Aïn El Turk

Ain el-Turck عين الترك
Town
Ain el-Turck
Aerial photo of the city
Ain el-Turck
Coordinates: 35°44′27″N 0°44′57″W / 35.74083°N 0.74917°W / 35.74083; -0.74917Coordinates: 35°44′27″N 0°44′57″W / 35.74083°N 0.74917°W / 35.74083; -0.74917
Country	Algeria
Province	Oran
District	Aïn El Turk
Elevation	272 m (892 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	50,000

Ain el-Turck (arabic : عين الترك ) (literally "Fountain of the Turks") is the capital of Ain el-Turck District Located about fifteen kilometers from Oran, which contains nine municipalities. It now host an important seaside resort.

It also gives its name to one of the beaches in the region of Oran.

History

Centuries ago, Ain el Turk was a plain called El Eurfa which extends from St Roch till Les Andalouses. Over the centuries, the population of El Eurfa plain (known later as Ain el Turck) has significantly increased. Two types of people lived there and cohabited :
There were nomadic people who practice transhumance, wandering between the plains of El Eurfa, Boutlelis and Messreghinn, except in some special cases they did not go beyond the Sabkha in the South and the forest Madagh in the West, These nomadic tribes lived together and traded with sedentary or sedentarized tribes who practiced agriculture and beekeeping around Ain el Turck. These sedentary people sold their products at Mers el-Kebir and Oran, they also sold their products to nomadic tribes, but most of the time they swapped their products with sheep as they supply them with meat and wool.

General Aspect of the city in 1831

Seaway and Roads

In 1831, the area where the village would be built was a kind of a cul-de-sac from the only major road, which was rather a road that connected les Andalouse and Mers-el-Kebir and Oran via Bousfer called "la Route des Crêtes" which was very rocky and took new directions at Ain Khadija (later, the road was named 'Ploteau road'), joining Ain el Turck at the small village Naqous, so named in Arabic because of the bells of the first church in the area "St. Anthony of Padua" (the word 'Naqous' means bell, in Arabic).

However, there were many other ways relied the village to St Roch, Cape Falcon, Coralès, to Les-Andalouses, the Daya and Bousfer. Seaway has been used to link the city with Oran and Mers-el-Kebir, as there were links between these 2 cities when not at war, we know only that Turkish troops used the sea when coming to pick up the taxes

Water Sources

There was in the plain of what will become Ain el Turck at least eight sources of water:

• The two sources of Ain Ouzel and Cape Falcon
• Ain Ouansar near the farm Emeral
• Source of St Maurice
• Ain el Turck
• Ain Atrouss (farm Clairefontaine-Navarre)
• Bally source (barranco Bouisseville)
• St Rock source

Climate

Ecology

Apart from some woods and groves located down the hills, vegetation was predominantly dwarf palms (Duma), Alfa tufts, some diss, lentisk (especially at the dunes), juniper, thorns, herbs, agave, Reeds and a multitude of flowers and plants which were used as forage. Forest trees especially pine and cedar are common south of the village down the mountain.

Indigenous people cultivated fruit trees such as almond, fig, the Jujubie, and vine also But the most widespread plant was the pear used as a hedge of protection that had the triple advantage

• Requires no maintenance
• Provide fruit
• Ensure effective protection of the house or the pen

You could find edible plants as a type of wild green asparagus, beautiful sea that was called "the wild white beans", chestnuts, the fennel, chicory, watercress. There are also many mushrooms but they are not consumed (according to botanists, we could count on more than 30 species of which at least a dozen were edible) Flowers were particularly numerous. Hawthorn and the arbutus, the aloe el the Asphodèles. The gladioli. Blueberries, worries, the bolts of gold, tulips and daisies wild vinaigrette, Lesjacinihes wild, the ephemeral poppy, lavender,

And the first indigenous families in Ain el turck (the Touil, Ali arbi, the Bouchiba etc. ...)

References

Oran Province
Oran District	Oran
Aïn El Turk District	Aïn El Turk Mers El Kébir Bousfer El Ançor
Arzew District	Arzew Sidi Ben Yebka
Bethioua District	Bethioua Mers El Hadjadj Aïn Bya
Es Sénia District	Es Sénia El Kerma Sidi Chami
Bir El Djir District	Bir El Djir Hassi Bounif Hassi Ben Okba
Boutlélis District	Boutlélis Aïn El Kerma Misserghin
Oued Tlélat District	Oued Tlélat El Braya Boufatis Tafraoui
Gdyel District	Gdyel Hassi Mefsoukh Ben Freha