Geography

The town is in the rural area of Yenişehir district which itself is a intracity district of Mersin

Mersin

-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...

. It is situated in the Toros Mountains with an average elevation of 600 km (1830 ft). But at 36°50′N 34°33′E, it is relatively close to plains and the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 coast. The bird's flight distance to Mediterranean Sea coast is 17 kilometres (10.6 mi) and the road distance to Mersin is 25 kilometres (15.5 mi). The population is 1455 as of 2010.

History

The village called Erçel may be as old as 300 years. But there are traces of human habitation even before the village was founded. In particular there are ruins of two castles named Manavşa (to the north) and Başnalar (to the south east) Erçel was an important center of Turkish resistance

Turkish War of Independence

The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...

 during the Franco-Turkish War

Franco-Turkish War

The Franco-Turkish War or Cilicia War was a series of conflicts fought between France and Turkish National Forces directed by Turkish Grand National Assembly from May 1920-October 1921 in the aftermath of World War I...

 just after the First World War. In 1961 the village was named as Değirmençay. In 1992 the village was declared a township.

Economy

Although a mountain town the agricultural products are not different from those produced in the coastal area. Fruits including all kinds of citrus, pomegranate
apricot along with vegetables are produced around Değirmençay . On more barren fields cereal is also produced. Another promising activity is apiculture.