Çerkezköy is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Tekirdağ Province Tekirdağ Province (, ) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 6,190 km2, and its population is 1,142,451 (2022). It is located in the East Thrace region of the country, also known as European Turkey, one of only t ...

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 area is 86 km², and its population is 206,829 (2022). Çerkezköy is located in inland

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

just to the west of the outlying

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

districts of

Çatalca Çatalca () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 1142 km2, making it the largest district in Istanbul Province by area. Its population is 77,468 (2022). It is in Eas ...

and

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek language, Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 217,163 (2022). It lies along the Sea of Marmara, outsi ...

. Çerkezköy is an industrial area. It is from

Tekirdağ Tekirdağ () is a city in northwestern Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. The city forms the urban part of the Süleymanpaşa district, with a population of 186,421 in 2022. Tekirdağ ...

and from Istanbul but in many ways has closer links to the bigger city. The mayor is Vahap Akay ( CHP).

History

Until the 1800s this was a village called 'Türbedere'. 'Türbe' is the Turkish for 'tomb' and the village took its name from the tomb of the eldest son of

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

Süleyman Çelebi Süleyman Çelebi (also Emir Süleyman; – 17 February 1411) was an Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the Ottoman Empire for several years during the Ottoman Interregnum. There is a tradition of western origin, according to which Suleiman th ...

, who was murdered here in 1410 when fleeing from his brothers during the

Ottoman Interregnum The Ottoman Interregnum, or Ottoman Civil War, (, ) was a civil war in the Ottoman realm between the sons of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I following their father's defeat and capture by Timur in the Battle of Ankara on 28 July 1402. Although Ti ...

. The tomb was destroyed by

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n troops when they occupied the town for nine months during the war for Bulgarian Independence in 1912. Çerkezköy was founded as a settlement for refugees from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 ('Çerkez' being the Turkish pronunciation of ' Circassian'). Soon after, following the independence of Bulgaria from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

further waves of refugees from Bulgaria came to replace the Caucasians and Çerkezköy was designated as a municipality () in 1911. It became a township of Saray district in 1922 and a district in 1938. The land here is flat, watered by the River Çorlu and good soil for farming, so until the 1970s Çerkezköy was a pleasant small town in a rural setting. But it is also on the main highway from Istanbul to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and in 1971 was designated an area for industrial development. Grants were made available by the Turkish state for investors and a large industrial area was constructed on of land near the town. At the

2013 Turkish local government reorganisation Municipalities () are the basic units of local government in Turkey. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute the population of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asi ...

part of the district of Çerkezköy was detached to form the new district Kapaklı.

Çerkezköy today

Today industrial development has spread beyond the originally designated industrial area and all kinds of goods are produced in the hundreds and hundreds of factories in Çerkezköy, including textiles, plastic and rubber goods, paints and chemicals. Prominent manufacturers include the large white goods manufacturers

Arçelik Arçelik A.Ş. () is a Turkish multinational household appliances manufacturer. The company engages in the production, marketing and after-sale services of durable goods and their components. Its products include white goods (such as refrigerat ...

or BSH, automotive parts producers, textile plant of Mavi or Sabancı Holding's woollen textile factory Yünsa. Now only 15% of the people work in agriculture and Çerkezköy has a large industrial working class population, living in housing projects sprawled around the fringes of the town. The Caucasusian identity that gave the town its name no longer exists, it has been swamped by an influx of people from all over Turkey. There are jobs here and the town is easily reached by bus from Istanbul. The town centre is a typical Turkish collection of rows of grey low-rise blocks containing public buildings, small supermarkets, banks, and kebab restaurants, with a square in the middle containing a statue of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

and nearby a large central mosque. The military base in Çerkezköy is Turkey's biggest centre for basic training in military service. The town is well equipped with schools, hospitals and other infrastructure.

Transportation

The D567 (İstanbul-Tekirdağ Road) passes along the eastern limits of the town while the İstanbul-Çerkezköy road passes through the town center. The European Highway is only away from the town. The

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

operates trains through the Çerkezköy railway station. There is a daily regional train operating to and from İstanbul as well as trains to

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

and Uzunköprü. Çerkezköy Railway Station gained importance after the closure of Halkali Terminal due to construction works. Almost all trains working between Turkey and Europe started to depart from here which used to have only 340 mt of ramp for loading/unloading. To prevent the congestion, TCDD constructed a new container storage area at the eastern side of terminal which allows 3 full trains to be loaded/unloaded at the same time. The Çorlu Airport is located south of the town.

Neighbourhoods

There are 12

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Çerkezköy District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023. * Bağlık * Cumhuriyet * Fatih * Fevzi Paşa * Gazi Mustafa Kemal Paşa * Gazi Osman Paşa * İstasyon * Kızılpınar Atatürk * Kızılpınar Gültepe * Kızılpınar Namık Kemal * Veliköy * Yıldırım Beyazıt

References

External links

District governor's official website

District municipality's official website

Popular Website

Çerkezköy

Cerkezkoy Firms and Trade

Çerkezköy Haritası
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerkezkoy Populated places in Tekirdağ Province Districts of Tekirdağ Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey