Adıyaman Province

Infobox Province TR
region = Southeastern Anatolia
name = adiyaman
licence = 02
total population = 677,518
area_code= 416
area= 7,614
turkname= Adıyaman|

Adıyaman is a province in south-central Turkey. The province was created in 1954 out of part of Malatya Province. Area 7,614 km². Population 677,518 (2006 est, 623,811 (2000 census)) up from 513,131 in 1990. The capital is Adıyaman. Many of the inhabitants of the province are Kurds ["Adıyaman." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 20 Sep. 2008 [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/5995/Adiyaman] .] .

The area has been inhabited since the earliest times and many civilisations have settled here. There are therefore a number of places of historical interest which attract visitors. Nemrud Dağı is a major site of interest here, noted for its sanctuary of statues built by Antiochus Theos, king of Commagene. It is accessed through the town of Kahta.

A branch of the large Atatürk reservoir lies between Adıyaman and the town of Samsat, and with more investment the irrigation this coud become a rich agricultural zone. Currently it does feel impoverished and people travelling by mule or donkey are a common sight.

Politics

Until the 1950s Adıyaman was a city in the province of Malatya, but was made into a province in its own right as a reward for voting for the winning Demokrat Parti in the 1954 general election.

Adıyaman has since been kind to Islamist politician, Necmettin Erbakan. His movement (then, the National Salvation Party) scored a landmark 15% here in 1973 a few years after its modest beginning, and his score went on to gradually increase. After being damaged by the military coup in 1980, Erbakan's party (which had become the Welfare Party) came back to win the province with 29.24% and 23.53% in 1994 and 1999, respectively.

Even with his breakaway pupil, the current Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP winning the 2004 local elections with 41.11%, a faithful following of 15% (a rarity among Turkey's provinces) of the electorate had still voted for Erbakan, then Virtue Party, who thus came second after AKP.

Districts

Adıyaman province is divided into 9 districts (capital district in bold):
*Adıyaman
*Besni
*Çelikhan
*Gerger
*Gölbaşı
*Kahta
*Samsat
*Sincik
*Tut

Notes