Yalova

Yalova's cultural fabric was shaped by migration. People who came in the Caucasian migrations, after the Ottoman–Russian War of 1877–78 (the “93 War”), in the Balkan Wars and in the 1924 population exchange founded the province's villages or brought them back to life. In Circassian villages such as Tevfikiye in Altınova, and in villages where Laz people from Batumi live, traditions and cuisine are still kept alive today.

Atatürk loved Yalova and often stayed in the city. The Yürüyen Köşk (Walking Mansion) inside the former Millet Çiftliği was built in 1929; so that a branch of the plane tree beside it would not be cut, Atatürk asked for the mansion to be slid 4.80 metres on rails. The mansion was restored and opened as a museum in 2006. The Atatürk Mansion in Termal can also be visited as a museum.

Settlement in the area is thought to have begun in the Neolithic (8000–5500 BC). Although there is no firm information on Yalova's founding, it is thought to have been established as a settlement by the Bithynians, who crossed from Thrace into Asia Minor in the 7th century BC and founded a kingdom east of the Sea of Marmara. When the Bithynians settled on the eastern shores of the Sea of Marmara, the Yalova area became part of the Kingdom of Bithynia. A map showing Bithynia and the other ancient regions of Anatolia appears in Figure 1. As the map shows, today's Yalova, Bursa, Bilecik, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu, Zonguldak, Bartın, Karabük and the Asian side of Istanbul were among the lands of the Kingdom of Bithynia in the 6th century BC.

Figure 1: Ancient regions of Anatolia

Source: www.arkeolojidunyasi.com

Between 377 and 327 BC the Bithynians defeated Calas, the commander Alexander the Great had appointed to Bithynia, and drove them out of their lands. In the time of Prusias I, who reigned from 230 to 182 BC, Kios (Gemlik), Myrleia (Mudanya) and the Yalova area were given as a gift to King Philip V of Macedon. The Carthaginian commander Hannibal, fleeing the Roman Empire, took refuge with King Prusias I of Bithynia. Hannibal founded the city of Prusa ad Olympum (Bursa) as a gift to Prusias I. Yalova and its surroundings came under Roman rule in 74 BC and, when the Roman Empire split in two in AD 395, remained within the Eastern Roman, that is the Byzantine, Empire.

Today's Yalova hot springs hold an important place in history. On the outer walls of the Kurşunlu Hamam in the Termal district, thought to have come into being through an earthquake around 1200 BC, are reliefs of Heracles (Hercules), god of strength, Asclepius, god of health, and the Nymphs, spirits of hot water and health. Termal is known to have been very famous in the Byzantine period as a place where emperors rested and took cures. After the Byzantines, the Yalova area came under Seljuk rule and was burned and destroyed during the Crusades. In Evliya Çelebi's Book of Travels Yalova is called Kara Yalovaç, and in Katip Çelebi it is called Yalakabad and Yalıova. We also see that the name Yalova was given in those times. These names were also confirmed in the 19th century by the famous historian Hammer, who stayed in the area for forty days to study it.

The Yalova area, where peoples from the Phrygians and Bithynians to the Seljuks and Byzantines lived, was conquered in 1326 by the Ottoman commander Gazi Abdurrahman and became an eternal Turkish homeland. A map showing the lands of the Ottoman Beylik in the time of Osman Gazi, in 1323, appears in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The Ottoman Beylik in 1323

Source: www.tarihvemedeniyet.org

The map in Figure 3 shows the territory the Ottoman Beylik gained between 1323 and 1362. As the map shows, in the time of Orhan Gazi, between 1323 and 1362, the Ottoman Beylik roughly tripled the lands it ruled, and the Yalova area was brought within its borders.

