title: Ereğli, Konya
text: Ereğli is a municipality and district of Konya Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,214 km2, and its population is 150,978 (2022). Its elevation is .
  
  History
  The ancient town of Heraclea Cybistra (Ηράκλεια Κυβίστρα in Ancient Greek) was located here, and gave its name (Heracles) to the modern town. The town had some importance in Hellenistic times owing to its position near the point where the road to the Gülek Pass (Cilician Gates) enters the hills. It lay in the way of armies and was more than once sacked by the Arab invaders of Asia Minor (AD 805 and 832). During the Crusade of 1101 it was the scene of a failed battle of 15,000 men led by William II, Count of Nevers against the Seljuks, which left the Crusaders weak en route to Antioch. It became Turkish (Seljuk) in the 11th century. 
  
  Ereğli is also known for being the first capital of the Karaman Beylik founded by Nur Sufi Bey.  The Karaman state was renowned for being a consistent nuisance to Ottoman dominance in Anatolia, being one of the few Anatolian beyliks to retain sovereignty well past Mehmed the Conqueror's conquest of Constantinople.  It was also the first political entity and beylik in Anatolia to proclaim Turkish as an official language alongside Arabic and Persian. In 1553, upon return from a campaign in Persia, Suleiman the Magnificent had his son, Şehzade Mustafa, killed in the Ereğli valley where the Ottoman Army was stationed. Modern Ereğli had grown from a large village to a town since the railway reached it from Konya and Karaman in 1904; and it has now hotels and thriving businesses.
  
  Archaeology 
  
  Three hours’ ride south is the famous "Hittite" rock relief of a lynx, representing a king (probably of neighbouring Tyana) adoring a god. This was the first "Hittite" monument discovered in modern times (early 18th century, by the Swede Otter, an emissary of Louis XIV).
  
  Ereğli may be the location of the Hittite town of Hupisna (Ḫupišna), where the goddess Ḫuwaššanna was worshipped. She was linked with Gazbaba, a Mesopotamian love goddess also connected with Inanna.
  
  In the early Iron Age, Hupisna also was a neo-Hittite polity in the land of Tabal. Two kings of Hupisna are known from the Assyrian sources: Puḫamme (c. 837 BC) and Urimme (c. 738 BC).
  
  Composition
  There are 87 neighbourhoods in Ereğli District:
  
   500 Evler
   Acıkuyu
   Acıpınar
   Adabağ
   Akhüyük
   Alhan
   Alpaslan
   Aşağıgöndelen
   Aşıklar
   Atakent
   Aydınlar
   Aziziye
   Bahçeli
   Barbaros
   Batıalagözü
   Belceağaç
   Belkaya
   Beyköy
   Beyören
   Boyacıali
   Bulgurluk
   Burhaniye
   Büyükdede
   Cahı
   Çakmak
   Camikebir
   Çayhan
   Çiller
   Çimencik
   Cinler
   Çömlekçi
   Dalmaz
   Doğualagözlü
   Eti
   Fatih
   Gaybi
   Gökçeyazı
   Göktöme
   Gülbahçe
   Hacımemiş
   Hacımustafa
   Hacımutahir
   Hamidiye
   Hıdırlı
   Hortu
   Kamışlıkuyu
   Karaburun
   Kargacı
   Kazancı
   Kızılgedik
   Kuskuncuk
   Kutören
   Kuzukuyu
   Mehmet Akif
   Mellicek
   Mimar Sinan
   Namık Kemal
   Orhangazi
   Orhaniye
   Özgürler
   Pınarözü
   Pirömer
   Sarıca
   Sarıtopallı
   Selçuklu
   Servili
   Şinasi
   Sümer
   Talatpaşa
   Taşağıl
   Taşbudak
   Tatlıkuyu
   Toros
   Türbe
   Türkmen
   Üçgöz
   Ulumeşe
   Yazlık
   Yellice
   Yenibağlar
   Yeniköy
   Yıldırımbeyazıt
   Yıldızlı
   Yukarıgöndelen
   Yunuslu
   Zengen
   Ziya Gökalp
  
  Transportation
  
  Ereğli Gar is the railway station of the town. Once served by several train lines that have destinations to Istanbul, İzmir and Konya, the station is currently served by Mainline / Toros Ekspresi  only, which connects Ereğli to Adana and Karaman.
  
  Notable residents
  Nimet Çubukçu, current Minister of Education of Turkey.
  Ali Talip Özdemir, former head of the Motherland Party (ANAP)
  Şehzade Mustafa, heir to the Ottoman throne who was killed in the Ereğli valley
  Volkan Ş. Ediger (born 1953, is a scientist, writer and bureaucrat
  
  International relations
  
  Ereğli is twinned with:
   Hydra, Greece (since 1996)
  
  See also
  Kwangjin Park, a park in Ereğli.
  
  References
  
  External links
   District governor's official website 
   District Municipality's official website 
  
   
  Populated places in Konya Province
  Districts of Konya Province
  Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey