54-706: The Kars is a river in the Kars Province in northeastern Turkey . This 93 km long river is the largest tributary of the Akhuryan river . The Kars river originates in the Allahuekber Mountains in the southwest of the Kars province. Initially, the river flows in a predominantly easterly direction through the Selim District . Then it turns north and flows through Kars . It then flows in
108-730: A brief period, from 1918 to 1920, Armenia was an independent republic plagued by socio-economic crises such as large-scale Muslim uprisings . In late 1920, the communists came to power following an invasion of Armenia by the Red Army ; in 1922, Armenia became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR of the Soviet Union , later on forming the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1936 to 21 September 1991). In 1991, Armenia declared independence from
162-495: A common origin of the Armenian and Greek languages. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian ) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between Proto-Greek ( centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian ( satem subgroup). This has led some scholars to propose a hypothetical Graeco-Armenian-Aryan clade within
216-614: A few elements regarding identification of its pantheon with Greco-Roman deities). In the early years of the 4th century, likely 301 CE, partly in defiance of the Sassanids it seems. In the late Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian-adhering land, but by the Christianisation, previously predominant Zoroastrianism and paganism in Armenia gradually declined. This is the period that an Armenian community
270-524: A means of fulfilling their own ambitions to recapture Christian territory on the back of the Russian imperial enterprise. In September 1935 the third Inspectorate General ( Umumi Müfettişlik, UM) was created. The Inspectorates Generals regions ruled with wide-ranging authority over the population in order to Turkify its population. The third UM span over the provinces of Erzurum , Artvin , Rize , Trabzon , Kars Gümüşhane , Erzincan and Ağrı . It
324-642: A wide arc to the north, later to the east and then to the southeast. Finally, the river feeds into the Akhurian Reservoir on the border with Armenia , through which the Akhuryan River flows. This article related to a river in Turkey is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kars Province Kars Province ( Turkish : Kars ili ; Azerbaijani : Qars Rayonu; Kurdish : Parêzgeha Qersê ; Armenian : Կարսի նահանգ )
378-408: Is a province of Turkey , located in the northeastern part of the country. It shares part of its closed border with Armenia . Its area is 10,193 km , and its population is 274,829 (2022). The provincial capital is the city of Kars . The provinces of Ardahan and Iğdır were part of Kars Province until 1992. In ancient times, Kars ( Armenian : Կարս ) was part of the province of Ararat in
432-783: Is a book published by The Stationery Office, 2000, and is an account of its defence and capitulation as reported by one General Williams, one of many British officers lent to the Turkish army to lead garrisons and train regiments in the war against Russia. In the book, Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas by Nikos Kazantzakis , Zorbas talks about his visit to the Kars province in order to find work and where he also attended an extravagant wedding in Kars. 40°27′17″N 43°03′37″E / 40.45472°N 43.06028°E / 40.45472; 43.06028 Armenians Armenians ( Armenian : հայեր , romanized : hayer , [hɑˈjɛɾ] ) are an ethnic group and nation native to
486-570: Is dominated by agriculture, livestock breeding and forestry. 85% of the active population in Kars Province are farmers or herders. 60% of the gross domestic income is received from those sectors. Industry, tourism and commerce is developing. The climate limits the cultivation of plants in the region. In Kağızman and Tuzluca , cotton, sugar beet, beans and vetches are grown. Vegetable gardening and orchards are not very developed. Wheat, barley, cotton and in small quantity tobacco are grown in
540-441: Is the center of livestock trade. Efforts are being made to increase goose breeding, which is very special to Kars region. Aside its meat taking a special place in the Kars cuisine, goose liver and down feather started already to be exported to Europe . Kars Province is not abundant with woods although the region is favorable for forests. Only 4% of the province area is covered with woods. Scots Pine , spruce and alder are
594-410: Is the most important wetland in the region. Sarıkamış Forests in the south harbor Indian wolves , Syrian brown bear , Caucasian lynx and other animals, and Aras (Araxes) River wetlands comprise a key stop-over site for many migrating birds. Aras River Bird Research and Education Center at Yukarı Cıyrıklı village has recorded 303 bird species at this single location alone. The economy of Kars Province
