Yumurtalık is a town and district in Adana Province of Turkey. It is a Mediterranean port at a distance of about from Adana center. Yumurtalık's population does not exceed 5,000 in winter, but in summer, it rises to 30 to 40,000 people since many inhabitants of Adana have holiday homes here. There are also many daily visitors during the holiday season.

Yumurtalık has a large free zone housing the production units of up to thirty companies presently in operation or in phase of being built. Fields of activities include industries ranging from petrochemicals, synthetic fibers and steel industry, and there are also plans for establishing a major shipyard .

In the past, the town was named Ayas, and that name is still used by local people.

History

The port has a long history, at least to 2000BC and Hittite pottery has been found in the 17th century BC mound of Zeytinbeli Höyük. Subsequently many more civilisations have passed through. It was the major harbour of Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and under the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, it was ruled by the Anatolian Turkish Beylik of Ramazanoğlu and after the 16th century, by the Ottoman Empire.

In a memorable occurrence in 1974, the actor and film director Yılmaz Güney was arrested here after a shooting incident that involved the murder of Yumurtalık judge.

Yumurtalık today

The sea is clean and there is still a relaxed feel to this coast, so Yumurtalık is a holiday and weekend retreat for the people of Adana and of other cities in Çukurova region, who come to stay in seaside holiday flats generally built in compounds. There are also small hotels and guest houses for occasional visitor who can swim during the day and stroll along the beach or into the village in the evenings. The public beaches are not very well kept by the municipality, and they are sometimes covered with litter. But the holiday villages have private beaches which are kept clean and can also be used by outsiders for a small daily entrance fee.

A number of beaches in Yumurtalık are also the nesting places for loggerhead sea turtle caretta caretta breed, and these ladies don't come to Yumurtalık with credit cards. In fact the amount of beach-front holiday property is also part of the problem, even though the sand is clean the turtles won't lay eggs in these busy beaches with neon-lit discotheques blasting out all night. Adequate protection for the turtle's nesting habitat continues to remain a critical question. These endangered species lay eggs only in Yumurtalık, in Akyatan beach in in neighboring Karataş district and in İztuzu Beach in Dalyan in southwestern Turkey. In fact, the very name Yumurtalık means, among other things, egg nest in Turkish language.

As well as tourism, the fertile agricultural lands that extend behind the coast are also a key factor in local economy and quality tomatoes, watermelons and other fruits and vegetables are extensively produced in Yumurtalık.

Just outside Yumurtalık is the Botaş oil and natural gas terminal. It is the end of an oil pipeline from Northern Iraq, which was opened in the 1970s. Refined oils are also imported through here by sea. Immediately to the southwest, there is the oil terminal for crude oil pipeline from Baku, opened in 2006. Further in the same direction, there is a recently-built and coal fired power plant.

Places of interest

• Ayas castle is reported to be the dock used by Marco Polo when sailing back from Asia.
• The tower of Suleyman
• Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) beaches.

There are also picnic areas, a beach and birdwatching facilities in the lagoon.

Footnotes

External links

• District governor's official website
• Adana Yumurtalık Free Zone
• Yumurtalık Photographs