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Protected areas are the focal point of processes that come to the forefront and contribute to tourism with the concern of transferring national and international natural and cultural areas to future generations. This study includes the determination of the evaluation factors for tourism-based protected area approaches, and the analysis of the protected areas that developed in terms of tourism and infrastructure among the nature parks in Giresun province according to the AHP-TOPSIS method. The proposed model is designed according to 4 main groups resource values and 15 sub-criteria. In the research, the opinions of the experts on the protected areas were analyzed by making pairwise comparisons and alternative selection. The results of these analyzes contribute to the correct decision-making, planning, management, and precise determination of investment areas for the protected areas used for tourism purposes while providing convenience to eliminate the deficiencies in protection and infrastructure planning.

The World Health Organization accepts quality of life as individuals' perceptions of their position in life in relation to their life goals, expectations, standards and concerns within the scope of personal and social value systems. In this context, there is a close relationship between people's quality of life and physical, psychological state, social relations, environment, economic and other factors. In this study, it was aimed to measure the quality of life of Atatürk University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Geography students according to the WHOQOL-BREF-TR scale. Questionnaire technique was used to collect the data, and the WHOQOL-BREF-TR quality of life scale, which consists of 26 questions, was used in addition to demographic characteristics and quality of life characteristics. A total of 302 students were surveyed. The analysis of the data obtained by the quantitative research method was made with the help of IBM SPSS 25 program. In the analysis of the data, descriptive frequency analysis, T test for independent samples, One Way Anova and correlation analyses were applied for independent samples. In addition, studies on quality of life were examined in the VOSWeawer 1.18 program according to WOS and Scopus indexes. According to the results of the T-test analysis for the applied independent samples, the gender variable of the students and their physical health; it has been determined that there is a significant difference between the marital status of the students and the sub-dimensions of physical health, psychological status, social relations and environment. In addition, one-way analysis of variance (One Way Anova) was performed for independent samples. According to this, the average monthly income of the family and physical health, the age of the students and the social relations with the class they study; it has been determined that there is a significant difference between the average monthly income of the family and the administrative unit where the family resides and the environment. According to the results of the Spearman correlation analysis, it was determined that there was a weak and moderate positive or negative linear relationship between the variables in a large part.

Systematic archeological excavations and studies conducted in the Asi River delta have revealed the existence of some ancient settlements. These places are quite important in terms of archeological tourism, which is a tourism niche emerging as a result of the relationship between archeology and tourism sciences. This study aims to evaluate the archeological tourism potential of the Asi River delta from a geographical perspective and discuss the value of this area as an archeological heritage. Is the Asi River delta suitable or archeological tourism? Are archeological tourism activities possible in this area? What features of this area are important for archeological tourism? Which key elements of archeological tourism potential exist in this area? The present study was based on the data collected from the scientific research in the literature, various thematic maps, and systematic field surveys. In addition, the obtained data were evaluated through SWOT analysis. It was concluded that the Asi River delta is suitable for archeological tourism. Nature tourism and cultural tourism practices in the area may be modified to involve archeological tourism within an official framework. In this way

Ecotourism has become an integral part of the tourism sector for raising awareness of environmental protection, reducing the negative effects of tourism while using natural and cultural tourist attractions sustainably. The study primarily aims to determine suitable areas for sustainability approaches in the region regarding ecotourism and develop a comprehensive and reliable model in Uzundere. Various methodological approaches have been applied to develop ecotourism models, but certain deficiencies have emerged regarding spatial differences and criteria weighting. The proposed model applied the Geographic Information Systems and Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Combined approaches such as Multi Criteria Decision Analysis approaches. The model was designed under 4 main groups and 16 sub-criteria. The ecotourism suitability map was analyzed through Weighted Linear Combination as highly suitable, suitable, moderately suitable and not suitable areas. Besides offering great opportunities in selecting suitable areas to be designated for ecotourism activities, this modeling provides advantages for accurate decision-making, planning, implementation and also conservation of the natural and socio-cultural environment. This study can facilitate the planning of the sustainable structure for ecotourism and the suitable areas determination in other areas with similar geographical conditions, with its applicable, reproducible and modifiable criteria structure.

