifestyle similar to some of the local Turkmens who lived in the region  before the arrival of Barak Turkmens, such as Mustafa Agha, the founder of Tahmis Coffee House (who was described as a Turkmen by Evliya Çelebi). It is known that he took part in mevlevihanes found in the town. This further Turkified the ethnic makeup of the region and continued to do so up to later centuries, as foreign travellers, such as "Mr. Buckingham," were guests in the tent of "Sheik of Barak," who was the head of Turcomans dwelling in the vicinity of Aleppo and Aintab in early 19th century. Due to historical ties, the Turks of Gaziantep are closely  related to Syrian Turkmen. The decrease in the historic population of Armenians until 16th century can be explained by Asadur Khederian's claim that there was a Turkification of Armenians through conversion due to domination and oppression, which eventually affected Armenians who were not even Muslim, as they started to speak Turkish as well. The city also used to house an influential Jewish community. According to Dr. Izak de Kordivi, 97 percent of Jews originally from Gaziantep are Sephardic. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the population of the town substantially fluctuated. Before World War I, the town had a  population of 80 thousand people, 30 thousand of which was Armenian. This number fell to 40 thousand during the war, quickly increasing to 55 thousand (which included 18 thousand Christians) in 1919. The next year, the population nearly halved (to 28 thousand, including 8 thousand Christians). When an American missionary hospital, Azariah Smith Memorial Hospital, was formed in the city, the ethnic background of the patients, who were mostly from the city but also from nearby villages and towns like Urfa, were recorded. During the years 1898 - 1900, 1908, and 1911 - 1914, a total of 629 Turks, 1049 Armenians, 152  Kurds, 46 Greeks, 43 Jews, 6 Turkmens, 6 Assyrians, 22 Arabs, 10 Circassians, 2 Germans, 1 Maltese, 1 Italian, 3 Alawites, 2 Iranians, and 4 Americans were treated, all of which indicates the Turkish-Armenian-dominated but still cosmopolitan background of the city. However, the outskirts of the city were largely Muslim and Turkish, since Shepard Riggs, one of the doctors in the hospital, had reported that 2000 villages were served between 1882 and 1888, most of which were Muslim and Turkish. Although the city had an Armenian community in the past, ethnic Turks became the overwhelming majority in the  city of Gaziantep after the Armenian genocide. 4 years after the establishment of Turkey as an independent country, according to the 1927 census done by the government, the province, including the city, was 92 percent Turkish-speaking, 7 percent Kurdish-speaking, and 1 percent Arabic-speaking. This census also placed the Kurdish-speakers at 70 percent of the population of Diyarbakır, an overwhelmingly Kurdish province. According to the relatively dubious 1965 census, when 48 percent of the population of the province lived in the city of Gaziantep, overall registered speakers of Turkish as mother tongue were 95.9 percent, while the  registered Kurdish-speakers were 3.9 percent in the city (and the province). Arabic-speakers stayed at 0.1 percent. Unlike most Southeastern Anatolian cities, the city of Gaziantep didn't have a significant Kurdish minority until the 20th century, when it saw an increase in its Kurdish population through economically-motivated migration from Turkish Kurdistan, which is why a population close to a sixth of the current residents of Gaziantep are originally from the Turkish provinces with larger ethnic Kurdish presence like Şanlıurfa, Van, Siirt, and Adıyaman. Up until the late 2010s, the Kurdish population increased to a quarter of the  city and the province with 400 thousand to 450 thousand Kurds during mayor Asım Güzelbey's term. In 1841, French historian and traveller Baptiste Frédéric Poujoulat noted that there were twelve thousand Muslims, which he generalized as of Kurdish origin, and three thousand Armenian Christians, although he underlined that Turkish was spoken in the region. Places of interest. Museums in Gaziantep. The Gaziantep Museum of Archaeology has collections of ceramic pieces from the Neolithic Age; various objects, figures and seals from the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages; stone and bronze objects, jewellery, ceramics, coins, glass objects, mosaics and statues from the  Hittite, Urartu, Greek Persian, Roman, Commagene, and Byzantine periods. The Zeugma Mosaic Museum houses mosaics from Zeugma and other mosaics, a total of . It opened to the public on 9 September 2011. The Hasan Süzer Ethnography Museum, a restored late-Ottoman stone building, has the old life style decoration and collections of various weapons, documents, instruments used in the defense of the city as well as the photographs of local resistance heroes. It was originally built in 1906 as the home of Garouj Karamanoukian. Some of the other historical remains are the Zeugma (also called "Belkıs" in Turkish), and Kargamış  ruins by the town of Nizip and slightly more to the north, Rumkale. Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop is an open-air museum located in the village known by the same name, south of the town of Islahiye. It is the largest open-air sculpture workshop in the Near East and the ruins in the area date back to the Hittites. The Gaziantep Defence Museum: Before you enter the Panorama Museum located within the Gaziantep Castle, you encounter the statues of three local heroes Molla Mehmet Karayılan, Şehit Mehmet Kâmil and Şahin Bey at the entrance. As you enter the  museum, you hear the echoes: "I am from Antep. I am a hawk (Şahin)." The Gaziantep War Museum, in a historic Antep house (also known as the "Nakıpoğlu House") is dedicated to the memory of the 6,317 who died defending the city, becoming symbols of Turkey's national unity and resolve for maintaining independence. The story of how the Battle of Antep is narrated with audio devices and chronological panels. Gaziantep Mevlevi Lodge Foundation Museum The dervish lodge is part of the mosque's külliye (Islamic-Ottoman social complex centered around a mosque). It was built in the 17th century . The Mevlevi Lodge Monastery is entered via a courtyard which opens off the courtyard of the mosque. Emine Göğüş Cuisine Museum Gaziantep is known for its cuisine and food culture. A historical stone house built in 1904 has been restored and turned into the Emine Göğüş Cuisine Museum. The museum opened as part of the celebrations for the 87th anniversary of Gaziantep's liberation from French occupation. Gaziantep Historical Places. Zeugma is an ancient city which was established at the shallowest passable part of the river Euphrates, within the boundaries of the present-day Belkıs village in Gaziantep Province. Due  to the strategic character of the region in terms of military and commerce since antiquity (Zeugma was the headquarters of an important Roman legion, the "Legio IV Scythica", near the border with Parthia) the city has maintained its importance for centuries, also during the Byzantine period. Gaziantep Castle, also known as the Kale, located in the centre of the city displays the historic past and architectural style of the city. Although the history of castle is incomplete, as a result of the excavations conducted there, Bronze Age settlement layers are thought to exist under the section existing on the surface  of the soil. Liberation Mosque, the former Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God (Surp Asdvadzadzin), was converted into a mosque after the liberation of the city from the occupying French forces following the Franco-Turkish War (1918–1921). The French forces which occupied the city between 1918 and 1921 included the French Armenian Legion. Boyacı Mosque, a historic mosque in the Şahinbey district, was built by Kadı Kemalettin in 1211 and completed in 1357. It has one of the world's oldest wooden minbars which is elaborately adorned with Koranic verses, stars and geometric patterns. Its minaret is considered  one of the symbols of the city. Şirvani Mosque (Şirvani Mehmet Efendi Mosque), also called "İki Şerefeli Cami", is one of the oldest mosques of Gaziantep, located in the Seferpaşa district. It was built by Şirvani Mehmet Efendi. Ömeriye Mosque, a mosque in the Düğmeci district. Tradition states that it was first built during the period of the Islamic Caliphate under the second Caliph, Omar (hence its name), which would make it the oldest known mosque in Gaziantep. The modern mosque was restored at the site in 1850. It is known for its black and red marble mihrab. Şeyh Fethullah  Mosque, a historic mosque built in 1563 and located in Kepenek. It has adjoining Turkish baths and a medrese. Nuri Mehmet Pasha Mosque, a mosque in Çukur built in 1786 by nobleman Nuri Mehmet Pasha. Between 1958 and 1968, it was changed into museum but was reinstated as a mosque after an extensive restoration. Ahmet Çelebi Mosque, a mosque in Ulucanlar that was built by Hacı Osman, in 1672. It is noted for its elaborate wooden interior. Tahtani Mosque, a wooden mosque located in Şahinbey, that was built in 1557. The mosque has a unique red marble mihrab. Alaüddevle Mosque  (Ali Dola Mosque), built by Dulkadir bey Alaüddevle Bozkurt. Its construction started in 1479 and was completed in 1515. It has been restored recently with the addition of a new entrance. Ali Nacar Mosque, a mosque in Yaprak, Şehitkamil, is one of the biggest mosques in Gaziantep, originally built by Ali Nacar. It was enlarged in 1816. Eyüpoğlu Mosque, a mosque built by the local Islamic saint Eyüboğlu Ahmet during the 14th century. There has been a major restoration, so much so that the present structure hardly resembles the original building. Kendirli Church, a church that was built in 1860  by means of the assistance of French missionaries and Napoleon III. It is a Catholic Armenian church. It has a rectangular plan and was built through white cut stones on a foundation of black cut stone within a large garden. Pişirici Kastel, a "kastel" (fountain) which used to be a part of a bigger group of buildings, is thought to have been built in 1282. "Kastels" are water fountains built below ground, and they are structures peculiar to Gaziantep. They are places for ablution, prayer, washing and relaxation. Old houses of Gaziantep, the traditional houses that are located in the  old city: Eyüboğlu, Türktepe, Tepebaşı, Bostancı, Kozluca, Şehreküstü and Kale. They are made of locally found keymik rock and have an inner courtyard called the "hayat", which is the focal point of the house. Tahmis Coffee House, a coffee house that was built by Mustafa Ağa Bin Yusuf, a Turkmen ağa and flag officer, in 1635–1638, in order to provide an income for the dervish lodge. The building suffered two big fires in 1901 and 1903. Gaziantep Zoo. Gaziantep Zoo is one of the largest zoos in Turkey. Especially interesting are the bird pavilion and the aquarium. Gaziantep Zoo offers  a large variety of animals, attractive picnic grounds, and a cafeteria. The facility is established on field. There are 264 species and 6,814 animals. Gaziantep Historical Bazaars. Zincirli Bedesten is the Ottoman-era covered bazaar of Gaziantep and was built in 1781 