Today’s visit was to Gaziantep, formerly Antep, which is located close to the Syrian border. As archaeologists have discovered, there has been human life here dating back to 70,000 BC. Gaziantep is located near the Tigris River which is one of the two rivers that resulted in ancient Mesopotamia. The city has continuously been occupied since roughly 4000 B.C. This is why it is considered one the oldest cities in the world. The pre-historic parts of the land cannot be located in the city. For that, one needs to visit the archaeological sites located in the surrounding lands and I unfortunately do not have the time to do so. The city of Gaziantep is interesting primarily because it was a lot cleaner and contained a lot more modern structures than I expected. With the buildup of 6000 years of history, I expected my black shoes to change to a much lighter tone by the end of my tour, but the color was very distinctive in the end. Knowing that the city was famous for its spices, kebabs, and desserts (primarily baklava), I headed towards the “old market” as it is called. Sectioned off by types of goods sold, the old market covers roughly a 3*3 block of side streets. It’s entertaining to watch the store owners work on molding new copper pots, and listening to merchants do their best to convince me that their goods truly cannot be found anywhere else. The end of the old market leads you to the castle which is the center of the city.
Perched up on a hill, this castle was first built by the Romans in 2 A.D. and has since served as a protection for its people until the last 100 years. The castle has been converted into a museum explaining the significance of Gaziantep in the Turkish war of independence, and how it earned the title “Gazi.” Gazi means wounded soldier in Turkish, and is seen as a great honor to gain this title when fighting for Turkey. In the independence war, fighting with only sticks, stones, and minimum amount of personal hand guns, the people of Antep managed to prevent the French army from properely gaining control of the city during a time when the rest of Turkey was focused on defending the western front. After this feat, the city of Antep became Gaziantep, and has remained so till this day. This proud city boasts a massive monument to 14 children that were killed during the defense as they tried to bring food to the frontline. After touring this museum, I sat down and ate a fine feast near the city (A picture of it can be seen below). I then went to the Zeugma museum which boasts some of the most famous archaeological discoveries in the world. Unfortunately, I came a month to early. The city is preparing to open the largest mosaic museum in the world next month, and for that reason, a huge portion of the museum was empty. There was only one wing remaining in this relatively large museum, yet that wing in itself had a lot to offer. Tools dating back to 70,000 BC, and various valuable pieces, such as coins from various empires could be found in abundance. The center piece was the “Gypsy Girl” mosaic which I explain the significance of below. That pretty much sums up my day visit to Antep. Now I am off to Sanliurfa which will be the far most eastern point I have ever gone.
Gazilerin sehiri Antep’deydim bugun. Sabah erkenden kahvaltimi yapip yollara dokuldum. Ilk duragim eski pazariydi. Cok hos, cok da renkli gorunuslere sayip Gaziantep’in eski pazari. Benim alisik olmadigim bir suru sira halinde bakircilar vardi. Bakirci pazarin yaninda birsuru daha gruplasmis siralar vardi. Renklerinden dolayi benim ilgimi en cok ceken sira ise baharatlardi. Ben de guzelligiye dayanamayip biraz alisveris yaptim. Bir sonraki duragim Antep kalesiydi. Sehirin tam ortasinda bulanan kale artik bir muze. Muze ise Antep’in Fransizlara karsi direnesini anlatiyor. Kaleden sonra ise Imam Cagdas’da nefis bir oglen yemegi yedim. Bir lahmacun, bol salata, bir kusbasi, bide bir porsiyon baklava beni butun gun tuttu. Gunumu de Zeugma muzesini gezerek tamamladim. Burada normalde bulunan tarihin sadece onda birini gordum cunku bir ay sonra dunyanin en buyuk mozayik muzesi aciliyormus Antep’te, ve o sebeple bir cok degerler oraya tasinmis. Yine de cingene kizimi gorebildim, onun icin icim rahat.
Onun disinda ise Antep cok enteresan bir sehir. Ilk oncellikle bunu belirtmem gerekir ki, bu kadar sanayiye yonelik bir sehir beklemiyordum. Hizlica buyuyen bir sehir, ve tarihini ne kadar belli etsede, yeni yapimlar gozden kacmiyor. Insanlari ise cok sicak buldum. Tabii, Amerikadaki onca seneden sonra, herkezi daha sicak bulurum. Ama yine de farkediyorsun. Mesela bir aile dostunun araciyla bir sofor bulundu beni bazi yerlere goturmek icin. En son artik otogara gelmisiz, biletim elimde, ve otobusum belli, ama binene kadar gitmedi. Rica ettim gidebilir diye, ama orali olmadi. Beni tanimasada, yanimda durmasi onu daha rahat edicegini ifade etti. O koruma icgudusu sanirim anadoluda cok daha derinden ve yaygin. Eminim ki ayni sicakligi Urfa’da gorucegimdir.
Panaromic view of Gaziantep. 
No explanation necessary
The old market
The spice in the Old Market
On the outskirts of the Old Market
Part of the copper section in the Old Market
The heroes of the force against France
Entrance to the castle
Independence war fighters
Fossils dating back to 70,000 BC
Two school girls that caught my attention not because of their school uniforms, but their ability to show character/color underneath those uniforms. I thought this could be especially noticed with the girl pointing towards the guy taking a picture of them.
A man giving away free licorice water.
Arrowing pointing towards Mecca for those who want to pray
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