Çukurova
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Çukurova is the modern name for the ancient region of Cilicia (or to be more precise, of Cilicia Pedia, "the flat Cilicia") in southern Turkey. The region forms parts of the modern day provinces of Adana, Osmaniye and Mersin.
When Seljuk Turks captured the region, many Turkmens, including Oğuz clans of Yureğir, Afshar and Chepni settled in the northern parts of the region under the direction of Ramazanoğlu. Those who preserved the nomadic lifestyle were named Yörüks. As of the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire pursued a policy aimed at sedentarizing these populations and the process was more or less complete in the 19th century, although it involved many difficulties and much tension and drama.
Between the 1832 Kütahya Agreement leaving the territorial gains acquired by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt to his administration till the 1841 London Conference convened to settle the question, Çukurova remained under the rule of the Khedive of Egypt. Although the period of Egyptian rule, motivated by Egypt's perennial need, timber for the navy, was relatively short, it left important marks in such areas as the introduction of industrial-scale cotton production and new arrivals into the population tissue of the region. Cottonpickers of Çukurova still start their workday with prayers for the memory of İbrahim Pasha, and the locally influent Menemencioğlu family, with notable descendants till our day, including Turkey's foreign minister during the Second World War, Numan Menemencioğlu, rose to notability by acting as middlemen for the Pasha. Among other families still prominent in our day and that had risen with the cotton boom, Kozanoğlu, Güveloğlu, Kerimoğlu, Karsantıoğlu, Küçükalioğlu families can be cited.
The development of Mersin as a major part also took its start during the same period. As a result, the cities of region became prominent centers of trade, of farming and of industry. Today, Adana is the 4th largest city of Turkey, and a vital center of many agricultural products such as cotton, although its production lost some of its former importance in the city's economy.
Çukurova is the largest alluvial plain in Turkey. The plain is formed the rivers Seyhan and Ceyhan. It borders the Taşeli plateau in the west, where there are many natural formations of limestone.
Historically, the region was known as Kissuwadna by the Hittites and it was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya (flat Cilicia) and western Cilicia (Tarza), which was also known as the mountainous Cilicia. The gates which allow passage from Çukurova into the Central Anatolian Plateau through the Taurus Mountains, the Cilician gates of antiquity, is called Gülek Pass today. Belen Pass which connects the region to the southeast (to the modern district of Dörtyol in Hatay Province) and Sertavul Pass constitute other important points of passage. The region is included in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, and it borders Central Anatolia (historical Cappadocia) to the north, and Southeastern Anatolia Region to the east.
Culturally, the life and the hardships faced by the ordinary people of Çukurova was brought to screen by many Turkish film directors including Yılmaz Güney, especially in his 1970 masterpiece "Umut" (The hope) and it is impossible to make a reference to Çukurova without mentioning the internationally-acclaimed author who gave the region legendary dimensions, Yaşar Kemal.
