Gaziantep

Gaziantep, city, south-central Turkey. It is situated near the Sacirsuyu River, a tributary of the Euphrates River, in limestone hills north of Aleppo, Syria.

The city was strategically situated near ancient trade routes, and recent excavations have unearthed fragments of pottery indicating settlement there in the early 4th millennium bce. Known as Hamtap in the Middle Ages, the city was an important stronghold guarding the Syrian routes and was captured by Turks in 1183. Thereafter it changed hands among various Turkmen and Arab dynasties and Mongol and Timurid invaders until its final absorption into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century.

Called Ayıntab (Arabic ʿAyn Ṭāb: “Good Spring”) under the Ottomans, it was occupied by the British in 1919 and by the French until 1921. By then it had become a centre of Turkish nationalist resistance to European occupation. Upon its return to Turkey in 1922, Mustafa Kemal (later called Atatürk), founder of the republic, renamed it in honour of its heroic stand (Turkish gazi, “champion of Islam”). Well built, with stone houses, paved streets, and covered bazaars, Gaziantep is bordered by gardens, vineyards, and olive and nut groves.

Historical buildings include the ruined fortress built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (6th century ce) and mosques dating from the 11th and 16th centuries. A medieval theological college houses an archaeological museum that has an outstanding collection of Hittite seals unearthed in the region.

In February 2023 an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck west of Gaziantep, causing widespread destruction and tens of thousands of deaths in the region. The devastation was exacerbated by shoddy construction, poor enforcement of building regulations, and the presence of makeshift shelters that accommodated hundreds of thousands of refugees who had been displaced during the Syrian Civil War.

The surrounding area is delimited on the south by Syria and on the east by the Euphrates River. It is noted for its production of wines, halvah and baklava (sweets), and pekmez (grape preserve); other products include pistachio nuts, aniseed, tobacco, and goatskin rugs. A region settled since antiquity, it includes the ancient sites of Duluk (ancient Doliche; site of the shrine of Jupiter Dolichenus); Kilis (the Assyrian Kilisi); and the neo-Hittite city of Samal (Zincirli Höyük). Pop. (2000) 853,513; (2021 est.) 1,714,775.