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#1732766264703648-736: The Armenian Highland . Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people. Under Ashurbanipal (669–627 BCE), the Assyrian empire reached the Caucasus Mountains (modern Armenia , Georgia and Azerbaijan ). Luwianologist John D. Hawkins proposed that "Hai" people were possibly mentioned in the 10th century BCE Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions from Carchemish . A.E. Redgate later clarified that these "Hai" people may have been Armenians. The first geographical entity that
702-654: The Armenian highlands of West Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and constituted the main population of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh until the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians . There is a wide-ranging diaspora of around five million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia ,
756-523: The Armenian language is classified as an Indo-European language , its placement within the broader Indo-European language family is a matter of debate. Until fairly recently, scholars believed Armenian to be most closely related to Greek and Ancient Macedonian . Eric P. Hamp placed Armenian in the "Pontic Indo-European" (also called Graeco-Armenian or Helleno-Armenian) subgroup of Indo-European languages in his 2012 Indo-European family tree. There are two possible explanations, not mutually exclusive, for
810-693: The Bronze Age Trialeti-Vanadzor culture and sites such as the burial complexes at Verin and Nerkin Naver are indicative of an Indo-European presence in Armenia by the end of the 3rd millennium BCE. The controversial Armenian hypothesis , put forward by some scholars, such as Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov , proposes that the Indo-European homeland was around the Armenian Highland. This theory
864-715: The Bronze Age , several states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power in the 14th century BCE), ( Mitanni (South-Western historical Armenia, 1500–1300 BCE), and Hayasa-Azzi (1500–1200 BCE). Soon after Hayasa-Azzi came Arme-Shupria (1300s–1190 BCE), the Nairi Confederation (1200–900 BCE), and the Kingdom of Urartu (860–590 BCE), who successively established their sovereignty over
918-484: The Kingdom of Armenia . The first known people were the followers of Vanand (Վանանդ), for whom Kars was their main settlement and fortress. In 928, Kars became the capital of Bagratid Armenia . In 968, the capital of Armenia was moved to Ani , but Kars remained the capital of the feudal principality of Vanand . The Seljuks quickly relinquished direct control over Kars and it became a small emirate whose territory corresponded closely to that of Vanand, and which bordered
972-584: The Mushki and the Kaskians . The Urumu apparently settled in the vicinity of Sason , lending their name to the regions of Arme and the nearby lands of Urme and Inner Urumu. The location of the older site of Armani is a matter of debate. Some modern researchers have placed it in the same general area as Arme, near modern Samsat , and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an early Indo-European-speaking people . The relationship between Armani and
1026-848: The Proto Indo-European words póti (meaning "lord" or "master") or *h₂éyos / *áyos (meaning "metal"). Khorenatsi wrote that the word Armenian originated from the name Armenak or Aram (the descendant of Hayk). Khorenatsi refers to both Armenia and Armenians as Hayk‘ (Armenian: Հայք) (not to be confused with the aforementioned patriarch, Hayk). Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European While
1080-673: The Russian Empire following Iran's forced ceding of the territories after its loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the outcoming Treaty of Turkmenchay . Western Armenia however, remained in Ottoman hands. The ethnic cleansing of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire is widely considered a genocide , resulting in an estimated 1.2 million victims. The first wave of persecution
1134-570: The USSR and established the second Republic of Armenia. Also in 1991, the ethnic Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (later the Republic of Artsakh ), declared independence from Azerbaijan which lasted until 2023. Armenians are believed to have had a presence in the Armenian Highland for over 4,000 years. According to legend, Hayk , the patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation, led Armenians to victory over Bel of Babylon and settled in
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#17327662647031188-593: The United States , France , Georgia , Iran , Germany , Ukraine , Lebanon , Brazil , Argentina , Syria , and Turkey. The present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian genocide with the exceptions of Iran, former Soviet states , and parts of the Levant . Armenian is an Indo-European language . It has two mutually intelligible spoken and written forms: Eastern Armenian , today spoken mainly in Armenia, Artsakh, Iran , and
