One of the country’s economic engines

Located in southern Turkey, the city of Antep is an ancient place of implantation (traces of Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine civilizations…). Historically attached to the vilayet of Aleppo (Syria) under the Ottoman Empire, it was renamed Gaziantep (gazi means “victorious”) in honor of the soldiers who had fought against the French forces (August 1920-February 1921) during the war of independence.

Classified at 9^e rank of the most populous cities in Turkey, it has been one of the “Anatolian Tigers”, the driving force behind economic and industrial development (textiles, food) since the 1980s. It is also famous for its gastronomy and the production of pistachios in the surrounding regions.

Since 2014, the municipality has been headed by Fatma Sahin, member of the AKP (Justice and Development Party) of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As early as 2011, it welcomed hundreds of thousands of Syrian exiles.