Atayurt is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of

Silifke Silifke is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mersin Province, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,692 km2, and its population is 132,665 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain. ...

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 6,876 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''

belde Belde (literally "town", also known as ''kasaba'') means "large village with a municipality" in Turkish language, Turkish. All Turkish province centers and district centers have municipalities, but the Villages of Turkey, villages are usually too ...

'').

Geography

Atayurt is in the fertile alluvial plain of

district. The town is on the

D 400 highway D.400 is an east–west state road in southern Turkey. The road starts at Datça in the southwest corner of the Anatolian peninsula and ends at the Iranian border at Esendere. D.400 runs through the cities of Marmaris, Fethiye, Antalya, ...

. The distance to

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

is and to Silifke is .

History

The rural population density of the vicinity has always been high and there were two villages (Olukbaşı and Esenbel) next to each other. In 1989, the two villages have been merged to form Atayurt town. In 2005, Karadedeli and Sıtmasuyu villages have been merged. The name of the town refers to Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic.

Economy

Like other parts of Silifke plain, the main economic activity of Atayurt is agriculture, especially green house and forced crop agriculture. Almost all fruits especially strawberries are produced. Since the sea side is only to town center, the services to summer houses at the sea side also play a part of town economy.

Concerns about blue tunnel project

The

Göksu River The Göksu River (), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as the Calycadnus and in the Middle Ages as the Saleph, is a river on the Taşeli, Taşeli Plateau in southern Turkey. Its two sources arise in the Taurus Mountains—the northern in t ...

is very important to the economy of the town. The government is planning to use a part of the river to water Central Anatolia with the Blue Tunnel Project () referring to a tunnel with a capacity of 36 m³/s which will drain water to

Eğiste Eğiste (formerly: ''Bağbaşı'') is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Hadim, Konya Province, Turkey. Its population is 686 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It is situated in Toros Mountains ...

Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...

. Atayurt residents are afraid that this project may cause a partial drought around Atayurt and decrease agricultural production.Mayor's page

References

{{Silifke District Neighbourhoods in Silifke District