MERSIN

formerly Mersina, city and seaport, south-central Turkey. It lies along the Mediterranean Sea at the extreme western end of the Cilician Plain, 40 miles (65 km) west-southwest of Adana. A town of recent origin, Mersin stands near the site of an unidentified ancient settlement. The ruins of the Roman harbour town of Soli-Pompeiopolis lie immediately to the west. Excavations in a mound called Ymk Tepesi, 2 miles (3 km) north of the modern harbour, indicate settlements in the remote Neolithic (New Stone Age) Period: a village was fortified there as early as c. 3600 BC and again during the Old Hittite (c. 17501460 BC) and New Hittite (c. 14601200 BC) empires but was abandoned after the foundation of Pompeiopolis. Mersin's artificial harbour is an outlet for the agricultural products and minerals of the Cilician Plain and southeastern Anatolia. The site was chosen because of its silt-free location and its rail and road connections with the interior. A branch line links Mersin with Adana and the IstanbulBaghdad railway. The port is connected by ferry to Cyprus. Mersin is the site of one of Turkey's largest oil refineries. Pop. (1980 prelim.) 216,308.