KIRIKKALE

town, central Turkey, on the Ankara-Kayseri railway near the Kizil River. Formerly a village, it owes its rapid rise in population mainly to the establishment of steel mills in the 1950s. These works, among the largest in the country, specialize in high-quality alloy steel and machinery. In the 1960s chemical plants were added. Electricity is provided by a generating plant that is linked to larger hydroelectric plants in Hirfanli and Kesikkpr. The town is also a local market for the cereals and livestock products of the Kizil River valley. Pop. (1990) 185,431.