| The
Karaburun Peninsula contains some of the most ancient settlements of
Anatolia. Foundings have proved that the first settlements developed in
pre-historical time, during the Chalcolithicum (4,000 B.C.). In the
Ancient Period, the peninsula had its golden age during which the Ionians
founded Erythrai on the southern part of the peninsula. Erythrai was one
of the most important and richest Ionian cities. Erythrai founded five
more cities on the Karaburun Peninsula. One of them was Sidousa, located
at today’s Karaburun City (called Ahirli until recently) and the little
islands in front of it. Through the ages, the peninsula came under the
rule of various civilizations and empires. In 1320, the Karaburun
Peninsula was annexed by Çaka Bey and became part of the Aydinogullari
rule, getting thus its Turkish identity. In 1415, Çelebi Sultan Mehmet
occupied the peninsula and integrated it into the Ottoman Empire.
Karaburun City (Ahirli with its old name) got the status of municipality
in 1902. In 1910, it became a Government District. After World War I, it
was occupied by the Greek troops on 15 May 1919. On 17 September 1922,
it was freed from its occupants. From that date on the Administrative
borders of the Government District of Karaburun took more or less the same
dimensions as the geographical limits of peninsula.
(Many views and hypotheses
exist on the origin and the meaning of the name of Karaburun (Black Cape).
On ancient maps, the peninsula is mentioned as “Capo Calaberno”, which
could explain a phonetic transformation into “Karaburun”. Another
hypothesis is that of the cape of "Kömür Burnu" (Cape Black
Coal), which one can see arriving from the sea and which might have given
inspiration for the name “Karaburun” (Black Cape).
Yet, another reference is made to the fact that in old Turkish
“kara” (black) was used to point the north and “ak” (white) the
south. Indeed, the most northern part of the peninsula is known as
“Karaburun” (Cape Black) and the cape close to Esendere in the south
is called “Akburun” (Cape white).
The
District Government of Karaburun is governing 13 villages and 1 township
(Mordogan). Karaburun City
has two quarters and the township of Mordogan has 5 quarters. Of the 13 villages, 6 are administered by the City of
Karaburun, i.e. Ambarseki, Bozköy, Haseki, Saip, Tepeboz and Yayla
Köy. The township of Mordogan administers Eglenhoca, Inecik and Kösedere.
The villages of Küçükbahçe,
Salman, Parlak and Sarpincik have a village status. Many
villages have settlements near the sea, such as Denizgiren near the
village of Küçükbahçe, Badembükü near the village of Parlak and
Hamzabükü near the village of Sarpincik.
The
quarters of Karaburun City are Merkez and Iskele. The quarters of Mordogan
are Merkez, Ardiç, Kütlüçek, Çatalkaya and the Old Mordogan Village.
At the
census of 1977, the total population amounted 10,332 persons. At the
census of 2000, this figure raised to 13,546, of which 4,397 are living in
the villages, 2,947 in Karaburun City and 6,202 in the township of
Mordogan. Compared to the average population growth in Turkey, these
figures show a rather slow growing rate. The reason for this is that the
Karaburun Peninsula is prone to emigration.
More information on the population of the villages can be found on the
"Villages” page
The
Karaburun Peninsula is also having a number of villages, which have lost
their population for various reasons. Some of these villages were emptied
during the period after 1923 when the mainly orthodox families left their
villages and moved to Greece after the victory of the Turkish Army at the
end of the Independence War. The Muslim families, which came from Greece
and were settled in these villages by the new Turkish Government left them
after a while
Karareis,
Egriliman, Denizgiren, Teke, Kösedere İskelesi and Yenicepinar
had a rather important number of inhabitants in the period before 1923,
but were abandoned after that. The reason for that was that the families
living in these villages were mainly orthodox families. After the
departure of the orthodox villagers, the Muslim villagers of the
villages of Sazak, Manastir (Kalecik) and Yeniliman stayed
for a while in the half emptied villages. However, later on they also
left their villages. The village of Hacilar near Mordogan was abandoned
after 1950 for unknown reason. The villages of Çullu and
Hisarcik were abandoned after an earthquake in 1949 had destroyed
most of the houses.
A
certain number of abandoned villages have recently been inhabited again
like the villages of Denizgiren and Tolas near Küçükbahçe
as well as the village of Yeniliman. Certain places also developed
as second residence areas such as Saipalti, Esendere, Kaynarpinar, Ardiç,
Asagi and Yukari Boyabag, Karareis and Görence.
|
DISTRICT GOVERNMENT >
History
and structure of the administration of Karaburun District