1242-679: The 4th century in the Holy Land , and one of the quarters of the walled Old City of Jerusalem is called the Armenian Quarter . An Armenian Catholic monastic community of 35 founded in 1717 exists on an island near Venice , Italy. The region of Western Armenia was an influential part of the Eastern Roman Empire , which was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The Armenian population of
1296-454: The Armenian Highland. Today, with a population of 3.5 million (although more recent estimates place the population closer to 2.9 million), they constitute an overwhelming majority in Armenia, Armenians in the diaspora informally refer to them as Hayastantsi s ( Armenian : հայաստանցի ), meaning those that are from Armenia (that is, those born and raised in Armenia). They, as well as
1350-600: The Armenians of Iran and Russia, speak the Eastern dialect of the Armenian language. The country itself is secular as a result of Soviet domination, but most of its citizens identify themselves as Apostolic Armenian Christian. While the largest Armenian diaspora populations reside in Russia , the United States , France , and other countries, small Armenian trading and religious communities have existed outside Armenia for centuries. A prominent community has continued since
1404-710: The Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly and violently collapsed. Armenians have since remained isolated and genetic structure within the population developed ~500 years ago when Armenia was divided between the Ottomans and the Safavid Empire in Iran. A genetic study (Wang et al. 2018) supports the indigenous origin for Armenians in a region south of the Caucasus which he calls "Greater Caucasus". In
1458-706: The Great of Persia refers to Urashtu (in Babylonian ) as Armina ( Old Persian : 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴) and Harminuya (in Elamite). In Greek , Armenios ( Αρμένιοι ) is attested from about the same time, perhaps the earliest reference being a fragment attributed to Hecataeus of Miletus (476 BC). Xenophon , a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC. Some have linked
1512-621: The Great , a member of the Artaxiad (Artashesian) dynasty , the Kingdom of Armenia extended from the Caucasus all the way to what is now central Turkey , Lebanon , and northern Iran . The Arsacid Kingdom of Armenia , itself a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia , was the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion (it had formerly been adherent to Armenian paganism , which was influenced by Zoroastrianism , while later on adopting
1566-565: The Indo-European language family from which the Armenian, Greek, Indo-Iranian, and possibly Phrygian languages all descend. According to Kim (2018), however, there is insufficient evidence for a cladistic connection between Armenian and Greek, and common features between these two languages can be explained as a result of contact. Contact is also the most likely explanation for morphological features shared by Armenian with Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic languages . It has been suggested that
1620-466: The Ottoman Empire is estimated to have been between 1.5 and 2.5 million in the early 20th century. Most of the modern Armenian diaspora consists of Armenians scattered throughout the world as a direct consequence of massacres and genocide in the Ottoman Empire . However, Armenian communities in Iran , Georgia ( Tbilisi ), and Syria existed since antiquity . During the Middle Ages and
1674-544: The administrative center of the district: There are 382 villages in Kars Province. Kars has a wealth of wildlife that is being documented by the Kars-Iğdır Biodiversity Project run by the KuzeyDoğa Society . The project has recorded 356 of Turkey's 486 bird species in the region, including Ardahan and Iğdır provinces that were formerly part of Kars. At least 233 of these occur at Lake Kuyucuk , that
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1728-478: The efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew . In the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion, followed by the first pilgrimages to the Holy Land where a community established the Armenian Quarter of Old Jerusalem . The earliest attestations of the exonym Armenia date around the 6th century BC. In his trilingual Behistun Inscription dated to 517 BC, Darius I
1782-553: The former Soviet republics; and Western Armenian , used in the historical Western Armenia and, after the Armenian genocide, primarily in the Armenian diasporan communities. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots . Most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church , a non-Chalcedonian Christian church, which is also the world's oldest national church . Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus' death, due to
