Turkey launched the “Mesopotamia Express” tourist train to discover its tourist areas located in the south and southeast of the country.

The train scheduled to depart from the capital, Ankara, towards the state of Diyarbakir (southeast) on April 19, will pass through the states of Kayseri, Malatya, and Elazig before arriving in Diyarbakir.

The train takes its name from the “Mesopotamia” region, which means “Mesopotamia” and includes parts of Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

On Saturday, the aforementioned tourist train completed its trial tour aimed at promoting it.

The train arrived in Diyarbakir on Saturday, one day after the start of the test flight from Ankara.

The train gives its passengers the opportunity to tour and shop in the states and tourist stations that it passes through, and discover their tourist, archaeological and historical attractions, as well as their local dishes.

The length of the tourist train line is 1,051 km, and the first official trip is scheduled to depart on April 19 from Ankara, arriving in Diyarbakir the next day, and departing from there towards Ankara again on the 21st of the same month.

The capacity of one trip of the Mesopotamia Express is 180 passengers.

The train also includes 9 cars with beds for two people.

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The Turkish East is full of many caves that attract attention with their history and geological formations, including the Hilar and Birkleyn Caves in Diyarbakir Province and the Akçatape Cave in Elazig Province.

The Hilar Caves are located in the Argan district of Diyarbakir and are registered as a protected archaeological area, as they are among the oldest caves inhabited by humans in the Anatolia region, and their history extends for about 12 thousand years.

These caves contain traces from the Neolithic era and attract attention with their rock tombs and inscriptions.

It is considered a witness to an important historical period in which the transition took place from nomadic life to settlement in villages, and from hunting and gathering to food production.

The mayor of Arghani, acting mayor, Ahmed Karaaslan, pointed out the great historical importance of the Hilar Caves.

He reported that next to these caves there is the “Chayono” hill, which is one of the places where agriculture began with the transition from nomadism to settled life.

He stated that the municipality is working on tourism promotion of the caves and organizing various informational events, as well as trips for school students to them.

Birkleyn Caves

The Birkleyn Caves, located between Lici District in Diyarbakir and Ganj District in Bingöl, were used as a human settlement in ancient times.

It is believed that the caves were used as early as 6 thousand years BC, and settlement began in the Neolithic era.

There are cuneiform inscriptions and writings in the caves that were engraved by order of the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser I and Shalmaneser III as a symbol of their sovereignty.

The Birkleyn Caves are also a favorite destination for nature-loving athletes and citizens escaping the extreme heat, and have witnessed an increasing number of visitors in recent years after the region was cleansed of terrorism.

Akçatape Cave

The “Akçatape” cave in the Kaban district of the Elazig Province is distinguished by its unparalleled geological formations, and the people of the region are looking forward to making it a famous tourist destination.

The mayor of the village of Akçatape, Mustafa Bolat, said that the cave is about 4 kilometers from the village, and visitors come to it from time to time, but it is impossible to reach it by regular cars.

He stressed that rehabilitating the cave and providing the necessary infrastructure to make it a tourist destination would bring great economic benefit to the region.

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The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) announced that the death toll from the earthquake disaster in the south of the country had reached 47,975 people as of Saturday evening.

The head of AFAD, Yunus Sezer, said in a press statement that 47,975 people, including 6,278 foreigners, died as a result of the earthquake that occurred at dawn on February 6.

He pointed to the continuation of the work of removing rubble, erecting tents and building prefabricated and permanent homes for those affected in the earthquake areas.

The Turkish states affected by the earthquake are Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adıyaman, Osmaniye, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya and Elazig.

On February 6, a double earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, the first measuring 7.7 degrees and the second 7.6 degrees, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, killing tens of thousands, mostly in southern Turkey, in addition to massive destruction.

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Turkish Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ announced on Saturday that he had made statements and collected evidence in 7,598 buildings that collapsed in the earthquake, and imprisoned 184 people as part of investigations to hold those responsible for their poor construction accountable.

Bozdağ, along with İnterior Minister Süleyman Soylu, held a press conference in Diyarbakir to inform the public about the developments of the ongoing investigations into the collapsed buildings.

