This species is distinguished from its congeners of the Garra variabilis group by a unique set of characters: it differs from the two Central Anatolian species G. kemali and G. klatti by having a mental disc (vs. absent) and scales on the lateral line 42-58 (vs. 35-45 in G. kemali, G. klatti); differs from G. nudiventris, G. rossica, G. variabilis by lacking barbels (vs. one pair in G. nudiventris, G. variabilis; one or two pairs in G. rossica); further distinguished by having the predorsal mid-line fully covered by scales (vs. naked in G. nudiventris), naked breast (vs. scaled in G. rossica), belly covered by scales (vs. naked in G. nudiventris, G. variabilis), transverse scale rows between the lateral line and the dorsal-fin origin 7½-8½ (vs. 5½-6½ in G. rossica), transverse scale rows between the lateral line and the pelvic-fin origin 6½ (vs. 4½-5½ in G. rossica), axillary scale at the pelvic-fin origin absent (vs. present in G. nudiventris, G. rossica), and total gill rakers on the first branchial arch 11-13 (vs. 10-11 in G. nudiventris, 13-15 in G. rossica) (Ref. 121034).