Başkale

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Başkale (known in Kurdish as Elbak and alternatively rendered as Bashkala or Pashgala) is a large town in south-eastern Turkey in the vilayet (province) of Van. The town has figured prominently in earlier centuries as the capital of the Ottoman vilayet of Kurdistan, (in Hakkari sanjak), before the final dissolution of the empire in 1923. The name means "primary fortress" in the Turkish language.

1 Geography
2 History
3 City features
4 People
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Situated 2300 metres above sea level, in the valley of the Great Zab River, the town stands on the eastern slope of high barren mountains on the eastern fringe of the Güneydogu Toroslar range. Owing to the high elevation, the winter is extremely severe and the summer very brief.

[edit] History

One of many events in the string of tensions which led to World War I was a massacre of approximately 50 Gawarnai Assyrians by Muslims on 30 October 1914 at Başkale in the local government centre. Armenians of Başkale were later deported and massacred by Turks and Kurds during the Armenian genocide.[1]

[edit] City features

Başkale is best known historically for being a military station. Its now ruined fortress was once occupied by a Kurdish bey (chieftain) and lies a short distance uphill from the township. The fortress is a good example of Urartian architecture.

[edit] People

The population of Başkale is estimated at 14,114 (2000 census), principally Kurds. The surrounding mountainous districts contain numerous tribes of Kurds and Assyrians.