Altınözü (, ''el-Kusayr'') 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 ...
of
Hatay Province
Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province ...
,
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 392 km
2, and its population is 60,344 (2022).
It is in the south-east of Hatay Province, on the border between Turkey and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. The mayor is Rıfat Sarı (
AKP).
History
The region which was known as al-Quṣayr, was part of the
Principality of Antioch
The Principality of Antioch (; ) was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and History of Syria#Medieval era, Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of ...
during the Crusader era. In 1180, patriarch
Aimery of Limoges
Aimery or Aymery of Limoges (died 1196), also ''Aimericus'' in Latin, ''Aimerikos'' in Greek language, Greek and ''Hemri'' in Armenian language, Armenian, was a Roman Catholic ecclesiarch in Crusader States, Frankish Outremer and the fourth Latin ...
fled to the region, after he had excommunicated
Bohemond III
Bohemond III of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the Child or the Stammerer (; 1148–1201), was Prince of Antioch from 1163 to 1201. He was the elder son of Constance of Antioch and her first husband, Raymond of Poitiers. Bohemond ascended to th ...
in
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
. The latter besieged the region, but nobleman
Rainald II Masoir supported the patriarch, until
King Baldwin IV sent a delegation to settle the dispute.
Altınözü was heavily damaged by
powerful earthquakes in February 2023 and subsequent aftershocks.
Geography
Altınözü stands on the fertile Kuseyr plateau, and several crops such as
olives
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
(the largest olive growing area is in this part of Turkey),
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, grains and other crops are grown here. The district gets its water from the Yarseli reservoir.
Composition
There are 48
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 Altınözü District:
* Akamber
* Akdarı
* Alakent
* Altınkaya
* Atayurdu
* Avuttepe
*
Babatorun
* Boynuyoğun
* Büyükburç
*
Çetenli
* Dokuzdal
* Enek
* Erbaşı
* Fatikli
* Gözecik
* Günvuran
* Hacıpaşa
* Hanyolu
* Kamberli
* Kansu
*
Karbeyaz
*
Karsu
Karsu Dönmez (born 19 April 1990), known mononymously as Karsu, is a Turkish singer. While her music style is a blend of various genres, jazz pop is probably the best description for it.
Biography
Karsu was born in Amsterdam. Her family ...
* Kazancık
* Keskincik
* Kılıçtutan
* Kıyıgören
* Kolcular
* Kozkalesi
* Kurtmezraası
* Mayadalı
* Oymaklı
* Sarıbük
* Sarılar
* Seferli
* Sivrikavak
* Sofular
* Tepehan
* Tokaçlı
* Tokdemir
* Toprakhisar
* Türkmenmezraası
* Yanıkpınar
* Yarseli
* Yenihisar
* Yenişehir
* Yolağzı
* Yunushanı
*
Ziyaret
Demographics
The district has a population of 60,344 (2022).
There is also a refugee camp called the ''Altinozu Camp'' that houses 1,350 Syrian Sunnis who have fled the
Syrian civil war.
Syrian refugees in Turkey: Will they ever go home?
/ref> The population of the district is mostly Muslim with an Antiochian Greek Orthodox (also known as Rûm
Rūm ( , collective; singulative: ''Rūmī'' ; plural: ''Arwām'' ; ''Rum'' or ''Rumiyān'', singular ''Rumi''; ), ultimately derived from Greek Ῥωμαῖοι ('' Rhomaioi'', literally 'Romans'), is the endonym of the pre-Islamic inhabi ...
Orthodox) Christian community encompassing two churches in the capital of the district and the entirely Christian village of Tokaçlı.
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
local information, follow ''galeri'' for photos
Populated places in Hatay Province
Districts of Hatay Province
Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey
{{Hatay-geo-stub