Doğubeyazıt

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Photo of Ishak Pasha Palace, an 18th century Ottoman palace located near Doğubeyazıt.

Doğubeyazıt (Armenian: Դարոյնք, Դարենից, or Պակովան (Latin transliteration: Daroynk‘, Darenic‘, or Pakovan); Kurdish: Bazîd) is a city and district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and is Turkey's most eastern district, the border crossing to Iran. Elevation 1625 m. Area 2.383 km². Population (2002) 115.754 (up from 73.794 in 1980) of which 56.261 live in the town of Doğubeyazıt, the remainder in the surrounding countryside.

The town of Doğubeyazıt is a settlement with a long history. It lies 15km southwest of Mount Ararat, 93km east of the city of Ağrı and 35km from the Iranian border. The town stands on a plain surrounded by some of Turkey's highest peaks including: Ararat (5,137m) Little Ararat (3,896m) Kaletepe (3,196m) Arıdağı (2,934m) Tendürek Dağı (3,533m) and Göllertepe (2,643m).

The weather on the plain is hot and dry in summer, cold and dry in winter.

1 History
2 Doğubeyazıt today
3 Places of interest
4 References

[edit] History

(see the article Ağrı Province for the history of the area). For most of the periods described there Doğubeyazıt was a bigger and more important settlement than the present-day provincial capital Ağrı, not least because this is the Iranian border crossing.

The area has had a rich history since it was settled by Armenians as Daroynk‘ during the times of the Kingdom of Urartu (over 2700 years ago). It was subsequently conquered by Persians, Romans, Arabs, and Byzantines all of whom would have used the plain to rest and recoup during their passages across the mountains. Turkish peoples arrived in 1064, but were soon followed by the Mongols and further waves of Turks. The castle of Beyazit was built and rebuilt many times throughout this history, although it is named after the Turkish warlord Celayırlı Şehzade Bayazıt Han who ordered one of the rebuildings (in 1374). Ultimately, the town was renamed Beyazit itself.

After its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in 1514 the area was ruled by Turkish generals, later including İshakpaşa, who built the palace that still bears his name.

The town saw fighting in the Turko-Persian War of 1821-1822, was attacked by Russia in 1856, and taken by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. When the Russians retreated many of the Armenian population left with them to build New Beyazit on the shore of Gökçegöl. Doğubeyazıt was further ravaged during World War I, the Armenian Genocide, and the Turkish War of Independence and a newer city was built in the 1930s (hence the new Turkish name "Doğubeyazıt" which literally means "East Beyazıt").

[edit] Doğubeyazıt today

Today Doğubeyazıt is a small town with a predominantly Kurdish population ^{[citation needed]} serving an impoverished rural area on a high altitude, dry plain. There is high meadow for grazing on the sides of these mountains while the plain is used for grazing and for growing grains and grasses, mainly as winter foodstuff for livestock. The mountainsides are however insufficiently forested. Life on the mountainside is hard, with people living in mud-houses. Apparently in the past rice was grown here and the land has potential for more fruitful agriculture than is practiced today. Part of the poverty of the area may be explained by two security issues that have been faced in Doğubeyazıt; 1) smuggling across the Iranian border and 2) the terrorism of the 1990s (see articles on the PKK or Kurdish nationalism for this history}.

However Doğubeyazıt is secure at the moment and attracts visitors to Mount Ararat, who usually stop to see Ishak Pasha Palace and other historical monuments, and others crossing the border to Iran. The economy of the town is boosted by providing food and accommodation (and nowadays internet cafes) for these travellers (some of it very close to the mountain) and in the market in Doğubeyazıt there is a small trade in cheap manufactured goods from Iran and beyond. There is also a strong military presence on the border which also benefits the shops, cafes, billiard halls and restaurants of Doğubeyazıt.

In January 2006, Doğubeyazıt was the epicentre of a H5N1 bird flu outbreak.^[1] Several children died from the disease after playing with chicken carcasses.

[edit] Places of interest

Mount Ararat - 15km from Doğubeyazıt, and the best views of the mountain are from here.
The second-largest meteor crater in the world, just on the Iranian border about 35km east of the town. (39.35354° N 43.87150° E). (although as this is on the (militarised) border it is difficult to visit).
On a hill to the south of town, there is the Ishak Pasha Palace, completed in 1784.
The castle and mosque of Old Beyazit, first built by the Urartu but which bear traces of many civilisations.
The "Noah's Ark National Park" including the "Durupinar" site is up in the hills east of town and south of the main highway.
Balık Gölü - a lake in a lava bed, 60km from Doğubeyazıt, near Taşlıçay.
The Ice Cave - on the side of Little Ararat near the village of Hallaç.
The ruins of the 900BC Urartu temple and palace on the hill of Giriktepe.