Figure 3: The Ottoman Beylik in 1362

Source: www.tarihvemedeniyet.org

Old state yearbooks (salname) show that around 1530 Yalova was a town (Yalak-Abad) attached to the province (liva) of İzmit. Yalova was a kaza (sub-district) of the central sanjak of Bursa in 1867, and in 1901 it was attached to the independent sanjak of İzmit. Occupied by Greek troops during the War of Independence, Yalova was freed from enemy occupation on 19 July 1921 after a great struggle. On 2 June 1929, under a law passed at Atatürk's request, it was made a district and attached to Istanbul province. Atatürk, the great leader and founder of our Republic, came to Yalova for the first time after the War of Independence on 19 August 1929 and had Termal rebuilt. Atatürk was the first guest of the Termal Hotel, opened on 22 January 1938, and stayed in Yalova for 9 days. During the building of the Millet Çiftliği (National Farm) in 1929, when the second floor was reached, Atatürk saw that the tree to the west was going to be cut down, so he had the building's foundation moved a little to the east, sliding the building and saving the tree. That is why the mansion is called the Walking Mansion (Yürüyen Köşk). Yalova, which Atatürk called the “pioneer of liberation” and “my city”, became almost a summer capital, and again at Atatürk's request it was made one of Istanbul's districts in 1930; in 1995 it was separated from Istanbul and made a province. The town of Armutlu, attached to Bursa's Gemlik district, and the town of Altınova, attached to Kocaeli's Karamürsel district, were made districts and brought within the province's borders.

Visitors who want to go to Yalova can travel by road, by sea or by air. Neighbouring large cities, Yalova is easy to reach from anywhere in the country.

By road:

Visitors coming by road can arrive by private car or by coach. Yalova is close to major road junctions, so by car you can get there quickly by following the right routes. For those coming by coach, there are direct services to Yalova from many cities. Yalova Bus Station is very close to the city centre, and you can reach the centre from the station by minibus (dolmuş).

By sea:

Sea services to central Yalova run only from Istanbul and Bursa. You can reach Yalova by fast ferry (deniz otobüsü) from Istanbul's Kartal, Bostancı and Pendik districts. Fast ferries from Kadıköy go to Yalova's Armutlu district. You can also reach Armutlu by fast ferry from Mudanya and Güzelyalı in Bursa.

By air:

Yalova has no airport. However, you can reach the city quickly using the airports of neighbouring provinces. After landing at the airports in Istanbul and Kocaeli, you can continue to Yalova by road or by sea.

The sectors that have stood out in Yalova's economy in recent years are chemical products manufacturing (carbon fibre), shipbuilding, health tourism (medical, thermal, elderly and disabled tourism), ornamental plant production and kiwi growing. Greenhouse growing and ornamental plant production have a high share of the economic input from agricultural production.

The province follows a planned industrialisation model that gives priority to environmentally friendly industrial investment with a high capacity for skilled employment, focused on domestic manufacturing and creating added value. With the completion of the specialised organised industrial zones (OSB) whose investment work is under way, namely the Mould Manufacturing OSB, the Yalova Composites and Chemicals OSB, the Vehicle Parts OSB, the Ship Supply Industry OSB, the İMES Machinery OSB, the Eurasia Clothing OSB and the Yalova Floriculture Agriculture-Based OSB, investment of about $1 billion will come to life.

Yalova is a strategic centre for carbon fibre and acrylic fibre production. The world's largest privately owned integrated acrylic fibre plant under one roof is in the province, with a 17% share of the world market.

Carbon fibre, the raw material of the future, produced at only 8 locations in the world apart from Türkiye, is also produced in the province following R&D work.

Greenhouse growing and ornamental plant production have a small share in terms of area but a high share of the economic input from agricultural production. Ornamental plants are grown on about 49,000 decares across Türkiye, and on about 3,000 decares in the province.

The province produces a total of 173 million flowers, with an economic value of 400 million TL. In this field the province ranks 3rd in Türkiye, after Antalya and İzmir. The production is not only sold on the domestic market but also exported.

A total of 12,497 people are employed in the province's ship and yacht building sector. Yalova's share of Türkiye's total ship and yacht exports rose from 2.7% in 2011 to 10.6% in 2012, 21.7% in 2015 and 34% in 2016, and was 25.6% in 2017. In 2017, $342.8 million of ships and yachts were exported.

