İspir (Armenian: Սպեր Sber or Sper) is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, on the Çoruh River. The mayor is Osman Çakır (AKP). The district has a population of 30260 while the town has a population of 11789.
İspir is the historical Sper/Sber/Speri.
Sper is known from the III millennium BC.
Alexander the Great sent one of his generals Menon to conquer Speri, but Menon and his forces were defeated and killed.
After 387, Sper and its main city Sper passed to the Roman Empire, in the 7th century to the Arab Caliphate, in 885 Bagratuni Kingdom of Armenia. In XI century it was conquered by Seljuqs, in 1207 by Zakare and Ivane Zakarids, in 1242 conquered by Mongols, in 1502 by Persia and in 1555 by Ottoman Turkey. Under the medieval Kingdom of Armenia, it was part of the province of Upper Armenia and was famous for its gold mines.
A large number of Armenians lived in Sper until the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
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