Akçaabat

Akçaabat
Town
Location of Template:Akçaabat within Turkey.
Country	Turkey
Region	Karadeniz
Province	Trabzon
Government
• Mayor	Şefik Türkmen
Area
• Total	385 km2 (149 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population
• Total	120,693
• Density	313/km2 (810/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	61300
Area code	(+90)462
Licence plate	61
Website	http://www.akcaabat.bel.tr/

Akçaabat is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is located on the east of the city of Trabzon. It covers an area of 385 km² and the elevation is 10 m. The town has an estimated population of 48,315 (2007). Akcaabat is a coastal town famous for its local soccer team Akcaabat Sebatspor, its traditional dish of Akçaabat Köftesi and its unique dance of Akcaabat Horonu. Akçaabat hosts an international folklore festival since 1990, and it was a venue for Archery and Athletics competitions of the First Black Sea Games held in 2007.

Name

The first settlers of the town came from Aegean shores and named the town "Platana" because of the abundance of plane trees (lat. Platanus). Later on, with the Islamization and Turkification of the region, the name evolved into Pulathane, meaning "the land of iron". According to the Ottoman sources, the town center was called “Pulathane”, which belonged to the county of “Akçeabad”, meaning "the abundance of money".

History

First founded as one of Miletos trade colonies around 7th century BC, the town came under Persian rule around 6th century BC. After a brief rule under Alexander the Great, Akcaabat was incorporated into the Pontus Empire established by the son of a former Persian satrap, Mithridates around 3th century BC. After the dissolution of the Pontus Empire around 60 BC, the Romans took control of the region surrounding Trabzon. Serving as a natural port for Trabzon, Akcaabat was one of the important towns of eastern Black Sea region, and thus Pontus region of the Roman Empire.

Although attacked several times by different nations and tribes Akcaabat remained under Byzantine control until a branch of the Byzantine dynasty, Komnenos family established their own kingdom with the help of Georgian queen Tamara after the Latin invasion of Constantinople in 1204. This new state, called The Empire of Trebizond, survived as a vassal kingdom under the Seljukid Empire until Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II "the conqueror" added Trabzon to his territories in October 1461. The first intercourse between the Ottoman Navy and the Komnenos Navy occurred to the west of Akcaabat port, around Akcakale where the Pontus Romans lost eight ships. As Akcaabat lies to the west of Trabzon, Mehmet II used Akcaabat as his base for the final conquest of Trabzon. Akcakale "the White Castle" held its defense until 1468 when the Ottomans finally succeeded in their siege.

During the long Ottoman rule, Akcaabat remained as the main and most important town center of Trabzon after the city of Trabzon itself. After the establishment of Akcaabat municipality in 1880, Akcaabat officially gained the status of "town" according to the municipal and administrative reform of 1884 which reorganized the administrative structure in the provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

Before the First World War, the most notable event for the town occurred in 1810. On the holy month of Ramadan, The Russian Navy landed troops on Akcaabat shores around Salacik where the heroic defense of the townspeople repulsed the Russian landing in a couple of days.

During the First World War, Tsarist Russian armies invaded Akçaabat on 20th April 1916. Although, the Russians were relatively lenient as an occupying army, the majority of the local population was forced to migrate west due to the mass murders, tortures, and ethnic cleansing committed by the Greek and Armenian guerilla forces that were formed to exterminate the Muslim population (Turk Soykirimi). Thanks to the Russian Revolution of 1918, the Russian forces left the Black Sea region and on 17th of February 1918 Akçaabat was saved from occupation. Armenian and Greek guerillas escaped the region in the fear of approaching Turkish forces and displaced people returned to their homes. During the Turkish War of Independence Akcaabat people supported the war effort against the occupying forces of the British and the Greeks to the fullest extent which was brilliantly described in the novels of Hasan Izzettin Dinamo.

After the establishment of Turkish Republic in 1923, Akcaabat was designated as one of the towns of the city of Trabzon according to the new administrative organization. Akcaabat has remained as the biggest town of Trabzon until today. Until 1980s Akcaabat did not witness major changes in its natural and social composition despite being the closest town to Trabzon city center, however, with the return of the German Turks people to their hometowns and flow of rural [village] population to the town center, the composition of the town center changed. The population of the town skyrocketed from 15000 in 1980s to 50000 in 2008. The unique old-style houses [Akcaabat evleri] were replaced by huge apartment blocks, the sea has been constantly filled in order to gain land to meet rising demand for expansion of inter-city roads and recreational lands. The dissolution of the Soviet Republic in 1990 brought the influx of former Soviet Republic citizens who mainly involved in small trades and sex tourism, and this brought major changes in social composition. Added to this, the flood of June 1990, which claimed the lives of dozens of people and lots of material damage necessitated the rebuilding of the town. Today, Akcaabat is one of the most densely populated towns on the Black Sea coast.

Chronology

• 700 BC, Akçaabat becomes one of the extensions of Miletos Trade Colonies.
• 312 BC, Akçaabat was incorporated to Pontus kingdom of Mithridates.
• 63 BC, Akçaabat was conquered by the Roman Empire.
• 1461, Akçaabat and Trabzon were added to Ottoman Empire territories by Mehmed II the Conqueror.
• 1810, Russian naval attack on the town was repulsed by the heroic fight of the local people in 1810.
• 1880, Akçaabat Municipality was established.
• 1884, Akçaabat was awarded with Township according to the new regulations in administrative organization.
• 20 April 1916, during the First World War Russian forces occupied Akçaabat.
• 17 February 1918, Akçaabat was rescued from Russian occupation.
• 1923, Akcaabat Sebatspor was founded under the name of Idman Sebatyurdu as one of the first three soccer teams from Trabzon.
• 19-20 June 1990, Akcaabat suffered a major flood due to heavy rain and flooding of the rivers.
• 2002, Akcaabat Sebatspor became the first Turkish soccer team from a town center (except the towns of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir) promoted to Turkish Super League.

Neighborhoods

1. Colakli 2. Durbinar 3. Kayalar 4. Nefsipulathane 5. Ortamahalle 6. Osmanbaba 7. Saritas 8. Yenimahalle 9. Yaylacik

Counties

1. Adacik 2. Akcakale 3. Akcakoy 4. Akpinar 5. Darica 6. Derecik 7. Dogankoy 8. Dortyol 9. Isiklar 10.Kavakli 11.Sogutlu 12.Yildizli

Famous People from Akçaabat

• Actor: Erol Günaydın
• Footballer: Metin Aktaş

• Politician,Prime Minister,Minister,Member of Parliament: Hasan Saka
• Author: Hasan Izzettin Dinamo

External links

• District governor's official website Template:Tr icon
• District municipality's official website Template:Tr icon
• An online guide to Akçaabat
• Cool photos of Akçaabat