City of Karşıyaka

Karsiyaka is settled on an area of 50 km’ at the north of the bay. Its altitude varies from 1 to 700 meters. The district’s population was 524,891 in 2008. But after the new legislation in 2008, Bayrakli has become a district and the current  population  of Karsiyaka has decreased to 325,008.

It was established on foothills of Yamanlar Mountain at the north of Izmir Bay.  Bayrakli district is at the east and Cigli district is at the west of Karsiyaka. Aegean Sea is at its south and Yamanlar Mountain is at its north.  The major part of residential areas in the city are on plains near to the seaside.  The neighborhoods such as Cumhuriyet, Mustafa Kemal, Inonu are at foothills and the other residential areas are at sea level. After the Metropolitan Municipality Law, the villages of Sancakli and Yamanlar have become neighborhoods dependent to the municipality.

At a dating made by assessing occupation layers and ceramic objects found in a mound at Small Yamanlar Hill and which were destroyed at cistern diggings it was observed that Karsiyaka had a longer history than Old Izmir.

The earliest dated ceramics on the hill are dated by experts to later phase of Neolithic Age (5000 BC). There are some other mounds in Izmir and surroundings having traces of life in Neolithic Age such as Araplartepe, Urla Limantepe, Kemalpasa Ulucak Hoyuk, Bornova Yesilova Hoyugu inside Aliaga Helvaci Village borders.

The district was occupied by the Greeks on May 15th, 1919 and was saved by the 14th Cavalry Division on September 9th, 1922 at the command of Colonel Suphi Kula.

Source : Karşıyaka official website