Bozdağ confirmed that the rubble of any collapsed building was not removed until sufficient evidence of the cause of the collapse was collected under judicial supervision.

In this context, he explained, he collected evidence of 7,598 buildings collapsed in the earthquake, according to the latest toll, with the continuation of uncovering the rest of the collapsed buildings.

He added that the judicial authorities issued an arrest warrant against 55 suspects and ordered the detention of 184 others, including 79 contractors, pending investigations.

On February 6, a double earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, the first measuring 7.7 degrees and the second 7.6 degrees, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, killing tens of thousands, mostly in southern Turkey, in addition to massive destruction.

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The number of flights to the earthquake-affected states in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay exceeded 10,000.

According to information from the General Directorate of Government Airports Operations affiliated to the Ministry of Transport, the total number of domestic and international flights to the airports of the states affected by the earthquake reached 10,216 flights from February 6 to 24.

According to the information, 8,883 domestic flights and 1,333 external flights were witnessed by the airports of Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Adana, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman, Malatya, Diyarbakir, Hatay and Elazig in the disaster area by military and civilian aircraft.

According to the information, 877 of these flights were in Kahramanmaraş, 551 in Hatay, 1775 in Gaziantep, 3 thousand and 95 in Adana, 602 in Sanliurfa, 988 in Adiyaman, 731 in Malatya, 1062 in Diyarbakir and 535 in Elazig airports.

The number of people evacuated from the region by air exceeded 485,000.

On the other hand, 11 thousand and 752 tons of humanitarian relief materials were delivered to airports for earthquake victims in the region.

On February 6, a double earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, the first measuring 7.7 degrees and the second 7.6 degrees, followed by thousands of violent aftershocks, killing tens of thousands, mostly in southern Turkey, in addition to massive destruction.

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The “Turkish Center for Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing” of the “Istanbul Technical University” monitored via satellite the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria.

On February 6, the regions of Pazargık and Albistan in the state of Kahramanmaraş, southern Turkey, witnessed two earthquakes, the first with a magnitude of 7.7 and the second of 7.6 degrees, leaving destruction in Marash and the neighboring states, which are Gaziantep, Sanli, Urfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adi Yaman, Ottoman, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya and Elazig.

With the occurrence of the two earthquakes and aftershocks that struck northern Syria as well, the ground station in the Turkish center began to monitor the effects of the destruction through the Pleiades (Spot 67) (Worldview3) (GeoEye) satellites.

Due to the cloudy weather conditions in the region, the satellites monitored the beginning of the effects of the destruction in the states of Adana and Osmaniye, as well as in the regions of Qarqakhan in Hatay and Turkoglu in Kahramanmaraş and Nordağı, and a reformatory in Gaziantep, and identified the places affected by the earthquake.

By means of satellites, data related to the areas destroyed by the earthquake were recorded, while it was noted that the wreckage and rubble resulting from the disaster closed the main roads in some areas of the Nordağı region.

The satellites also monitored the rescue efforts and the removal of rubble taking place in the affected areas, and the locations of the tents set up by the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) were identified in different places.

The pictures show that nearly 100 buildings in the Nurdağı district and 150 buildings in the Islahiya district of Gaziantep state were destroyed by the earthquake.

Satellite images clearly showed the destruction in Hatay, where many destroyed buildings, in addition to damaged buildings and closed roads in the Qarqakhan region of the state and the Turkoglu region of Kahramanmaraş.

The center’s deputy director, Nabiye Musa Oglu, said that the project to establish the center began in 1996 and it began operating as an applied research center under the umbrella of Istanbul Technical University in 2000.

She added that the center possesses important capabilities to monitor changes in the geography through the use of satellite images and the processing of relevant data.

And she added, “We provide data from different satellites and process them to contribute to providing the necessary information and data for various studies, especially since remote sensing data is an indispensable resource for information, especially when it comes to large geographical areas.”

The Turkish Academy reported that immediately after the two earthquakes occurred in southern Turkey on February 6, the center began monitoring the areas affected by the disaster, despite the cloudy weather conditions there at that time.