by Hüseyin Pasha of Darende. From records, it is known that there was formerly an epigraph on the south gate written by Kusuri; however, this inscription is not in place today. This bazaar was used as a wholesale market hall for meat, fruit and vegetables. Bakırcılar çarşısi is the coppersmith bazaar of Gaziantep. This trade has existed in  the region for over 500 years. The bazaar is part of the official culture route designed to help visitors discover traditions and culture of the city. Gaziantep Historical Inns. Anatolia Inn The exact date of the inn's (caravanserai) construction is unknown, but it is estimated to have been built in the early 19th century. It is a two-storey building with two courtyards. It is said to have been built by Muhsinzade Hadji Mehmet Bey in 1892. The inn was repaired in 1985 and parts of the top floor were rebuilt. Kürkçü Inn Classic Ottoman Inn in Boyacı built  in 1890. Old Wheat Inn The original building was constructed by Mustafa Ağa in 1640 to provide an income for the dervish lodge, but was completely destroyed in a fire. The exact construction date of the present building is unknown; however the architectural style suggests the 19th century. Şire Inn The building is built on rectangular plan and contains many motifs of classical Ottoman inn architecture. It was built with evenly cut stones and the pitched roof is covered by tiles. Tobacco Inn This inn has no epigraph showing the dates of construction or renovation, but according to historical data , the estimated date of construction is the late 17th century. Ownership was passed to Hüseyin Ağa, son of Nur Ali Ağa, in the early 19th century. Yüzükçü Inn The construction date of this inn is unknown. The epigraph on the main gate of the inn is dated 1800, but the building apparently had been built earlier and was repaired at this date. The first owners of the inn were Asiye, the daughter of Battal Bey and Emine Hatun, the daughter of Hadji Osman Bey. Cuisine. Food in Gaziantep is different from the cuisine in other parts of Turkey because of  the influence of the culinary traditions of nearby Aleppo which was an important regional administrative center of the Seljuk and Ottoman empires. The difference is noticeable in its rice dishes, soups, kebabs, köfte (meatballs), etc. The meatballs come in varieties of çiğ köfte, içli köfte, meatball with (lentils), sour small meatballs, and small meatball with yoghurt. Gaziantep's food is known for being spicy compared to other Turkish cuisine; many of the local specialties as well as savory foods shared with other regions of Turkey are prepared with Aleppo pepper, a type of chili pepper, and paprika. Antep's desserts  include the sweet pastry baklava, burmalı, künefe, kadayıf, etc. In 2013, Gaziantep baklava became the first Turkish product with a European protected designation of origin and geographical indication. Antep is also famous for its slender type of pistachios. Its kebab varieties include the kıyma (minced meat) kebab, kuşbaşı (meat cut in goulash-type cubes) kebab, simit kebab, patlıcan (aubergine) kebab, ciğer (liver) kebab and soğan (onion) kebab. There is also lahmacun, yuvarlama (mas soup) and karışık (mixed) dolama (a preparation made of different types of vegetables, yoğurtlu patates (potato with yogurt), beyran, etc.). Transportation. The city is served by Oğuzeli  Airport, which has commercial flights to domestic and regional international destinations. Since 2011, there is a tram network with currently 12 km in length. It is also served by Gaziantep railway station Climate. Gaziantep has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: "Csa", Trewartha: "Cs"), with hot, dry summers and cool, wet and often snowy winters. Education. Gaziantep Anatolian High School (founded in 1976) is a public school focusing on English language education. Gaziantep Science High School is a public boarding high school in Gaziantep, Turkey with a curriculum concentrating on natural sciences and mathematics, and with teaching in Turkish. There  are also variety of high schools consisting of both private and public schools, including Gaziantep Fen Lisesi. Gaziantep College Foundation is one of the oldest colleges in Gaziantep. Gaziantep College Foundation's (abbv. GKV) science high school is the most successful high school in Gaziantep. Sanko College is younger but also successful school in Gaziantep. Its facility is one of the most qualified school facilities in Turkey. Sanko's newest science and technology high school is also a very good school. The main campus of Gaziantep University is located away from the city center. The institution acquired state university status  in 1987, but had already offered higher education since 1973 as an extension campus of the Middle East Technical University. It is one of the largest universities in Turkey, boasting 27,000 students. Hasan Kalyoncu University (Hasan Kalyoncu Üniversitesi) is a private university established in 2008. Currently, the university has five faculties, three institutes and three vocational schools. Zirve University (Zirve Üniversitesi) was a private university established in 2009. As of 2016, the university had five faculties. The university was closed by the government in 2016 and its facilities transferred to Gaziantep University. The youngest university in Gaziantep is Sanko University  (Sanko Üniversitesi). Established in 2013, Sanko University is the first "thematic university" in Turkey. Sports. Beslenspor has played in the Turkish Basketball League between 1986 and 1992 and presented Gaziantep at basketball once. International relations. Twin towns — sister cities. Gaziantep is twinned with: