- Ağrı Province
Infobox Province TR
region = Eastern Anatolia
name = Agri
licence = 04
total population = 571.243
area_code= 472
area=11,376
turkname=Ağrı|Ağrı (Armenian: Արարատի;) is a province on the eastern borders of
Turkey , borderingIran to the east, Kars to the North, Erzurum to the Northwest, Muş and Bitlis to the Southwest, Van to the south, and Iğdır to the northeast. Area 11,376 km². Population 571,243 (2006 est).The provincial capital is
Ağrı , situated on a 1,650 m. high plateau.Etymology
In the
Ottoman Empire era the area was called "Şorbulak", and "Karakilise" (black church) which was then mutated to "Karaköse" (the black man with no moustache) towards the end of the Ottoman period.Districts
Ağrı province is divided into 8 districts (capital district in bold):
*Ağrı
*Diyadin
*Doğubeyazıt
*Eleşkirt
*Hamur
*Patnos
*Taşlıçay
*TutakGeography
Ağrı is named after the nearby majestic
Mount Ararat , a 5,165 m (16,945 feet) highstratovolcano , the highest mountain in Turkey. It can be climbed from here and can be seen from parts ofArmenia ,Iran , Georgia, andAzerbaijan . The nearest town to the mountain isDoğubeyazıt .46% of the province is mountainous, 29% is plain, 18% is plateau, and 7% high meadow. As well as Ararat there are many other peaks over 3,000m, including Aladağlar and
Tendürek . The plains are fertile, being covered in volcanic deposits, and are used for growing grains and grazing. Various tributaries of theMurat River (which later feeds theEuphrates ) flow through the area and water these plains. The high meadows are used for grazing.The weather here is very cold (temperatures as low as -52ºC (-56ºF) in winter) and the mountainsides are mainly bare. There are a number of important passes and routes through the mountains.
History
The plateau of Ağrı was historically controlled by the Kingdom of Urartu until its transition to the
Orontid Dynasty of theKingdom of Armenia . The area was coveted by many foreign invaders as a gateway between east and west. It was conquered numerous times byAssyrians ,Greeks , Romans,Byzantines ,Arabs ,Mongols ,Persians , and finally by the Seljuq and Ottoman Turks.The first Turkish presence in the region was the brief occupation of the Doğubeyazıt area by the
Saka in 680. The first Muslims in the area were theAbbasids in 872. The Turkish hordes began to pass through in huge numbers following the defeat of theByzantine armies atMalazgirt in 1071, sometimes pursued byMongols . The land was brought into the Ottoman Empire by SultanSelim II following theBattle of Chaldiran .Under Ottoman rule, the area that is now the Ağrı Province mostly consisted of indigenous
Armenians and Kurds. The former lived fairly well until theHamidian massacres and theArmenian Genocide . Those Armenians who managed to escape liquidation fled north toRussian Armenia .Since the establishment of the modern Turkish Republic, the area became unstable again with numerous Kurdish uprisings (one even leading to the temporary establishment of a Kurdish state, the
Republic of Ararat ).Recent events
On
August 19 ,2006 , aTurkish-Iranian natural gas pipeline exploded in the province. Turkish authorities suspect separatistPKK was behind the incident. [cite news
title = Gas pipeline explodes in Turkish rebel region
publisher = CNN
date =2006-08-19
url = http://web.archive.org/web/20060824161603/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/19/turkey.pipeline.ap/
accessdate = 2008-04-04 ]Ağrı today
People live by grazing animals and Ağrı also attracts tourists to the mountain, for climbing and trekking in summers, and skiing in winters; and also some are keen to see places of interest such as:
*Ishak Pasha Palace and the second-largest meteor crater in the world,Fact|date=March 2007 inDoğubeyazıt
*Aznavur Tepe inPatnos
*The tomb ofAhmedi Hani inDiyadin .See also
*
2007 Ağrı earthquake External links
* [http://www.agri.gov.tr the provincial governorate]
* [http://www.turkeyforecast.com/weather/agri/ Ağrı Weather Forecast Information]References
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