As a result of diversification of tourism, new concepts such as military tourism, war tourism and sorrow tourism have appeared in recent years. People started to be curious about the wars that occurred with various reasons and their battlefields in any area during the course of history and accordingly their demand to visit those places initiated the war tourism activity. In this context, academic studies have been made on areas such as Gallipoli and Troy National parks in terms of military tourism and within this scope there are potential areas to be evaluated in Erzurum too. In this study, the aim is to introduce, preserve, present the tourism potential of battlefields used in independence war and especially 1877-1878 Ottoman Russian War (93 war) and related castles, bastions, arsenals, monuments, museum, historical gates and martyrs’ cemetery and evaluate them in terms of tourism. In this direction, after related literature search was made evaluations were made in light of the data as a result of terrain observations and interviews. As a result of these findings, it was determined that majority of destinations having military tourism value in Erzurum and surroundings were destroyed, that transportation options are problematic, that their recognition are very low and that they are not evaluated in terms of tourism. For this reason, studies should be conducted in order to take aforementioned historical source values under protection as soon as possible and they should be redounded to tourism. ÖzetTurizmin çeşitlendirilmesiyle birlikte son yıllarda savaş alanları, savaş turizmi, askeri turizm ve hüzün turizmi gibi yeni bir turizm kavramı ortaya çıkmıştır. Herhangi bir sahada tarih boyunca çeşitli nedenlerle meydana gelen savaşlar ve bunların gerçekleştiği yerler günümüzde ulusal ve uluslararası düzeyde turistik açıdan merak edilen veya ziyaret edilmek istenen yerlerden biri haline gelmesi savaş turizmi hareketliliğini başlatmıştır. Bu kapsamda ülkemizde Gelibolu ve Troya tarihi milli parkları gibi alanların savaş alanları turizmi açısından değerlendirilmesine yönelik akademik çalışmalar yapılmış olup, bu çerçevede Erzurum şehrinde de değerlendirebilecek potansiyel alanlar bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, Kurtuluş Savaşı ve özellikle de 1877-1878 Osmanlı-Rus Savaşı (93 harbi) süresince savaşın gerçekleştiği alanlar ile bu sahada bulunan kale, tabyalar, cephanelikler, anıtlar, müze, tarihi kapılar ve şehitliklerin askeri turizmi potansiyelinin ortaya konulması, tanıtılması, korunması ve turizm açısından değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu doğrultuda ilgili literatür taraması yapıldıktan sonra arazi gözlemleri sonucunda elde edilen veriler ışığında değerlendirmeler yapılmıştır. Bulgular neticesinde Erzurum şehri ve yakın çevresindeki askeri turizmi değeri taşıyan destinasyonların pek çoğunun tahrip edildiği, ulaşım imkanlarının sorunlu olduğu, tanınırlıkların çok az olduğu ve turizm açısından değerlendirilmediği saptanmıştır. Bu nedenle söz konusu tarihsel kaynak değerlerinin bir an önce koruma altına alınıp, turizme kazandırılması yönünde çalışmalar yapılmalıdır.

Turkey faces various natural disasters due to her geographical location. One of these natural disasters is avalanches. Eastern Anatolia Region which covers 21% of Turkey's land, 163.000 km2 surface area is the region where avalanches are the most common. 193 avalanches out of 220 in a 32-year period between 1970-2012 occurred in this region. As a result, 128 individuals were killed, 48 were injured and a total of 17.892 individuals were affected in different ways. This study aims to provide an avalanche susceptibility and risk analysis in Eastern Anatolia Region. Avalanche Susceptibility Analysis and Risk Analysis were undertaken based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) by following the formulas developed by Mora and Vahrson (1994) and UN Disaster Relief Coordinator (1979) respectively. Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) data and official statistics provided by General Directorate of Meteorology and Turkish Statistics Institute were utilized in the study. It was observed that the avalanches occur due to conditions of slope, temperature and precipitation. The impact of this natural disaster will be felt more distinctively in areas with higher population density. Avalanche susceptibility is insignificant and lower in large areas whereas it is high and significant in a small region. Areas with highest susceptibility generally correspond with the frequency of occurrence found in disaster statistics. According to risk values observed to be 11.63 in average, the provinces with the highest risk are Hakkari, Bitlis, Mus, Bingol, Tunceli, Kahramanmaras, Erzurum, Agrı and Van. More detailed avalanche susceptibility identification and planning are called for in the whole region urgently.

