Zulal SemaIt was, by all accounts, a remarkable train journey that unsettled all expectations. What began as a trip into unfamiliar territory turned out to be the memory of a lifetime.
A slow, contemplative passage through landscapes that shifted with the light, each bend revealing a new geography, a new sense of time. The unhurried movements through Anatolian tracks linger most vividly in memory, according to a Kenyan documentary filmmaker, who asked not to be named.
“Diyarbakir is not what I had expected it to be,” he tells TRT World. “I saw thousands of years of different cultures mixed inside one city. The train ride and the ever-changing landscape's views were definitely an understated highlight.”
Diyarbakir, known for its UNESCO-listed treasures, solidifies its role as a destination for cultural and religious tourism—where history, art, and gastronomy converge.
That train journey he spoke about is the Mesopotamia Express. A rail line that is less than two years old and already something of a legend. Its final seasonal voyage of the year will depart Ankara on May 23rd and return from Diyarbakir on the 26th.
Seats are scarce, and the interest is high. According to Türkiye’s state rail operator, demand for this closing passage has outpaced every previous run, and is already drawing unprecedented attention.
The Mesopotamia Express, launched in 2024, isn’t merely connecting Ankara to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir—it’s stitching together memory and possibility. Spanning 1,051 kilometres, the route winds through rugged mountains and passes some of Türkiye’s central Anatolia, a region steeped in history and culture.
Inclusion on Time Magazine’s list of the “World’s 100 Greatest Places” in 2024 helped. It wasn’t speed or luxury that earned the Mesopotamia Express its accolades, but the promise it held. For the stories it carries and the hope it represents for a train that didn’t even exist a year earlier.
The railway has always stirred a particular kind of reverie; motion giving shape to memory. Writers have long favoured trains as moving stages, a moving theatre of chance encounters. One imagines Agatha Christie aboard the Mesopotamia Express, listening for secrets between the tracks.
It’s difficult to overstate what this train means, or why it matters. For decades, Türkiye’s east-west divide felt more than geographic. Western regions enjoyed the fruits of booming tourism; the southeast remained framed in the global imagination by conflict.
For years, uniting Türkiye’s divided regions felt out of reach, but that’s changed. With renewed security and rising confidence, the Mesopotamia Express now stands as a powerful symbol of reconciliation and revival.
Atmospheric trail
Composed of eight sleeper cars and one dining car, the train hosts 160 passengers in total. The route of rail laid like a thread between central Anatolia and the ancient cradle of Mesopotamia takes about 75 hours to complete.
Friday afternoon to Monday evening. But no one’s counting minutes. For once, this isn’t a race against the clock.
Inside, the train hums with life. In the dining car, people share breakfasts and stories. Music floats between wagons. Some cabins are lit with fairy lights, others with soft morning sun or the flicker of laughter. The halay, a traditional group dance, occasionally breaks out. In some stations, passengers step outside to continue dancing on the platform. The train becomes both a vehicle and a celebration.
Each compartment contains around ten rooms, equipped with bunk beds that convert into seats, a sink, heating, drawers and a compact fridge. Turkish-style and Western toilets are available. But it’s not the amenities that matter. People often personalise their cabins—hanging lights, bringing local food, brewing tea in travel kettles. Conversations bloom between strangers. The train becomes something communal. Something alive.
Milestones of meaning
The journey begins in Ankara on Friday, and first pauses in Kayseri. Passengers disembark for about three hours, exploring the Hunat Hatun Complex, Gevher Nesibe Museum, or simply strolling the old town with pastirma in hand. Some travellers pause here, ending their journey early, while others continue onward to Malatya, arriving early Saturday morning.
By Saturday morning, the train reaches Malatya. It is, famously, the apricot capital of the world. But it also holds architectural and artistic treasures. There are miniature historic replicas on Sanat Sokagi (Art Street), a Photography Museum with one of Europe’s largest camera collections, and just outside the centre lies Arslantepe, a Bronze Age archaeological site now listed as UNESCO World Heritage.
