Aralık ( az, Aralıq, ku, Başko, hy, Արալիխ, translit=Aralikh; russian: Аралык, translit=Aralyk) is a town and district of the
Iğdır Province
Iğdır Province ( tr, Iğdır ili, ku, Parêzgeha Îdirê, , ) is a province in eastern Turkey, located along the borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan (the area of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic), and Iran. Its adjacent provinces are Kars to the nor ...
in the
Eastern Anatolia
The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ.
It is bordered by the Bl ...
region of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. It is the location of the
Aras corridor, which connects Turkey with Azerbaijan. Part of the district forms the international
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
between Turkey and
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
, which has been closed since 1993, and the
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
between Turkey and
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. The town of Aralık is mainly inhabited by
Azerbaijanis
Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most nume ...
.
Government
Mustafa Güzelkaya was elected mayor of Aralık in the local elections of March 2019. Mustafa Görmüş is
Kaymakam
Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retaine ...
.
Aras corridor
The district of Aralık includes the Aras corridor, which connects Turkey with Azerbaijan through the
Nakhchivan exclave. The corridor is formed by the confluence of the
Aras and Lower Karasu rivers and was ceded to Turkey by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in the
Treaty of Kars.
[Parrot, p. xxix.] It is predominantly inhabited by Kurds and is the location of the
Dilucu Border Gate, the only border crossing between Turkey and Azerbaijan, opened in May 1992.
Demographics
References
Populated places in Iğdır Province
Districts of Iğdır Province
Erivan Governorate
Kurdish settlements in Turkey
{{Iğdır-geo-stub