Karkamış
| Karkamış | |
|---|---|
 Karkamış
|
|
| Coordinates: 36°50′02.40″N 38°00′03.60″E / 36.8340000°N 38.0010000°ECoordinates: 36°50′02.40″N 38°00′03.60″E / 36.8340000°N 38.0010000°E | |
| Country |
 Turkey
|
| Region | Southeastern Anatolia |
| Province | Gaziantep |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Nuh Kocaaslan (AKP) |
| Area | |
| • District | 309.89 km2 (119.65 sq mi) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Urban | 3,034 |
| • District | 10,587 |
| • District density | 34/km2 (88/sq mi) |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
| Postal code | 27xxx |
| Area code(s) | +(90)342 |
| Website | |
Karkamış, aka Kargamış (Kurdish: Girgamêş), is a town and district of Gaziantep Province in southeastern Turkey, next to the site of ancient Karkemish. The population of the town was 2,998 in 2010.
It is a border checkpoint on the road to Jarabulus in Syria. In 2004, 8,071 vehicles and 38,263 people passed the border checkpoint into Turkey while 8,795 vehicles and 35,474 people crossed it towards Syria.
The River Euphrates runs east of Karkamış southwards into Syria. At this place, a railway bridge of 870 m (2,850 ft) that was built between 1911-1913 by German engineers as part of the Istanbul-Baghdad Railway, crosses the river parallel to the border line.
One of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), the Karkamış Dam and hydoelectric power station is located 4.5 km (2.8 mi) upstream from the border crossing of Euphrates.
In March 2011, the Turkish military base which included Karkemish ruins was cleared of mines. Archaeologists from Italy and Turkey have begun excavations in the town in September 2011.
The Municipality of Karkamış was established in 1961 (in fact it was called Barak at that time), before then having been assigned administratively under Nizip. At the time of the famous British Museum excavations at the nearby archaeological site lying to the East (1911–1914, 1920), Karkamış was not yet existing, only the railway station built by the Germans being already there, since the main village at that time was Jarabulus, now in Syria. After the Turkish War of Independence a settlement was established around the railway station which came to be named after the famous nearby archaeological site.
The ancient site of Karkemish is now an extensive set of ruins, located on the West bank of Euphrates River, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Gaziantep, Turkey and 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Aleppo, Syria. The site is crossed by the Turco-Syrian border. A Turkish military base has been built on the Karkemish acropolis and Inner Town, and access to the site is restricted. Most of the Outer Town lies in Syrian territory.
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Wikipedia