Flood disasters are often experienced in Amik Valley, one of themost important valleys in Turkey. These natural hazards generated dueto the effects of natural and human features of the valley have causedserious economic damage in recent years. In contrast to previousstudies undertaken in the valley, current study aims to analyze thenatural hazard along with risk potential and index in order to map andexplicate the possible flood risk.Topography sheets scaled 1/25.000 and 1/250.000 and DigitalElevation Model (GDEM) data were used in the study as materials.Other data used in the study were obtained from 2012 floodidentification and village briefing reports, Turkish Statistical Institutedata and telephone interviews. Mapping and analysis were done byutilizing Geographical Information Systems (GIS) softwareArcGIS/ArcMAP 10 package program. In addition, Cnes/Spot Imagesatellite images in Google Earth (KMZ) format dated 2012 were utilizedwith the help of Remote Sensing (RS) techniques. The obtained datawere checked in situ via field surveys and missing points werecompleted. Method used in the study was based on adapting the systemdeveloped by Tran et al. (2008) to the study area.Study results show that the highest possible flood risk (413.96km² - 43.49 %) in Amik Valley is observed in areas with medium risklocated in the north and central parts of the valley. The areas with thehighest flood risk in the valley are the western and southern parts ofHatay Airport and the rural areas around the district centers of Kumluand Reyhanlı and the areas with the lowest flood risk are found to theeast of the valley.Current study undertaken with the help of GeographicalInformation Systems (GIS) methods and techniques serves as asuggestion to solve the problems related to flood risk experienced inAmik Valley. Findings and results of the study will prepare thefoundation for planning in the valley. Türkiye’nin en önemli ovalarından birisi olan Amik Ovası, sık sık afet boyutunda taşkın olaylarının yaşandığı yerlerdendir. Ovanın doğal ve beşeri özellikleri nedeniyle meydana gelen bu doğal afetler, son yıllarda ciddi oranda ekonomik zarara neden olmuştur. Bu çalışmada, Amik Ovası’nda daha önce yapılan araştırmalardan farklı olarak ilgili doğal afetin, risk potansiyeli ile indeksinin analiz edilmesi ve böylece olası taşkın riskinin haritalandırılıp, açıklanması amaçlanmıştır.Çalışmada materyal olarak, 1/25.000 ve 1/250.000 ölçekli topografya paftaları ile sayısal yükseklik modeli verisi (GDEM) kullanılmıştır. Bunun dışındaki diğer veriler 2012 yılı sel-taşkın tespit ve köy brifing raporlarından, Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (TUİK) verilerinden ve telefon görüşmelerinden elde edilmiştir. Çalışmanın haritalama ve analiz aşaması, Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri (CBS) yazılımlarından ArcGIS/ArcMap 10 paket programı kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Ayrıca Uzaktan Algılama (UA) teknikleriyle Google Earth (KMZ) formatında 2012 tarihli Cnes/Spot Image uydu görüntüsünden de faydalanılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler arazi çalışmaları ile yerinde kontrol edilmiş ve eksik kalan konular bu şekilde tamamlanmıştır. Çalışmanın yöntem kısmı, Tran vd. (2008) tarafından geliştirilen modelinin inceleme alanına uyarlanmasına dayanmaktadır.Çalışma sonucunda Amik Ovası’ndaki olası taşkın riski en fazla (413.96 km² - % 43.49) orta risk derecesine sahip alanlarda tespit edilmiştir. Bu sahalar daha çok ovanın kuzey ve iç kesimlerine karşılık gelmektedir. Ovadaki en riskli alanlar Hatay havaalanının batısı ve güneyi ile Kumlu ve Reyhanlı ilçe merkezlerinin çevrelerindeki kırsal alanlar, risk potansiyelinin düşük olduğu alanlar ise daha çok ovanın doğusunda yayılış göstermektedir.Sonuç olarak Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri (CBS) yöntem ve teknikleriyle gerçekleştirilen bu çalışma, Amik Ovası’nda yaşanan taşkın afetinin çözümlenmesine yönelik hazırlanmış bir öneri niteliği taşımaktadır. Çalışmada üretilen bulgular ve sonuçlar ova genelinde yapılacak planlamalara zemin hazırlayacaktır.

