Gaziantep

Gaziantep, city, south-central Turkey. It is situated near the Sacirsuyu River, a tributary of the Euphrates River, in limestone hills north of Aleppo, Syria.

The city was strategically situated near ancient trade routes, and recent excavations have unearthed fragments of pottery indicating settlement there in the early 4th millennium BCE. Known as Hamtap in the Middle Ages, the city was an important stronghold guarding the Syrian routes and was captured by Turks in 1183. Thereafter it changed hands among various Turkmen and Arab dynasties and Mongol and Timurid invaders until its final absorption into the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century.