Republic of Ararat

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This article is about the Kurdish independence movement. The same name was sometimes also used to refer to the Democratic Republic of Armenia, established in 1918.

The Republic of Ararat was a self-proclaimed Kurdish state. It was located in the east of modern Turkey, being centred on Ağrı Province. It took its name from Mount Ararat, which was used as a state symbol. (Ağrı, the name of the Turkish province, is the Turkish name for Ararat, which is in turn derived from the Kurdish word Agrî, "fiery", a direct reference to Ararat being a volcano).

The Republic of Ararat was declared independent in 1927, during a wave of rebellion among Kurds in south-eastern Turkey. However it was not recognized by other states, and lacked foreign support [1].

Many Kurds had expected independence on the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and believed that the new Turkish republic had betrayed them — the Republic of Ararat was a culmination of this anger. The Ararat rebellion was defeated in 1931, and Turkey resumed control over the disputed area. The Republic of Ararat had not been recognised by the international community.