One of the most common natural disasters in Turkey and in theworld is landslides. Investigation of Turkey’s profile of the last 50 yearsshows that the landslides are the most commonly occurring naturaldisasters with a ratio of 45%.The current study investigated the landslide susceptibility analysisof Camili (Macahel) which is one of the unique places on earth with itsspecific fauna and flora and which is the first Biosphere Reserve Area ofTurkey. The landslides which are among the most common naturaldisaster risks in the basin with international recognizance present crucialthreats both in terms of settlement and planning. In this context, thestudy examined the factors that cause landslides in the basin area, theirimpact levels, ratios of potential landslide zones and their geographicaldistributions.The study employed factor maps of various scales obtained fromdifferent resources. 17 parameter factors obtained with the help of thesemaps were evaluated separately and in connection with conditiondependent overlay method to identify landslide risk zones. The studybased on a topography plate with scaled 1/25.000 made use of maps ofvarious scales about different parameters as well as Landsat satelliteimages. Mapping and analysis phases of the study were based onGeographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS)technology. In this context, ArcGIS/ArcMap 10 GIS and ERDAS 2012 RSsoftware was utilized.It was identified at the end of the landslide susceptibility study ofthe basin that medium level susceptible zones display the highestdistribution with 56 % ratio (14284 ha) followed by high (6972 ha - 28 %)and very high (611 ha – 2 %) level susceptible zones with 30 % and low3288 ha – 13 %) and very low (67 ha – 1 %) level susceptible zones with14 %. It was determined that potential risk zones are concentratedaround slopes overlooking north where relief and precipitation values arehigh, mountain and slope morphology is dominant and vegetation isdestroyed of weakened.Risk factor should be kept in mind when utilizing the zones withhigh landslide risk for settlement or any other human related activity.Disaster management planning should be undertaken and implementedimmediately. Dünya’da ve Türkiye’de en sık olarak görülen doğal afetlerdenbirisi de heyelanlardır. Türkiye’nin son 50 yıllık afet profiliincelendiğinde heyelanların % 45’lik oranla en sık gerçekleşen doğal afetolduğunu görülmektedir.Bu çalışmada fauna ve flora özellikleriyle eşine az rastlananyerlerden birisi olan ve Türkiye’nin ilk Biyosfer Rezerv Alanı olarak ilanedilen Camili (Macahel)’nin heyelan analizi yapılmıştır. Çünküuluslararası öneme sahip bu alandaki en büyük doğal afet risklerindenbirisi olan heyelanlar hem yerleşme, hem de planlama açısından önemlibir tehdit unsurudur. Bu anlamda biyosfer rezerv alanında heyelananeden olan faktörler, etki dereceleri, potansiyel heyelan alanlarınınoranları ve coğrafi dağılışlarının nasıl olduğu araştırılmıştır.Çalışmada farklı kaynaklardan elde edilen değişik ölçeklerdekifaktör haritalarından yararlanılmıştır. Bu haritalardan elde edilen 17parametre faktörü ayrı ayrı değerlendirilmiş ve koşullara bağlı ağırlıklıçakıştırma yöntemi ile birleştirilerek, heyelan risk alanları tespitedilmiştir. 1/25.000 ölçekli topografya haritaları temelli olaraksürdürülen çalışmada, farklı parametrelere ait değişik ölçeklerdeharitalardan ve Landsat uydu görüntüsünden de faydalanılmıştır.Çalışmanın haritalama ve analiz aşaması Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri (CBS) veUzaktan Algılama (UA) temelli olarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu bağlamdaArcGIS/ArcMap 10 CBS ve ERDAS 2012 UA yazılımları kullanılmıştır.Çalışma sonucunda inceleme alanında % 56 oranla (14284 ha) enfazla orta duyarlılıkta alanların yayılış gösterdiği tespit edilmiştir. Buyayılışı % 30 oranla yüksek (6972 ha - % 28) ve çok yüksek (611 ha - %2) duyarlı sahalar, % 14 oranla ise düşük (3288 ha - % 13) ve çok düşük(67 ha - % 1) duyarlılıktaki sahalar takip etmektedir. Potansiyel heyelanalanlarının inceleme alanında daha çok eğim ve yağış değerlerininyüksek, dağ ve yamaç morfolojisinin hakim olduğu, bitki örtüsününtahrip edildiği veya zayıf olduğu kuzeye bakan yamaçlarda yoğunlaştığıbelirlenmiştir.Heyelan riskinin yüksek olduğu alanlar yerleşim ve buna benzerdiğer faaliyetler için kullanılırken risk faktörü göz önüne alınmalıdır. Acilolarak bu sahada afet yönetim planlaması yapılmalı ve uygulanmalıdır.