She indicated that the center began receiving data and conducting studies to identify damaged and intact buildings using various image processing techniques and artificial intelligence techniques.

And she added, “There are many damaged buildings. We see that the destruction is relatively less in Adana, while we can clearly identify through the pictures the damaged and intact buildings.”

She revealed that the Center for Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing constantly shares the images, data and information it obtains with research and related institutions.

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Turkish Vice President Fuad Oktay announced the death of 284 people and the injury of 2,323 others as a result of the earthquake that struck the province of Kahramanmaraş at dawn on Monday, with a magnitude of 7.4.

A video clip of the process of extracting a child from under the rubble was still alive in the state of Diyarbakir, after the earthquake that struck southern Turkey at dawn today, amid the rescuers’ takbeers during the recovery process.

Oktay told reporters that schools and university dormitories were not damaged by the earthquake, while schools were closed in 10 states for a week due to the earthquake.

He added that 102 mobile broadcasting stations for mobile phones were sent and operated to the earthquake-affected areas.

He stated that Hatay airport was closed and civil aviation traffic was stopped in the states of Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep.

He also pointed out that the concerned authorities had stopped supplying several regions with natural gas due to the earthquake.

He continued, “The aid will be coordinated under the supervision of the Turkish Emergency and Natural Disasters Department and distributed to those affected by the earthquake.”

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Photography enthusiasts are increasingly flocking to Cinq Chayi in the Turkish state of Diyarbakir in the fall to capture the beauty of nature and the magic of the new season.

A group of photography apprentices in the state of Şanlıurfa went to Cinq Chayi to take pictures of autumn in its charming colors.

Photography expert Abdullah Lali said that nature and autumn are the best place and time for photography training.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in a youth forum organized by the Justice and Development Party in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

This came within the framework of the program “My First Voice for Erdogan, My First Voice for the Justice and Development Party”.

In his speech at the event, which took place at the Sezai Karagok Culture and Convention Center, Erdogan said that young people will play a major role in building Turkey’s future.

Erdogan listed a number of development and vital projects that he inaugurated today in Diyarbakir, hoping that these projects will benefit the residents of the province.

Erdogan stressed that his government and the Turkish army will continue to combat the PKK terrorist organization, which has wreaked havoc in southeastern Turkey for many years.

Regarding the foreign policy of his government, Erdogan said that Turkey has achieved great diplomatic successes in recent years, noting that the Istanbul Agreement for shipping Ukrainian grain to world markets is one of the most prominent of those successes.

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The sit-in launched by a group of mothers in front of the HDP headquarters in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, has continued since September 2019.

Families are protesting in front of the party headquarters, which they accuse of helping the terrorist “PKK” organization kidnap young people to the mountains and deceive them to fight in its ranks against their state.

In an interview with reporters on Saturday, Fatima Qaraqosh said that she is participating in the sit-in for her daughter, who was studying at the Faculty of Medicine at May 19 University in Samsun (north).

Qaraqosh confirmed that her daughter has been missing for 6 years and has not received any information about her after she was deceived by the party and taken to the mountains to join the ranks of the terrorist organization.

As for Nord El-Din Odomlu, he indicated that he participated in the sit-in with the rest of the families from the state of Siirt to demand the return of his son Yusef, who was kidnapped when he was only 16 years old.

Udomlu said he will not leave until he gets his son back and that he will continue to pursue the HDP until the end because it is responsible for kidnapping and recruiting young people.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously expressed his support for the sit-in participants on more than one occasion, as well as support for ministers, politicians, artists, journalists, writers, athletes, civic organizations, clerics and individuals from all segments of society.

The sit-in is also supported by the “Srebrenica Mothers’ Association” in Bosnia and Herzegovina, European Parliament Member Tomas Zdechovsky, and ambassadors in Ankara who visited Diyarbakir and met the sit-in.

The PKK is a terrorist organization operating in several countries in the region, including Syria, Iraq and Iran, and Turkey is combating it in response to the attacks it is launching against its citizens and forces.

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