Southeastern Anatolia

Understand

This region has a lot in common with its southern neighbours, namely Syria and Iraq, be it the culture, the languages spoken or the landscape, and is the "Middle-Eastern-most" part of Turkey.

Southern half of the region is fairly shadeless plains sometimes totally flat as far as eye can see dominated by steppes that are bright yellow in summer. Northern half is hillier, but still mostly devoid of trees nonetheless.

Two major rivers of Middle East, namely Euphrates Turkish: Fırat and Tigris Turkish: Dicle, after originating from the snowy mountains of Eastern Anatolia, flow through the region with many of region's cities and sites either directly on or near either one's banks, and then cross Turkey's southern border into Syria and Iraq.

While you may occasionally come across a tout in more touristy parts e.g., Urfa or kids asking for money—which is pretty much the full extent of their English vocabulary, apart from the ubiquitous hello—normally, the local people are extremely hospitable and friendly sometimes to a fault and are willing to help you in any way they can—they are just proud that, after so many years of armed conflict and political instability, travellers from far away places are now making the effort to see their hometowns.

Climate

While it is hot in absolute terms with temperature frequently above 40°C, rainless summers in Southeastern Anatolia tend to be more comfortable, at least in shade, than Mediterranean Turkey which lies on the same latitude, thanks to the low humidity of this arid, non-coastal climate. Snowfall is occasional in winter and generally happens in relatively hillier eastern and northern parts of the region i.e. around Mardin, Batman, and Diyarbakır.

People

Looking from outside, Southeastern Anatolia may seem to be inhabited by Kurds only, but when projected closer, you will find a diverse array of religions and ethnicities in the region, although not up to the levels once found during the Ottoman period.

Western quarter of the region, west of Euphrates River to be more precisely, are mostly populated by Turks, with villages populated by Kurds here and there. The majority of population east of Euphrates, on the other hand, is Kurdish.

Southernmost parts of the region along the Syrian border, as well as a line in the northeast ranging from Hasankeyf to Siirt are the main centres of local Arab population in Turkey.

Ancient Tur Abdin region in the southeast, centred around Mardin and western half of Şırnak Province, and historically dominated by Orthodox Christian Syriacs "Suryaniler", is an altogether different story. Amongst the inhabitants of this region are Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking people with a fairly unique belief system—which leads to them being derogatorily called "heathens" or "original Satanists" by other locals and non-locals alike. Yazidi belief system combines influences from Sufi Islam and ancient Mesopotamian and Persian religions, in which Melek Taus, symbolized by a peacock and usually compared to the "satan" figure of Abrahamic religions—a comparison that Yazidis find highly offensive—is a highly revered entity, and seen as the source of light and representative of God on Earth. The major rites of Yazidis, in which the participants face the Sun, are conducted on hilltops twice daily, during sunrise and sunset. Nowadays, Yazidis, most of whom emigrated from the region, keep a low profile and live in fairly off the beaten path villages, as a result of centuries of repression as well as religious commands to stay away from non-Yazidis.

There was also a sizable Armenian population in Southeastern Anatolia, but the events of 1915 hit the community hard. Nowadays, there is a handful of mostly elder Armenians in the region, mainly in Diyarbakır.

In addition to these sedentary peoples, there are also nomadic Kurds, who pass the winter in the relatively warmer region and move on to cooler plateaus of Eastern Anatolia with their herds in summer, in search of pasture.