16.05.2026 21:00
The "Ancient Cities Road" project, implemented by the governorates of Batman and Şırnak under the Turkish Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA), was introduced to the public with a launch event held in Hasankeyf. At the ceremony attended by Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nadir Alpaslan, Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin, and Batman Governor Ekrem Canalp, the thematic route along the Silk Road covering the provinces of Şırnak and Batman was officially launched.
In the launch of the "Ancient Cities Route" project implemented under the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) by the Batman and Şırnak governorates, held in Hasankeyf with its tens of thousands of years of history, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek drew attention to the region's deep-rooted past, Turkey's global rise in tourism, and the economic potential of the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions during his speech.
"WE ARE REINTRODUCING BATMAN AND ŞIRNAK TO THE WORLD" Şimşek said: "This place we are currently on and extending behind us holds the memory of this geography for at least 12,000 years. These lands have witnessed the Roman, Byzantine, Artuqid, Seljuk, and Ottoman periods. Therefore, the 'Ancient Cities Route Batman-Şırnak Route,' which we are launching today, is not an ordinary event; on the contrary, it is a very valuable and important step. Hopefully, we will also realize the Şırnak leg of this project soon. We are reintroducing Batman and Şırnak to the world with their history, culture, nature, and most importantly, their deep-rooted story."
TURKEY'S GLOBAL SUCCESS IN TOURISM AND RECORD REVENUES Highlighting the progress in tourism over the last 25 years, Mehmet Şimşek said: "As Turkey, we have achieved tremendous progress in tourism over the last 20-25 years. While we were the 20th most visited country in the world in 2002, we rose to 4th place last year. Climbing so many steps in the world is never a coincidence; it is the product of immense effort. I congratulate our Minister of Culture and Tourism and his entire team for this success. Last year, we hosted over 64 million tourists and generated over 65 billion dollars in revenue. We also rose to 7th place in the world tourism revenue ranking. Behind these successes lie our strong infrastructure, qualified human resources, and destination diversity. I believe that Hasankeyf will further strengthen our tourism. We aim to spread tourism across 12 months of the year in terms of employment and foreign exchange revenue. Now, culture, gastronomy, nature, congress, and health tourism are strategic areas for us. As you know, we increased the tax exemption for service exports such as health and education to 100%. Alongside this tremendous step, we quickly worked with our Minister to take very critical steps, especially in accessing financing, to prevent the wars in our region from affecting the tourism sector." Şimşek continued his speech as follows: "We attach great importance to the 'Ancient Cities Route Batman-Şırnak Route' project we launched today. Hopefully, we will continue this and transform the entire region into an integrated tourism network. Our aim is to ensure that both domestic and foreign tourists visit this place, stay, and establish a permanent bond with these lands."
"BATMAN IS DEVELOPING IN EVERY FIELD" Batman Governor Ekrem Canalp also stated that projects highlighting historical, cultural, and natural riches are being implemented one by one, and said they are determined to make Batman the new attraction center of the region. Governor Canalp emphasized that tourism is one of the main pillars on which Batman's future will be built and said: "We put the Batman Tourism Master Plan into practice 2.5 years ago. With the implementation of this plan, the work we had done before began to bear fruit exponentially. Batman is developing not just in one or two sectors, but in every field. Thank God, we are implementing projects that will serve as models and examples for Turkey in Batman by working with great excitement together with you. Last year, we set our tourism target at 500,000 people; we closed the year with 680,000 tourists. Our target for this year is 1 million people. Dear guests, hopefully, as last year, we will far exceed our modest target of 1 million this year as well. In this direction, Hasankeyf will continue to be the flagship and number one priority of Batman tourism. However, we will also revitalize tourism in Beşiri with the Mor Kiryakos Monastery. We will develop tourism in Kozluk with the facilities we are building right next to the Malabadi Bridge. With the thermal hotel that will become operational soon, we will make Kozluk and Batman the center of thermal tourism. We restored the Meryem Ana Church on the summit of Sason, on the highest mountain of the Southeastern Anatolia Region, last year; Sason will also be ambitious in tourism. At the same time, along with trekking trails, we will highlight this tourism model in three more districts."
