Elbistan

Elbistan is a big town in Kahramanmaraş Province in southern Turkey. It has a population of 129,379.

Elbistan is home to many Turks who have emigrated to parts of Europe.

In terms of land area, Elbistan is known to be the biggest city of Kahramanmaraş. Many people in Elbistan have migrated to parts of Europe. Elbistan is known for its wealth and abilities. The land area is known to be very dry, but also it is where the Ceyhan river was born and irrigated to whole area. Ceyhan river is one of the biggest river in Turkey, and Elbistan steps is the fourth biggest in Turkey.

The city used to be the capital city of the Atasoglu principality. In 1277 the Mamluks led by Sultan Baibars defeated a Mongol army in the Battle of Elbistan. The region was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire shortly before the campaign against the Mameluks of Egypt in 1512, although some local chiefdoms were given varying degrees of autonomy, notably around the localities of Haticepınar and Kasanlı.

90's years in Elbistan.

Industry

There is a large lignite coalfield close to Elbistan on which there are two power stations owned and operated by Elektrik Uretim AS (EUAS), Elbistan 'A' built in the 1980s which is in dire need of refurbishment due to the state of the plant and the high emissions, the other Elbistan 'B' is nearing completion (2006) and is state of the art. They are built near the small Turkish village of Afsin, on the high plateau of Elbistan in the south east of Turkey.The 'A' station should be capable of producing 1400 MW in total, but due to limitations of the plant it is only capable of producing around 1000 MW, but it has never managed to run all four units at the same time. In general, it is only capable of producing around 500 MW at most. The second B one has a better filter system. But it's not healthy to live next to these powerplants. They are built on a lignite coalfield and near the spring wells of the river Ceyhan. In June 2006 the World Bank agreed a loan to refurbish Elbistan A to achieve security of supply over the medium term.

The power station is pronounced to rank in $5(US)million annually. Also on a sad note, this old power plant is a great source of contamination and is a direct cause of many lung and other cancers for the locals, the power plant has a long term effect on the people. The usual age in which the cancer is in its 'full' state is about the age of 30-40. In the year 2005 a Turkish TV show called 'Arena' exposed this problem to the whole nation, this began to raise concerns. The station causes the entire town of elbistan to be very dusty.

Name Of Elbistan

Name of "Elbistan" was pronounced similarly in Armenian, Syrian and Arabic historical data. Elbistan is known as, In Byzantine sources: Plasta, Ablastha; In Ermenian sources: Ablasta, Ablastayn; In Arabic sources: Ablestin, Abulusteyn, Ablusteyn; In Persian sources: Ablistin. After Ottoman Empire takes over the control in XVI. century, it is started to be called as it is called today. Among the people of Elbistan, It is pronounced as "Albistan", "Erbistan" and "Elbestan".

Economy

Elbistan people mainly earn their livelihood with agricultural, buying and selling of animals. Elbistan is a Turkey's 4th big plain and very suitable for agriculture and raising animals, especially sheeps and cows. but real advantages of Elbistan is its coal reserve. Therefore there are 2 Coal Power Station in the region. And there is an ongoing planing to build two more station.

Population

Map/Location