Osmaniye
Osmaniye is a city on the eastern edge of the Çukurova plain in southern Turkey and the capital of Osmaniye province.
Backed by the foothills of the Nur Mountains, Osmaniye lay on one of the old Silk Roads and was always a place of strategic importance since it straddled the main route between Anatolia and the Middle East.
Osmaniye lies at the centre of a rich agricultural region watered by the Ceyhan river and known for growing peanuts. During the intensely hot summers many residents escape either to the Mediterranean coast or into the Nur mountains. The yayla of Zorkun is a particularly popular mountain retreat.
Osmaniye is strongly associated with Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the MHP, who was its member of parliament for many years.
Although Osmaniye was probably inhabited in turn by the Hittites, Persians, Byzantines and Armenians, there is nothing left to show their presence in the modern city.
An Islamic presence was first established by the Abbasid Caliph Harun Rashid, auxiliaries in his army being the first Turks to fight in Anatolia. They obviously liked the area and following the Turkish victory over the Byzantines at Malazgirt in 1071 waves of Turkish conquest began. The Nur Mountains were settled by the Ulaşlı tribe of the Turkmens.
The Ulaşlı remained the dominant local power into the period of the Ottoman Empire and were even involved in the Celali uprisings, during a period of crisis for the Ottomans in the 17th century. Eventually, in 1865 the Ottoman general Derviş Paşa was charged with bringing law and order to the Çukurova. He established his headquarters in the Osmaniye villages of Dereobası, Fakıuşağı and Akyar and brought the Ulaşlı down from the mountains to the village of Hacıosmanlı. This eventually became the province of Osmaniye.
Between 1924 and 1933 the city of Osmaniye was the capital of the province of the same name. However, in 1933 the province was abolished and Osmaniye became the district governorate for Adana province. Then in 1996 Osmaniye was reinstated as Turkey's 80th province with the city of Osmaniye as its capital. Since then it has received more investment for infrastructure and now feels more like a city than the market town of old.
Backed by the foothills of the Nur Mountains, Osmaniye lay on one of the old Silk Roads and was always a place of strategic importance since it straddled the main route between Anatolia and the Middle East.
Osmaniye lies at the centre of a rich agricultural region watered by the Ceyhan river and known for growing peanuts. During the intensely hot summers many residents escape either to the Mediterranean coast or into the Nur mountains. The yayla of Zorkun is a particularly popular mountain retreat.
Osmaniye is strongly associated with Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the MHP, who was its member of parliament for many years.
Although Osmaniye was probably inhabited in turn by the Hittites, Persians, Byzantines and Armenians, there is nothing left to show their presence in the modern city.
An Islamic presence was first established by the Abbasid Caliph Harun Rashid, auxiliaries in his army being the first Turks to fight in Anatolia. They obviously liked the area and following the Turkish victory over the Byzantines at Malazgirt in 1071 waves of Turkish conquest began. The Nur Mountains were settled by the Ulaşlı tribe of the Turkmens.
The Ulaşlı remained the dominant local power into the period of the Ottoman Empire and were even involved in the Celali uprisings, during a period of crisis for the Ottomans in the 17th century. Eventually, in 1865 the Ottoman general Derviş Paşa was charged with bringing law and order to the Çukurova. He established his headquarters in the Osmaniye villages of Dereobası, Fakıuşağı and Akyar and brought the Ulaşlı down from the mountains to the village of Hacıosmanlı. This eventually became the province of Osmaniye.
Between 1924 and 1933 the city of Osmaniye was the capital of the province of the same name. However, in 1933 the province was abolished and Osmaniye became the district governorate for Adana province. Then in 1996 Osmaniye was reinstated as Turkey's 80th province with the city of Osmaniye as its capital. Since then it has received more investment for infrastructure and now feels more like a city than the market town of old.
Map - Osmaniye
Map
Country - Turkey
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| Flag of Turkey | |
One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, Persians and others. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions in modern Turkey were culturally Hellenised, which continued during the Byzantine era. The Seljuk Turks began migrating in the 11th century, and the Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities. Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, and the Turkification of Anatolia increased during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. From the late 18th century onwards, the empire's power declined with a gradual loss of territories. Mahmud II started a period of modernisation in the early 19th century. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restricted the authority of the Sultan and restored the Ottoman Parliament after a 30-year suspension, ushering the empire into a multi-party period. The 1913 coup d'état put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, who facilitated the Empire's entry into World War I as part of the Central Powers in 1914. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek and Assyrian subjects. After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRY | Turkish lira | ₺ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AV | Avar language |
| AZ | Azerbaijani language |
| KU | Kurdish language |
| TR | Turkish language |