Tourism climatology is a popular field of study that deals with the relationship between tourism and climate through approaches such as applied climatology and human biometeorology. One of the subjects studied most in this field is the evaluation of bioclimatic comfort conditions. In recent years, inferences of this sort have been able to be made easily by use of certain indices. This study aims at evaluating and analyzing the bioclimatic comfort conditions of Artvin province by use of GIS. Within the scope of the research aim, monthly values belonging to SET*, PET, PMV, TCI, THI and SSI indices were calculated by use of meteorological data. SET*, PET, and PMV indices were determined via RayMan 1.2 while TCI, THI, and SSI indices were ascertained through Microsoft Excel 2013 supported analyses of various formulas. The obtained values were analyzed through GIS techniques. Also, statistical methods were utilized to make the research findings more meaningful. All in all, the province was seen to have comfortable conditions. This is because; the comfortable (1) class (68.9%) covers a wider area than uncomfortable (0) class (31.1%) in the province. Bioclimatic comfort classes are shaped by geographical position, elevation, and topography in Artvin province. Valleys with an elevation of less than 2000 m and coastal area are comfortable while mountainous areas (Rize, Kaçkar, Karçal, and Yalnızçam mounts) with a higher elevation are uncomfortable. The results of one-way analysis of variance (one-sample t-test) show that bioclimatic conditions have not been taken into consideration much during the planning of tourism accommodation facilities set up in Artvin province. This study evidences that GIS techniques are efficient in research on tourism climatology or bioclimatology and thus they may be used widely. ÖzetTurizm klimatolojisi, uygulamalı klimatoloji ile insan biyometeorolojisi gibi yaklaşımlarla turizm ve iklim arasındaki ilişkiyi inceleyen popüler bir çalışma sahasıdır. Bu sahada çalışılan öncelikli konulardan birisi de biyoklimatik konfor şartlarının değerlendirilmesidir. Son yıllarda bu tür çıkarımlar CBS (Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri) destekli olarak bazı indisler yardımıyla kolayca yapılabilmektedir. Bu çalışmada CBS kullanılarak Artvin ilinin biyoklimatik konfor şartlarının değerlendirilmesi ve analizinin yapılması amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma amacı kapsamında meteorolojik veriler kullanılarak SET*, PET, PMV, TCI, THI ve SSI indislerine ait aylık değerler hesaplanmıştır. SET*, PET ve PMV RayMan 1.2 yazılımı, TCI, THI ve SSI ise çeşitli formüllerin Microsoft Excel 2013 destekli çözümlenmesiyle saptanmıştır. Ulaşılan değerler CBS teknikleriyle analiz edilmiştir. Ayrıca çalışma bulgularını daha anlamlı kılmak amacıyla istatistiksel analiz yöntemlerinden de faydalanılmıştır. Sonuçta ilin konforlu şartlar taşıdığı saptanmıştır. Zira ilde konforlu (1) sınıf (% 68,9) konforsuz (0) sınıfa (% 31,1) oranla daha fazla alan kaplamaktadır. Diğer yandan ildeki biyoklimatik konfor sınıflarının coğrafi konum, yükseklik ve topoğrafik şartlara göre şekillendiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu bağlamda 2000 m yükselti basamağının altındaki vadiler ile kıyı sahası konforlu, üzerindeki dağlık kesimler (Rize, Kaçkar, Karçal ve Yalnızçam dağları) ise konforsuz özelliklere sahiptir. Ayrıca tek yönlü varyans analizi (tek örneklem t-testi) sonuçlarına göre Artvin ilinde yapılmış turizm konaklama tesislerinin planlamalarında biyoklimatik koşulların çok fazla dikkate alınmadığı da belirlenmiştir. Bu çalışma sayesinde turizm klimatolojisine veya biyoklimatolojiye yönelik araştırmalarda CBS tekniklerinin verimli olduğu ve yaygın bir şekilde kullanılabileceğini bir kez daha somut olarak anlaşılmıştır.

