Arapgir ( hy, Արաբկիր; ku, Erebgir) is a town and district of Malatya Province, Turkey. As of 2000 it had a population of 17,070 people. It is situated at the confluence of the eastern and western

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

, but some miles from the right bank of the combined streams. Arapgir is connected with Sivas by a ''chaussée'', prolonged to the Euphrates river. The present town was built in the mid-19th century, but about 2 miles north-east is the old town, now called Eskişehir ("old city" in Turkish).

Demographics

Arapgir town is populated by Kurds. In descending order of population, the district is populated by Turks and Kurds and also historically had an Armenian population.

Composition

History

Arapgir is a market town and received significant Seljuk Turkish arrivals in the 12th century.

Population

According to Donald Quataert, Arapgir in the 1880s was made up of 4,802 Muslim and 1,200 Armenian households, with a total population of about 29,000 persons. According to a METU study citing Nejat Göyünç, the city population was about 20,000 in 1911, of which more than half of the population was Armenian Christians and the rest were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. Differing sources present differing pictures for the respective shares of ethnicities within the weavers' community. The Armenian population is reported to have suffered severely during the

Hamidian massacres The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide an ...

of 1895, although, in this regard, Donald Quataert notes, with textile exports back to normal levels a year after the turmoil, in 1896, either all weavers were Muslims after all, or few Armenian weavers were killed, displaced or disrupted during the troubles. On the eve of World War I, there were about 9,523 Armenians (1,300 houses) and 6,774 Turks living in Arapgir. After the 1915 Armenian genocide, most of the Armenian population of Arapgir was killed or deported.

Churches, Mosques and other buildings

Before the Armenian genocide Arapgir had seven Armenian Apostolic churches: Surp Astvadzadzin (Holy Mother of God) Church, not to be confused with the cathedral, Grigor Lusavorich (Gregory the Illuminator) Church, Surp Kevork Church, Surp Hagob Church, Surp Nshan Church, Surp Pilibos Arakel (St. Philip the Apostle) Church, Surp Sarkis Church, There were, also, one Catholic Surp Prgich (Holy Saviors) Church and one Protestant Cuğran Church.Kévorkian and Paboudjian, ''Les Arméniens dans l’Empire Ottoman'', p. 376. There were also more than 10 schools in the town. Little is left of pre-war Arapgir, but there are still some old houses that have survived, which are Armenian origin. The town also contains the ruins of a castle, several Seljuk mosques, old cemetery and silver mines.

People from Arapgir

* Abdullah Cevdet *

Aram Achekbashian Aram Achekbashian ( hy, Արամ Աչըքպաշյան, 1867 in Arapgir – 1915 in Constantinople) was an Armenian politician who became a member of Social-Democrat Hunchakian Party Central Committee in 1903. Biography In 1886, Achekbashia ...

(1867-1915),

Hnchak The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...

politician *

Cemal Azmi Cemal Azmi (1868 – April 17, 1922), also spelled Jemal Azmi, was an Ottoman politician and governor of the Trebizond (now Trabzon) Vilayet (province) during World War I and the final years of the Ottoman Empire. He was one of the perpetra ...

(1868-1922), Ottoman politician * Vahagn Davtyan, (1922-1996), an Armenian writer * Khajag Barsamian, born 1951, the primate of Diocese of Armenian Church of Eastern America *

Zehra Bilir Zehra Bilir (March 26, 1913 in Arapgir, Ottoman Empire – June 28, 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey) was a renowned Turkish folk singer of Armenian descent. She was known as the Edith Piaf of Turkey. Life Zehra Bilir was born Eliz Surhantakyan in Ar ...

(1913-2007), famous singer of Turkish folk songs known as "Türkü Ana" (Mother of Folk Songs). After her death, it was revealed she was born Armenian by the name of Eliz Surhantakyan.

References

External links

Arapgir Towns Official Web Page

Arapgir Town VideoArapgir Nazar Hotel
{{Authority control Populated places in Malatya Province Districts of Malatya Province Kurdish settlements in Turkey Cittaslow