Mardin Province in the context of Kızıltepe

Mardin (Kurdish: مێردین, romanized: Mêrdîn; Arabic: ماردين, romanized: Mārdīn; Syriac: ܡܪܕܝܢ, romanized: Mardīn; Armenian: Մարդին) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris River.

In February 2000, the Turkish Ministry of Culture placed Mardin and its surrounding cultural landscape on the country’s Tentative List for UNESCO World Heritage nomination.

Tur Abdin (Arabic: طور عبدين; Kurdish: Tor; Latin: Turabdium; Syriac: ܛܽܘܪ ܥܰܒ݂ܕܺܝܢ or ܛܘܼܪ ܥܲܒ݂ܕܝܼܢ, Ṭūr ʿAḇdīn) is a hilly region situated in southeastern Turkey, including the eastern half of Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for its Christian monasteries on the border of the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire. The area is a low plateau in the Anti-Taurus Mountains stretching from Mardin in the west to the Tigris in the east and delimited by the Mesopotamian plains to the south. The Tur Abdin is populated by more than 80 villages and nearly 70 monastery buildings and was mostly Syriac Orthodox with a Syriac Catholic minority until the early 20th century. The earliest surviving Christian buildings date from the 6th century.

The name "Tur Abdin" is Syriac: ܛܘܪ ܥܒܕܝܢ, lit. 'Mountain of the Servants [of God]'.‌ Tur Abdin is of great importance to the Syriac Orthodox, for whom the region used to be a monastic and cultural heartland. The Assyrian community of Tur Abdin natively refer to themselves as Sūryāyê/Sūryōyê or Sūrāyê/Sūrōyê (Syriac: ܣܘܪ̈ܝܐ), and traditionally speak a central Neo-Aramaic dialect called Turoyo.

The Southeastern Anatolia Project (Turkish: Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi, GAP) is a multi-sector integrated regional development project based on the concept of sustainable development for the 9 million people (2023) living in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. According to the Southeastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration, the aim of the GAP is to eliminate regional development disparities by raising incomes and living standards and to contribute to the national development targets of social stability and economic growth by enhancing the productive and employment generating capacity of the rural sector.The Southeastern Anatolia Region extending over wide plains in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin encompass the administrative provinces of ( Adıyaman, Batman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Kilis, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak and Mardin )which are located in the basins of the Euphrates and Tigris and in Upper Mesopotamia. The surface area of the region bordering with Syria to the south and with Iraq to the southeast is 75,193 square kilometres which corresponds to 9.7% of Turkey's total surface area. Turkey has in total 8.5 million hectares of irrigable land and GAP's share in this total is 20 per cent.The total cost of the project is over 190 billion Turkish lira (TL) (2020 adjusted price).

Current activities under GAP include sectors like agriculture and irrigation, hydroelectric power production, urban and rural infrastructure, forestry, education and health. Water resources development envisaged the construction of 22 dams and 19 power plants.

Siirt Province, (Turkish: Siirt ili, Kurdish: Parêzgeha Sêrtê; Armenian: Սղերդ զավառ) is a province of Turkey, located in the southeast. The province borders Bitlis to the north, Batman to the west, Mardin to the southwest, Şırnak to the south, and Van to the east. Its area is 5,717 km, and its population is 331,311 (2022). Its capital is Siirt. It encompasses 12 municipalities, 280 villages and 214 hamlets.

The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority. The current Governor of the Siirt province is Kemal Kızılkaya.

Şırnak Province (Turkish: Şırnak ili, Kurdish: Parêzgeha Şirnex) is a province in Turkey in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Şırnak Province was created in 1990, with areas that were formerly part of the Siirt, Hakkâri and Mardin Provinces. It borders both Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Syria. The current Governor of the province is Cevdet Atay.

The province had a population of 570,745 in 2023. Its area is 7,078 km. It encompasses 19 municipalities, 240 villages and 192 hamlets.

Artuklu (Kurdish :Ertuqî) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 885 km, and its population is 189,769 (2022). It encompasses the city of Mardin and the adjacent countryside to the north and southeast.

Batman Province (Turkish: Batman ili; Kurdish: Parêzgeha Êlihê, transl. "Province of Êlih"; Armenian: Բատմանի զավառ, transl. "Province of Batman") is a province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. It was created in May 1990 with Law No. 3647, incorporating districts from the eastern Siirt Province and the southern Mardin Province. The province has an area of 4,477 km (1,729 sq mi) and a population of 634,491 (2022). Its current governor is Ekrem Canalp.

The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority. It is an important center for Turkey's oil industry, which has driven rapid urbanization since the mid-20th century.

The Ilısu Dam (Turkish pronunciation: [ɯɫɯˈsu]) is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tigris near the village of Ilısu and along the border of Mardin and Şırnak Provinces in Turkey. It is one of the 22 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project and its purpose is hydroelectric power production, flood control and water storage. When operational, the dam will support a 1,200 MW power station and will form a 10.4 billion m reservoir. Construction of the dam began in 2006 and was originally expected to be completed by 2016. As part of the project, the much smaller Cizre Dam is to be constructed downstream for irrigation and power. The dam has drawn international controversy, because it will flood portions of ancient Hasankeyf and necessitate the relocation of people living in the region. Because of this, the dam lost international funding in 2008. Most historical structures in Hasankeyf were moved to the new Hasankeyf prior to the filling of the dam. The dam began to fill its reservoir in late July 2019. Due to rainfall, the dam has achieved water levels up to 100m above the river bed and stored 5 billion cubic meters of water. The water level had reached an elevation of 498.2m on 1 April 2020.

DSI has started testing 2 turbines for energy production after completing the spillway testing. The dam reservoir has attained a water volume of 7.6 billion cubic meters. Water storage crest level was 513m on 19 April 2020. It would need 12m rise to achieve the maximum storage level.