One of tourism activities gaining importance day by day in the world is agriculture (agro) tourism. Recently, this tourism, in order to contribute to ensuring rural development, as well as protecting of biodiversity and ecosystem is supported and encouraged particularly in developing countries. In this study, it is aimed to valuation of agro tourism potential of Amik Plain in geographical terms. The article, which is a pioneering study for the scope of agro tourism of Amik Plain, is preferably important for the promotion and planning. Thematic maps of the study are created by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques according to Method of Multi-criteria Decision Making in terms of subject matter and scope the relevant literature addition to using a variety of maps and data. Obtained data’s were tested by land studies and consistencies were measured by SWOT analysis. Eventually, it appears that characteristics of the natural environment of the Amik Plain has a very high potential for agro tourism. In the study, it has been identified to 99% of The Plain was formed from the most appropriate and appropriate areas for agro tourism, as a result of the analysis. However, there has not been any activity about the scope of related tourism on the plain. In this context, agro tourism planning of plain should be made, primarily. Furthermore, for further studies, encouraging and informative meetings should be done with ensuring the participation of the local people, Dünyada gün geçtikçe önem kazanan turizm etkinliklerinden biri de tarım (agro) turizmidir. Son zamanlarda bu turizm, başta gelişmekte olan ülkelerde hem kırsal kalkınmanın sağlanabilmesi hem de biyolojik çeşitlilik ve ekosistemi korumaya katkıda bulunmak amacıyla desteklenmekte ve teşvik edilmektedir. Bu çalışmada Amik Ovası’nın tarım turizmi potansiyelinin coğrafi açıdan incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaçla ovanın tarım turizmine uygun potansiyel alanları tespit edilmiş ve tarım turizmi potansiyeli değerlendirilmiştir. Amik Ovası için tarım turizmi kapsamında öncü bir çalışma olan bu yayın, daha çok tanıtım ve planlamalar için önem taşımaktadır. Çalışmanın tematik haritaları, ilgili alanyazın, çeşitli haritalar ve veriler kullanılarak Çok Kriterli Karar VermeYöntemi’ne göre Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri (CBS) teknikleriyle işlenerek oluşturulmuştur. Elde edilen veriler arazi çalışmalarıyla kontrol edilmiş ve SWOT analiziyle tutarlılıkları ölçülmüştür. Sonuçta Amik Ovası’nın sahip olduğu doğal ortam özelliklerinin çok yüksek bir tarım turizmi potansiyeli barındırdığı anlaşılmıştır. Çalışmada yapılan analizler sonucunda ovanın %99’unun tarım turizmine en uygun ve uygun alanlardan oluştuğu tespit edilmiştir. Ancak ovada tarım turizmiyle ilgili herhangi bir gelişme yoktur. Bu bağlamda öncelikli olarak ovanın tarım turizmi planlaması yapılmalıdır. Ayrıca yapılacak çalışmalarda yerel halkın da katılımı sağlanmalı, eğitimler verilmelidir.ABSTRACTOne of tourism activities gaining importance day by day in the world is agriculture (agro) tourism. Recently, this tourism, in order to contribute to ensuring rural development, as well as protecting of biodiversity and ecosystemis supported and encouraged particularly in developing countries. In this study, it is aimed to valuation of agro tourism potential of Amik Plain in geographical terms. The article, which is a pioneering study for the scope of agro tourism of Amik Plain, is preferably important for the promotion and planning. Thematic maps of the study are created by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques according to Method of Multi-criteria Decision Making in terms of subject matter and scope the relevant literature addition to using a variety of maps and data. Obtained data’s were tested by land studies and consistencies were measured by SWOT analysis. Eventually, it appears that characteristics of the natural environment of the Amik Plain has a very high potential for agro tourism. In the study, it has been identified to 99% of The Plain was formed from the most appropriate and appropriate areas for agro tourism, as a result of the analysis. However, there has not been any activity about the scope of related tourism on the plain. In this context, agro tourism planning of plain should be made, primarily. Furthermore, for further studies, encouraging and informative meetings should be done with ensuring the participation of the local people.