By dusk, the train reaches Diyarbakir. Once a name synonymous with unrest, and haunted by conflict, is now a destination with texture and depth. The city’s 5.5 kilometres of black basalt walls remain among the best-preserved fortifications in the world.
Inside them: the Ulu Mosque, once a Roman church, stands alongside bustling courtyards like Hasan Pasha Han, where merchants sell copper and scarves and children race between pillars. The Hevsel Gardens, lining the banks of the Tigris River, offer quiet reflection amid fig trees and ancient irrigation canals.
A short walk brings visitors to the Cahit Sitki Taranci Museum—once the poet’s family home and now an ethnographic museum—offers a glimpse into both literary heritage and the domestic life of Diyarbakir’s past. Travellers stay the night in Diyarbakir and explore until Sunday noon.
On Sunday, the train departs Diyarbakir for Elazig, stopping for four hours in the historic district of Harput. Visitors tour the Music Museum, Bath Museum, and Press Museum, while Harput Castle looms above as a stone sentinel. In every courtyard and museum corner, history is not simply displayed—it’s lived.
By Monday, the train begins its return to Ankara. But the rhythm never quickens. Outside, the views keep shifting—plateaus, orchards, rivers, mountain ranges—offering a kind of visual meditation. Inside, people nap, write, sip tea, or simply sit in silence as the land glides by.
A new dawn
The Mesopotamia Express is more than a train. This spring, it became something else—a witness to history.
On May 11, 2025, the train departed from Diyarbakır on its return journey to Ankara. Inside the compartments: laughter, folk songs, shared meals, and the soft clatter of renewed hope. Passengers embraced the present, unaware that the very next day, history would shift.
On May 12, the PKK—recognised as a terrorist organisation by the EU, US, NATO, and Türkiye—officially announced its dissolution. It wasn’t just a political development. It was the symbolic end of a painful chapter.
No image speaks louder of that pain than the Diyarbakir Mothers—women who stood day after day outside the HDP headquarters, holding photographs of their abducted children, many taken by the PKK. With unmatched dignity, their silent protest became an enduring symbol of resilience. As the city breathes into a new era of peace, their resistance continues to echo in the public conscience.
So, when the Mesopotamia Express steamed back toward the capital, it was carrying more than just people—it carried a message. What began as a seasonal journey concluded as a farewell to conflict. A quiet, powerful signal of unity.
This is what the Mesopotamia Express has come to represent for Turks: not merely a bridge between cities, but a vessel of transformation.
Track toward future
For decades, Diyarbakır lived under the shadow of violence. That shadow, long cast over families and futures, is finally lifting.
In 2023, the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) signed a landmark three-year agreement with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), launching the world’s first mandatory national tourism program aligned with international sustainability standards.
The goal isn’t just symbolic. It’s systemic. The 3-year agreement aims to reform Türkiye’s entire tourism infrastructure. Phase one—focused on training and inspection—has already begun.
By 2025, it will expand further, with full international compliance expected by 2030. With this, Türkiye is not only promoting travel but doing so sustainably, responsibly, and inclusively.
At the heart of that effort is the Mesopotamia Express. It touches nine provinces. It traces ancient trade routes and modern ambitions.
At the 2024 inauguration ceremony, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Culture and Tourism Minister said: “What truly matters is connecting cities through designated routes. While we were initially planning 4-to-5-city corridors, you’ve gone beyond that—linking nine provinces and creating a magnificent Mesopotamian destination and itinerary.”
Indeed, this rail line weaves through some of Anatolia’s richest lands—where ancient civilisations once thrived and modern Türkiye now reimagines connection.
From the silence of Diyarbakir’s past to the harmonies of shared futures, the Mesopotamia Express is no longer just a train; it’s Türkiye’s story in motion.
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