Arslanköy (also called Efrenk) is a town in

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of f ...

, Turkey, with a population of 1,873 as of 2019.

Geography

Arslanköy is a mountain town situated in the

Toros Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir ...

at an altitude of approximately . The distance by road to Mersin is .

History

Located about 3 kilometers south from the town is a small garrison fort that consists of several walls and a gate that block access to the summit of a limestone outcrop. The masonry indicates that it dates from the early Byzantine period with additions in the 12th or 13th century during the period of the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...

. It is located in the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...

near the junction of several strategic roads which lead from both

Çandır Castle Çandır Castle ( tr, Çandır Kalesi) the medieval Armenian site of Paperon ( hy, Պապեռոն, also known as Barbaron), is a fortification in Mersin Province, Turkey. Geography The castle is in the Toros Mountains at . It is situated to the ...

(Papeṙōn) and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

. The fortification was surveyed in 1979. Among the early settlers were nomadic Oghuz Turks (Turkmens) who began to use the vicinity as a summer camp ( tr, yayla) in the 14th century. Later a village was established. Some of the most influential folk poets like

Karacaoğlan Karacaoğlan was a 17th-century Anatolian Turkish folk poet and ashik. His exact dates of birth and death are unknown but it is widely accepted that he was born around 1606 and died around 1680. He lived around the city of Mut near Mersin. His ...

of the 17th century and

Dadaloğlu Dadaloğlu (Veli) (1785 ?–1868 ?) was a Turkish Ottoman (bard), a folk poet-singer, known as ''Ozan''. Background Two distinct literatures existed in the Ottoman Empire. Literature of the palace, so called divan literature used Ottoman Turk ...

of the 19th century are believed to have spent some years in Arslanköy. Arslanköy previously an ambiguous village, made news in 1947 local elections. The candidate of the opposition won the elections for village headman ( tr, muhtar). A civil servant supporting the governing party, tried to alter the official minutes . But residents of the village resisted and fought for their preference. An essay
Arslanköy was declared a seat of township in 1954

Economy

Owing to high altitude, Arslanköy is one of the coolest parts of the province. The main crops are cereals and some fruits such as apples and peaches.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arslankoy Towns in Turkey Populated places in Toroslar District Populated places in Mersin Province