"WE ARE THE 4TH COUNTRY HOSTING THE MOST TOURISTS IN THE WORLD" In his speech, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nadir Alpaslan pointed out that Turkey has grown above the world average in recent years, saying: "Under the leadership of our President, we have grown above the world averages. Today, we are the 4th country hosting the most tourists in the world. As a country generating over 65 billion dollars in tourism revenue, we have become a shining star and a role model in the world. Of course, we will not consider this target we have reached as sufficient as Turkey. We need to take it to much higher levels, expand it further, and provide greater contributions to Turkey's economy and the welfare of our people in tourism. Our biggest advantage, as you all know, is that we have extraordinary beauties like Hasankeyf and extraordinary assets as Turkey. We live in a paradise country. Therefore, as long as we promote this very well, there is no obstacle to Turkey's growth in tourism. In the vision of the Century of Turkey, under the leadership of our President, we will hopefully take very important and big steps in tourism as in every field. We will increase the 65 billion dollar revenues to much higher levels and enhance the welfare of our people. Moreover, there is a great opportunity ahead of us."
FAITH, CULTURE, AND GASTRONOMY TOURISM In his speech, Alpaslan noted that global tourism trends are shifting towards the discovery of history and civilization, emphasizing that the line extending from Hatay to Van has unique potential in this regard: "From Hatay to Van, in this beautiful region we are in, the world's most important cultural assets and greatest monumental works are located. Especially our religion Islam; all important institutions, places of worship, and faith centers of Christianity and other faiths are also here."
As for the cuisine, I don't even need to mention it; there is probably no better cuisine anywhere in the world. Therefore, we have dozens, hundreds of important works like Hasankeyf, Rumkale, Nemrut, Göbeklitepe. As our Metropolitan Mayor also stated; today we have the Turkish Tourism Development Agency, which is the most effective and successful promotional institution for country tourism in the world. By benefiting from this institution, when we promote these regions very effectively and beautifully, make the right investments there, and create tourism awareness, as our parliamentarian said, we can attract 1 million tourists to this region in a short time, but by the 2030s, much more than that. We can make this place the apple of tourism's eye; because all necessary conditions exist for this. Under the leadership of our President, with the vision of the Turkish Century, I sincerely believe that we will easily achieve this."
ANCIENT CITIES ROAD WILL OFFER A HOLISTIC EXPERIENCE The "Ancient Cities Road" project was designed to highlight the deep historical heritage of Southeast Anatolia and its strategic location on the Silk Road. The route, covering the provinces of Şırnak and Batman, will offer a holistic experience that brings together the region's cultural accumulation, natural beauties, and local touristic values. Within the scope of the project, domestic tourism agencies will turn the developed thematic routes into packages and include them in sales channels. The region's place in the domestic tourism ecosystem and its contributions to economic development will be evaluated. Hasankeyf, which stands out as one of Turkey's most ancient geographies with tens of thousands of years of settlement history and is located on the Silk Road route, will serve as the symbolic center of the Ancient Lands route.
ACCOMMODATION CAPACITY AND VISITOR NUMBERS WILL INCREASE Hasankeyf, which stands out as one of Turkey's most ancient geographies with tens of thousands of years of settlement history, will serve as the symbolic center of this route. Within the scope of the project, domestic tourism agencies will turn the developed thematic routes into package tours and include them in sales channels. Thus, the region's place in the domestic tourism ecosystem will be strengthened, and its contributions to economic development will be evaluated. With the "Ancient Cities Road" project, it is aimed to measurably increase accommodation capacity and annual visitor numbers in the destinations within the route. The project, which also aims to increase the market visibility of the region's local touristic products, will directly contribute to regional development by introducing sustainable and high-value-added new routes to the domestic tourism ecosystem.
TOURISM REPRESENTATIVES WERE HOSTED IN THE REGION In order to promote the tourism potential of the region, representatives of tour operators and travel agencies from all over Turkey were hosted in the region for three days. This program, which aims to strengthen regional promotion and sales activities, will play a critical role in reaching the Ancient Cities Road route to large masses.