Gaziantep

About Gaziantep

Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region. It is located approximately 185 km (115 mi) east of Adana and 97 km (60 mi) north of Aleppo, Syria and situated on the Sajur River.

The city is thought to be located on the site of ancient Antiochia ad Taurum and is near ancient Zeugma. Sometime after the Byzantine-ruled city came under the Seljuk Empire, the region was administered by Armenian warlords. In 1098, it became part of the County of Edessa, a Crusader state, though it continued to be administered by Armenians, such as Kogh Vasil.

Aintab rose to prominence in the 14th century as the fortress became a settlement, hotly contested by the Mamluk Sultanate, Dulkadirids, and the Ilkhanate. It was besieged by Timur in 1400 and the Aq Qoyunlu in 1420. The Dulkadirid-controlled city fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1516 sometime before the Battle of Marj Dabiq.

At the end of 2025, Gaziantep province was home to 2,222,415 inhabitants, of whom around 1.9 million lived in the urban area. It is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey. Gaziantep is a diverse city inhabited mostly by ethnic Turks and a significant minority of Kurds and Syrian refugees. It was historically populated by Turkomans, Armenians, Jews, and a plethora of other ethnic groups.

In February 2023, the city was significantly damaged by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake. Although three of the four most significant quakes of the earthquake occurred within the Gaziantep Province, the overall destruction to the city was reportedly less intense than that of Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Malatya, and Adıyaman provinces, making it the fifth most affected province at 944 buildings collapsed. The destruction was reportedly much higher in the rural districts of Nurdağı and Islahiye, although a number of historic sites within the city such as mosques and Gaziantep Castle also suffered significant damages. Due to its size, location and relative intactness, the city served as a regional hub for international organizations and NGOs for earthquake relief and reconstruction after the earthquake.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.