Southeastern Anatolia Region, Administrative region in eastern Turkey.
Southeastern Anatolia is a region in eastern Turkey that includes mountains, plateaus, and the courses of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The landscape shifts between dry hills, green valleys, and areas where villages cling to rocky slopes.
The area was a cradle of early civilizations, with settlements going back more than 12,000 years. Over the centuries, it was ruled by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and eventually the Ottoman Empire before becoming part of modern Turkey.
In Şanlıurfa, carpets are woven using patterns passed down through families for generations. Neighbors gather in courtyards of old stone houses to share meals and stories about the region.
Access to different parts of the region is by main roads linking major cities such as Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, and Şanlıurfa. Local minibuses run between smaller towns, with schedules that may vary depending on the day of the week and the season.
In the caves of Hasankeyf, people have lived for more than 12,000 years, with many dwellings carved into the rock faces. Some of these caves were still inhabited into the 20th century, before dam projects changed the landscape.
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