A site selection of potential observatory locations in Turkey have been
carried out by using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) coupled with
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and satellite imagery which in turn
reduced cost and time and increased the accuracy of the final outcome. The
layers of cloud cover, digital elevation model, artificial lights, precipitable
water vapor, aerosol optical thickness and wind speed were studied in the GIS
system. In conclusion of MCDA, the most suitable regions were found to be
located in a strip crossing from southwest to northeast including also a
diverted region in southeast of Turkey. These regions are thus our prime
candidate locations for future on-site testing. In addition to this major
outcome, this study has also been applied to locations of major observatories
sites. Since no goal is set for \textit{the best}, the results of this study is
limited with a list of positions. Therefore, the list has to be further
confirmed with on-site tests. A national funding has been awarded to produce a
prototype of an on-site test unit (to measure both astronomical and
meteorological parameters) which might be used in this list of locations.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Experimental Astronom