Eastern Türkiye

The eastern Anatolian plateau and the northern edge of Mesopotamia, with the colossal statues of Mount Nemrut, Göbekli Tepe, the stone city of Mardin and Lake Van.

This region combines two of Türkiye's official geographic regions, Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia. It includes the eastern provinces of Erzurum, Kars, Ardahan, Ağrı, Iğdır, Van, Bitlis, Muş, Malatya and Elazığ, and the southeastern provinces of Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Batman, Siirt, Şırnak and Kilis. It borders the Mediterranean and Central Anatolia to the west and the Black Sea Region to the north.

The southeast is rich in cultural heritage: Gaziantep is known for pistachio baklava and the Zeugma Mosaic Museum; Şanlıurfa has the Pool of Sacred Fish and Göbekli Tepe, a stone circle about 11,000 years old (a World Heritage site); on the summit of Mount Nemrut in Adıyaman Province stand giant statues from the Kingdom of Commagene, most spectacular at sunrise and sunset; Diyarbakır's basalt city walls and the Hevsel Gardens are also World Heritage listed; and in Mardin, honey-colored stone houses rise in tiers over the Mesopotamian plain, with Syriac Orthodox monasteries nearby. On the eastern plateau, Akdamar Island in Lake Van has a 10th-century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross; the ruins of the ancient city of Ani near Kars (a World Heritage site) sit beside a border gorge; Doğubayazıt has the İshak Pasha Palace, with distant views of Mount Ararat; and Erzurum has Seljuk architecture and the Palandöken ski resort.

The classic southeast route of Gaziantep–Şanlıurfa–Mount Nemrut–Mardin–Diyarbakır takes about 6–8 days; for the northeast, you can take the Eastern Express train from Ankara to Kars. The 2023 earthquakes badly hit Malatya, Adıyaman and other places; areas near the Syrian and Iraqi borders carry security risks, so check your government's latest travel advice before you go.

Destinations

Itineraries