Kadirli, formerly called Kars, is a town and district of Osmaniye Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is located in the Çukurova plain, from the large city of Osmaniye. Population is 84,618 (urban) and 120,950 (including rural areas) (2013 census). It is located near the ancient site of Flaviopolis. History The Cilicia/Çukurova plain is rich farmland and a place of strategic importance on an important trade route between the Middle East and Anatolia. It has been settled since the time of the Hittites and after by various civilizations: Assyrians, Romans (the Roman city of Flavius may have been located here), Byzantines, Armenians and finally Turks. The most prominent group of Turks to settle here were the Dulkadir lords, semi-autonomous barons during the Ottoman era, who ruled Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay for two centuries. They were dispersed after the land was captured by the Ottoman sultan Yavuz Sultan Selim I in 1517. Kadirli was occupied by French forces at the end of the First World War under the terms of the armistice signed by the Ottoman Empire. The French forces were resisted by local peoples and eventually withdrew from the town in March 1920. Kadirli was a district (ilçe) in Kozan province between 1923-1926 and in Adana Province between 1926 and 1995. In 1996, the province of Osmaniye province being connected to Osmaniye. Kadirli today Kadirli is a small town providing the basic infrastructure, such as shops and schools, to an area of rich farmland, which produces grain and 75% of Turkey's radishes. There are two reservoirs for irrigating the area. There is small scale industry. In the summertime, families move to the uplands of Taurus Mountains, mainly Plateau Maksutolugu, adjacent to Kahramanmaraş because of hot weather in a general manner, also working people staying in town join their families in the weekends. In recent times, inhabitants also prefer to spend their summertime at the sea side in Yumurtalık and Mersin during hot season as an alternative of moving to plateau. In Kadirli, there is a vocational college connected with the Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye. The college offers two educational programs: Computer Programming and Industrial Electronics since 1997. Demographics Evliya Çelebi wrote that the town was mostly inhabited by Turcomans of the Mamalı tribe in his seyahatname. Places of interest There are many archaeological and touristic sites nearby such as: Karatepe National Park - from Kadirli. The ruins of