Having grown rapidly throughout the world in recent years, cities have led to the emergence of many problems in the natural environment. It is necessary to perform appropriate space selection works in urban areas in order to solve such problems. In this regard, significant works are performed by means of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based techniques in particular. In the present study, the natural environmental components of Antakya, the central district of Hatay province, were analyzed in terms of habitability. Thematic maps were utilized in the present study (scale being 1/25.000). The ArcGIS/ArcMap 10.1 package GIS software was used at the analysis and the mapping stages of the present study. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of the multiplecriteria decision-making methods, was employed as the research method. It was found out that more than half of Antakya consisted of areas having a low level of habitability. The spaces inappropriate for habitation were the areas close by river valleys the Asi (Orontes) River being in the first place and fault lines. According to the research findings, although there are some risky spaces within borders of the municipal adjacent areas to which the district is likely to extend in the near future, the safest spaces are situated there. Ultimately, studies taking into account natural environmental components should be conducted in order to plan cities for sustainability. The use of methods based on GIS in these kinds of studies is quite important for producing sound and applicable results. Such methods may be preferred as they are applicable in similar fields, too, Son yıllarda dünya genelinde hızlı bir şekilde gelişen kentler, doğal ortamda birçok probleminde ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Ortaya çıkan bu problemlerin çözümü için kent alanlarında uygun yer seçimi çalışmalarının yapılması gerekmektedir. Bu bağlamda özellikle Coğrafi Bilgi Sistemleri (CBS) tekniklerinden yararlanılarak oldukça ciddi çalışmalar gerçekleştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada Hatay ilinin merkezini oluşturan Antakya kentinin doğal çevre bileşenlerinin yerleşime uygunluk açısından analizi yapılmıştır. Çalışmada materyal olarak 1/25.000 ölçek oranı esas alınarak çeşitli tematik haritalardan yararlanılmıştır. Çalışmanın analiz ve haritalama aşaması CBS yazılımlarından ArcGIS/ArcMap 10.1 paket programı kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Yöntem olarak ise çok kriterli karar verme yöntemlerinden biri olan Analitik Hiyerarşi Süreci (AHS)’den yararlanılmıştır. Çalışma sonunda Antakya kentinin yarısından fazlasının yerleşmeye az uygun sahalardan oluştuğu tespit edilmiştir. Yerleşmeye uygunsuz alanlar, başta Asi Nehri olmak üzere akarsu vadileri ile fay hatlarına yakın konumda bulunan sahalardır. Kentin yakın gelecekte genişleyeceği mücavir alan sınırları içerisinde bazı riskli alanlar bulunmasına rağmen, en güvenilir alanlar bu bölgededir. Nihai aşamada ise kentlerin sürdürülebilir bakımından planlanması için doğal çevre bileşenlerini dikkate alan çalışmaların yapılmasına ihtiyaç vardır. Bu tarz çalışmalarda CBS’ye dayalı yöntemlerin kullanılması sağlıklı ve kullanılabilir sonuçlar üretilmesi bakımından oldukça mühimdir. Bu yöntemlerin benzer alanlarda da uygulanabilir olması bakımından tercih edilebileceği anlaşılmıştır.

This paper aimed at introducing geographically and evaluating for sustainable ecotourism the Gilindire (Aynaligol) Cave located within the borders of Aydincik district of Mersin province whose tourism potential had not been examined though it was included in cave studies inventory in terms of name and location. Being one of the three caves growing in rocks dating back to the Cambrian period in the Turkish cave literature, the Gilindire Cave has quite an important potential in terms of nature and tourism. However, although an attempt has been made for approximately 13 years to open this cave to tourism, its importance for tourism has not been understood sufficiently yet. Thus, the present study intended to make a touristic introduction and plan of the cave, which seems insufficient for now. The research data were collected through map analyses and field surveys along with the related literature. Then, such data were arranged in connection with one another and transferred to texts, figures, and maps. They were scientifically interpreted based on a geographical construct. According to the research results, the Gilindire Cave is a multi-period and multi-origin cave in terms of geomorphological formation and development. Having a total length of 555 m, the Gilindire Cave is situated on a steep cliff developing along a high coast formed by faults at an altitude of +46 m. Natural elements seen inside and around the cave are quite important and attention grabbing in terms of tourism. Therefore, the illumination plan and the environmental plan of the cave should be completed urgently in order to introduce the natural resource values determined through more detailed studies to tourism. Then, introductory advertising activities should be conducted. The cave should be introduced by competent people. Moreover, the problems and deficiencies likely to hinder tourism inside and around the cave should be eliminated, and practices aimed at increasing tourism activities should be brought into action.