1836-590: The later Arme-Shupria, if any, is undetermined. Additionally, their connections to Armenians is inconclusive as it is not known what languages were spoken in these regions. It has also been speculated that the land of Ermenen (located in or near Minni ), mentioned by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III in 1446 BCE, could be a reference to Armenia. Armenians call themselves Hay ( Armenian : հայ , pronounced [ˈhaj]; plural: հայեր, [haˈjɛɾ]). The name has traditionally been derived from Hayk ( Armenian : Հայկ ),
1890-492: The legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah , who, according to Movses Khorenatsi (Moses of Khorene) , defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC and established his nation in the Ararat region. It is also further postulated that the name Hay comes from, or is related to, one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states— Hayasa -Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Ultimately, Hay may derive from
1944-566: The militarily administered Kars Oblast and remained so until 1918. It was seen as a border province of a Russian Empire which was seeking to expand yet further by the conquest of more territory belonging to the Ottoman Empire. The period from 1878 to 1918 was marked in the province of Kars by the settlement by the Russian authorities of a very heterogeneous mix of Christian populations, including Armenians , Caucasus Greeks , Russians , Georgians , and even smaller numbers from other Christian communities hitherto with little or no historical links to
1998-481: The most famous food products special to Kars region are Kars honey, Kars Kasseri , Kars Gruyère cheese , which tastes like Swiss Emmental cheese , and Kars style roasted goose . Kars contains numerous monuments, the most notable being the ruined Armenian city of Ani and the 9th century Church of the Apostles. Kars was the setting for the popular novel Snow by Orhan Pamuk . The Siege of Kars, 1855
2052-601: The name Armenia with the Early Bronze Age state of Armani (Armanum, Armi) or the Late Bronze Age state of Arme (Shupria) . Armini , Urartian for "inhabitant of Arme" or "Armean country", referring to the region of Shupria, to the immediate west of Lake Van. The Arme tribe of Urartian texts may have been the Urumu, who in the 12th century BC attempted to invade Assyria from the north with their allies
2106-610: The next few centuries, Djenghis Khan , Timurids , and the tribal Turkic federations of the Ak Koyunlu and the Kara Koyunlu ruled over the Armenians. From the early 16th century, both Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia fell under Iranian Safavid rule . Owing to the century long Turco-Iranian geo-political rivalry that would last in Western Asia, significant parts of the region were frequently fought over between
2160-401: The province. Livestock breeding in the region is more important than agriculture. Grassland, meadows and the rich vegetation led to the development of livestock breeding. The grassland and meadows, which make out 70% of the area of Kars Province, are capable of providing at least ten times of the current livestock potential's breeding. Kars is the biggest cattle breeding province in Turkey, and
2214-559: The region, such as ethnic Germans , Poles , Estonians , Lithuanians , and Russian sectarian communities such as Molokans and Doukhobors . Many from the non-Russian Christian Orthodox communities (Georgians, Caucasus Greeks, and the minority of Armenians who were Lessor Orthodox) had themselves fought in or collaborated with the Russian Imperial army to capture Kars province from the Muslim Ottomans. They saw this as
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2268-580: The rivaling Byzantine and Sassanid Persian empires, until the Muslim conquest of Persia overran also the regions in which Armenians lived. In 885 CE the Armenians reestablished themselves as a sovereign kingdom under the leadership of Ashot I of the Bagratid Dynasty . A considerable portion of the Armenian nobility and peasantry fled the Byzantine occupation of Bagratid Armenia in 1045, and
2322-639: The similarly created but larger Shaddadid emirate centered at Ani. The Kars emirate was a vassal of the Saltukids in Erzurum, whose forces were effective in opposing Georgian attempts at seizing Kars. Later on, in 1207, Georgian and Armenian forces commanded by David Soslan and brothers Ivane and Zakare Zakarian-Mkhargrzeli captured Kars after a long siege. It was a part of Zakarid Armenia, principality under rule of Zakarians–Mkhargrdzeli, vassals of Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia. George IV son of Tamar ,
2376-550: The subsequent invasion of the region by Seljuk Turks in 1064. They settled in large numbers in Cilicia , an Anatolian region where Armenians were already established as a minority since Roman times. In 1080, they founded an independent Armenian Principality then Kingdom of Cilicia , which became the focus of Armenian nationalism. The Armenians developed close social, cultural, military, and religious ties with nearby Crusader States , but eventually succumbed to Mamluk invasions. In
2430-431: The tree species most found in the woods of Kars. Around 15,000 m (530,000 cu ft) timber is produced by logging in forestry. Ore beds of rock salt, arsenic , asbestos , magnesite , gypsum and perlite are explored, however, only rock salt is mined. Main industrial plants in Kars are of meat processing, livestock feed processing, gristmill, yarn, tannery, footwear, cement and brick factories. Among
2484-613: The two rivalling empires. From the mid 16th century with the Peace of Amasya , and decisively from the first half of the 17th century with the Treaty of Zuhab until the first half of the 19th century, Eastern Armenia was ruled by the successive Iranian Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar empires, while Western Armenia remained under Ottoman rule. In the late 1820s, the parts of historic Armenia under Iranian control centering on Yerevan and Lake Sevan (all of Eastern Armenia) were incorporated into
2538-486: The way of a war, or that killings of Armenians were justified by their individual or collective support for the enemies of the Ottoman Empire. Passage of legislation in various foreign countries, condemning the persecution of the Armenians as genocide, has often provoked diplomatic conflict. (See recognition of the Armenian genocide ) Following the breakup of the Russian Empire in the aftermath of World War I for
2592-654: Was appointed as a viceroy of Kars . It was conquered in 1242 by the Mongols ; was regained by Georgian Kingdom during the reign of George V the Brilliant (1314–1346) and remained as part of the Kingdom before its disintegration, which then passed into the hands of Georgian Atabegs belonging to the House of Jaqeli . During the rule of the Persian Empire and the Ottoman Empire , the fortress of Kars, located in what
2646-673: Was called Armenia by neighboring peoples (such as by Hecataeus of Miletus and on the Achaemenid Behistun Inscription) was the Satrapy of Armenia , established in the late 6th century BCE under the Orontid (Yervanduni) dynasty within the Achaemenid Persian Empire . The Orontids later ruled the independent Kingdom of Armenia . At its zenith (95–65 BCE), under the imperial reign of Tigran
2700-532: Was established in Judea (modern-day Palestine -Israel), leading to the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem . Later on, to further strengthen Armenian national identity, Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet , in 405 CE. This event ushered the Golden Age of Armenia , during which many foreign books and manuscripts were translated to Armenian by Mesrop's pupils. Armenia lost its sovereignty again in 428 CE to
2754-535: Was governed by a Inspector General seated in the city of Erzurum . The Inspectorate General was dissolved in 1952 during the Government of the Democrat Party . The main lakes in Kars are Lake Aygır , Lake Çıldır and Lake Kuyucuk . The main mountains in Kars are the Allahuekber Mountains , Mount Soğanlı and Aras Mountains . Kars province is divided into 8 districts ( ilçe ), each named after
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#17327662647032808-519: Was in the years 1894 to 1896, the second one culminating in the events of the Armenian genocide in 1915 and 1916. With World War I in progress, the Ottoman Empire accused the (Christian) Armenians as liable to ally with Imperial Russia , and used it as a pretext to deal with the entire Armenian population as an enemy within their empire. Governments of the Republic of Turkey since that time have consistently rejected charges of genocide, typically arguing either that those Armenians who died were simply in
2862-630: Was partially confirmed by the research of geneticist David Reich (et al. 2018), among others. Similarly Grolle (et al. 2018) supports not only a homeland for Armenians on the Armenian highlands, but also that the Armenian highlands are the homeland for the "pre-proto-Indo-Europeans". A large genetic study in 2022 showed that many Armenians are "direct patrilineal descendants of the Yamnaya ". Genetic studies explain Armenian diversity by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between 3000 and 2000 BCE. But genetic signals of population mixture cease after 1200 BCE when Bronze Age civilizations in
2916-404: Was then the eastern part of the city, fell into disrepair. However, as Kars was within a border region its defensive structures were often renewed, and they continued to advance to such a degree, that in the 19th century Kars was well known around the world as a castle. As a result of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 to 1878, the province of Kars was incorporated into the Russian Empire as part of
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