Population: 117,750
Old names: Nezib
Favourite son: Mustafa Cengiz (ex-President of Galatasaray FC)
On the western side of the Euphrates river, Nizip is a generally unexciting town that is nevertheless the jumping off point for getting to the Roman ruins at Belkis-Zeugma and to the Hittite ruins at Karkamış which straddle the Syrian border at Jarabulus. It played a pivotal part in mid-19th-century history when an Egyptian army led by İbrahim Paşa managed to defeat the Ottomans at the Battle of Nizip on 24 June 1839, an event that culminated in the sultan appointing İbrahim’s father Muhammed the hereditary governor of Egypt.
If you have to hang about in Nizip for any reason you might want to look for the Byzantine Fevkanı church that may date back to the 6th or 7th century. It was apparently used as a mosque during the 19th century but became a warehouse after purpose-built mosques took its place. Although it was restored in 2011 to serve as a centre for the disabled it has now been abandoned again. It’s opposite the local health centre (sağlık ocağı).
Facing the 19th-century Çarşı Cami there is a fine corbelled building attached to what was once an olive-oil factory but is now locked up. Otherwise, there are one or two battered old houses in the area near the church but nothing worth going out of your way to look for. 
South of Nizip and all the way to the border stretch fields upon carefully cultivated fields of fıstık (pistachios), the nuts that ensure the best baklava in the country comes from nearby Gaziantep.
Sleeping
Beğer Hotel. Tel: 0342-517 5450
Transport info
There are regular buses from Gaziantep and Birecik to Nizip but no onward buses to Belkis-Zeugma (don’t believe the ones in the Antep otogar marked “Zeugma” – they only go to Nizip).
Taxis are available from a rank close to where the buses from Birecik stop. It’s 9km to Belkis-Zeugma.
Hourly dolmuşes to Karkamış leave from behind the Çarşı Cami.
Onward dolmuşes to Şanlıurfa (Urfa) and Birecik leave from the otogar on the eastern side of town. The drivers may want to hang about until they’re full – it may be quicker to walk out onto the main highway and flag down any passing bus.
