“Quite White Castle” Population: 93,000
Right on the Turkey-Syria border, Akçakale is a predominantly Arabic-speaking town of very little attraction. There’s no reason to come here unless you’re a particular fan of half-completed concrete buildings.
On top of its official population, Akçakale now hosts large numbers of Syrian refugees, most of them housed in the large Süleymanşah tented camp on the northern outskirts.
Advice to foreign travellers tends to be not to visit Akçakale where several people were killed by bullets straying across the border in 2013. These days there’s little chance a visitor would be shot though.
Transport info
Frequent minibuses link Akçakale and Şanlıurfa. They leave from near the large restored Marmudoğlu Kulesi (tower) in the Beykapısı neighbourhood, east of Gölbaşı.
The minibuses pass the junction for visiting Harran but if that’s where you’re headed you’re better off taking a direct dolmuş from the same stop as the Akçakale ones.