According to Yalova Customs Directorate data, the province's exports in 2016 were $505.4 million and its imports $427.2 million. In 2017 total exports were $626.1 million and total imports $621.8 million. (When the exports of the AKKÖK Group and the İpek Kâğıt Yalova factory are included, the province's exports in 2017 are calculated at about $900 million.) The main exports are ships, acrylic fibre, tow, tops and flower bulbs. The top three export markets are Norway, Iran and Iraq. The main imports are chemicals, yarn, fibre, machinery, live indoor and outdoor plants, flower bulbs and cut flowers. The top three import sources are the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany.

When the Kapaklı Fishing Shelter Project, costing 51.3 million TL and under construction in the village of Kapaklı in the province's Armutlu district, comes into service in 2019, fishing, one of the area's important sources of income, will develop and economic life will pick up.

Construction of the Ro-Ro Terminal in the town of Taşköprü in the province's Çiftlikköy district began in 2016, and the first ship carrying an export cargo sailed on 4 October 2017. The Ministry of the Interior declared the terminal a Temporary Sea Border Gate, and our Customs Directorate has also moved there.

The Ro-Ro Terminal covers a total area of 80 decares. It runs 10 sailings a week, counting both directions, to the Italian port of Trieste, with a total of 2,400 vehicles coming in and going out. Sailings to the Romanian port of Constanța will also begin in the coming months.

Within the terminal, an industrial product analysis laboratory has been set up on an area of 1,000 m² at a cost of €3.5 million. A laboratory to work on animal and plant food products will also open in the coming days. The total cost of the laboratory is €4.5 million.

Given its technological infrastructure, the Ro-Ro Terminal is currently the most modern port in our country.

With the Ro-Ro Terminal in service, it is expected that the province's export figures will rise significantly and that most of the goods of exporting companies in various Anatolian provinces, above all Istanbul, Bursa and Kocaeli, will be shipped abroad from this location.

The Yalova İMES Machinery OSB, registered and announced by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, has been officially established. The OSB will help greatly reduce unemployment in Yalova. High value-added products will be made at the İMES Machinery OSB, which will provide employment for about 15,000 people on an area of 4.64 million m².

The Yalova Eurasia Clothing OSB, registered and announced by the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, has been officially established. Through public–private cooperation, the OSB in Çiftlikköy was expected to provide employment for 8,500 people with investment of about 2.5 billion TL on an area of 2.3 million m². Under the 2017 plan, construction of the first factories was to begin in the first quarter of 2018; the OSB was promoted for its proximity to logistics facilities such as the port, the Ro-Ro terminal and customs.

The estimated investment cost of the Yalova Ship Supply Industry OSB is 245.2 million TL. Because land prices are high, expropriation work is continuing. On completion, exports are expected to rise by $200 million and 10,000 new jobs to be created. Project work is being carried out on an area of 1.42 million m².

The Yalova Composites and Chemicals OSB (YALKİM) has met the requirements for an improved OSB and gained legal personality as a specialised OSB. Its estimated investment cost is 223.7 million TL. The OSB is expected to increase exports by $200 million a year and create 7,000 new jobs. Project work is being carried out on an area of 1.13 million m².

Expropriation work for the Yalova Mould Manufacturing OSB is continuing. Its estimated investment cost is 12.2 million TL, and it is expected to create 5,000 new jobs. Project work is being carried out on an area of 0.34 million m².

The estimated investment cost of the Vehicle Parts OSB is $300 million. The OSB is expected to increase exports by $300 million a year and create 7,000 new jobs. Project work is being carried out on an area of 1.55 million m².

The Yalova Floriculture Agriculture-Based OSB operates on an area of 1.05 million m². The OSB will significantly increase the province's ornamental plant production capacity.

Source: http://www.yalova.gov.tr/genel-ekonomik-durum