Geography

Yeşildere at 37°10′N 33°30′E is 35 kilometres (21.7 mi) east of Karaman

Karaman

Karaman is a town in south central Turkey, located north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the capital district of the Karaman Province. According to 2000 census, the population of the province is 231 872 of which 132,064 live in the town of Karaman. The district covers an area...

. The town is situated at the south Toros Mountains

Taurus Mountains

Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east...

 along the valley of İbrala rivulet. The population of the town is 1264 and is on the decrease.

History

The former name of the town was İbrala. Only a few documents about the history of İbrala survive. Probably the town was founded during medieval age, for the mosque of the town had been built on the ruins of a church (The name of the mosque is kilisecamii meaning church mosque) However it should be noted that there were Christian Turks

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 around Karaman area up to 20th century and the church might be built at a later period. (see Karamanlides

Karamanlides

The Karamanlides , or simply Karamanlis, are a Greek Orthodox, Turkish-speaking people native to the Karaman and Cappadocia regions of Anatolia...

) Formerly a village, Yeşildere was decleared town in 1954.

Economy

Yeşildere is a typical agricultural town. Irrigation has always been a problem . But there is a small dam under construction on the rivulet which is planned to irrigate 13000 hectares (32,123.7 acre). Yeşildere residents hope that this may prevent further loss in population.