Turkey’s third largest lake
Right in the heart of Anatolia, the Atatürk Lake is Turkey’s largest man-made lake and the third largest of all the lakes in the country. It was created when work was completed on the Atatürk Dam (Atatürk Barajı) on the Euphrates river in 1992.
The lake forms the centrepiece of the GAP project (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi, Southeast Anatolia Project), a complex of 22 dams and lakes on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers intended to provide irrigation locally and electricity for the rest of the country.
The Atatürk Dam took nine years to build. It’s 169m high and 1819m wide, and covers an area of 315 sqm. Guests are welcome to view it from a Visitor’s Centre.
Irrigation provided by the lake has made it possible to grow more cotton in the region but all such big dam projects are controversial and critics suggest that the benefits are short-lived and that the water has created an unhealthy new micro-climate.
If you’re travelling in the Adiyaman–Şanlıurfa area you are likely to get to see the lake. There are lakeside restaurants at Kahta, and a new floating swimming pool at Gazihandede, near Adiyaman.
Transport info
North of Kahta there is a ferry crossing point to Siverek that greatly reduces travelling time from Adiyaman to Diyarbakır around the south of the lake.
Don’t believe stories that it’s a “refugee boat” – it’s a lovely way to move around the area.
