Population: 60,000 Other name: Çolemerg (Kurdish) Favourite son: Çelik Gülersoy (historic building conservationist) Close to both the Iranian and Iraqi borders, Hakkari is…
Population: 69,400 Other name: Şimex (Kurdish) Way over in the far southeast of Turkey, largely Kurdish Şırnak is a hard town to love.…
“Walnut Grove” Population: 28,000 Other name: Hazo (Kurdish) Driving from Batman to Siirt the road follows the Batman Çayı (river)…
“Place of Pilgrimage” Population: 6,000 Unless you’re a particularly devout Muslim you wouldn’t want to go out of your way…
“Quite pure” Population: 350 Other name: Kafro Elayto (Suryani) East of Gercüş off the highway to Dargecit stands the…
Population: 5,000 Other name: Kercews (Kurdish) Favourite son: Mehmet Şimşek (Finance Minister) Sixty-two km south of Batman via Hasankeyf, the small town of Gercüş…
Ancient stronghold on Mt Meleto Population: 12,700 Other name: Qabilcewz (Kurdish), Kabilceviz Sixty-five km north of Batman, the small…
“Two Bridges” Population: 3,400 Other name: Avuski Just east…
“Kurdish Place” Population: 36,000 Old name: Garzan Let’s be honest – there’s absolutely…
“Ayran-seller” Population: 350 Other name: Dera Qire Around 15km north-east of Batman the remains of the huge Suryani (Syrian Orthodoz) monastery…