The Cenomanian–Turonian carbonate ramp in the Adıyaman Region of SE Turkey (Northern Arabian Platform) records an abrupt shift from benthic carbonate deposits to pelagic deposits near the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event (CTBE) in the İnişdere stratigraphic section and surrounding borehole sections. A positive δ ¹³ C excursion of up to 2.15% is recorded in carbonate and organic carbon deposited around the CTBE and provides evidence of a direct link between the CTBE and oceanic anoxic events and the demise of the shallow carbonate production in the Derdere Formation. The microfacies analyses, biostratigraphic dating and palaeoenvironmental interpretations suggest that the platform was drowned near the CTBE as a result of changing environmental conditions. The microfacies indicating significant deepening show a contemporaneity to equivalent surfaces globally and thus strongly support an isochronous formation of Cenomanian–Turonian facies by eustatic sea-level changes. Anoxia spreading over the platform drastically reduced the carbonate production as observed in the studied sections and, therefore, resulted in a reduction in carbonate accumulation rates. Regional/local subsidence and a coeval sea-level rise during the late Cenomanian to early Turonian interval were the cause of the drowning of the platform, including regional anoxia at the northern Arabian platform linked to the Cenomanian–Turonian oceanic anoxic event (OAE2).