Dönemeç (; ) is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Edremit,

Van Province Van Province (, , Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. Its area is 20,921 km2, and its population is 1,128,749 (2022). ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 780 (2022). It is located on the right bank of the

Hoşap River The Hoşap River or Güzelsu River () is a river in the Van Province of Turkey. Its catchment area approximately coincides with the Gürpınar District. Geography From its source in the İspiriz Mountains near Başkale on the southeast borders of ...

at a distance of 15 km from the town of Edremit.

Name

The village was originally called Engil, from the Armenian name of the village Anggh (variations include , , and ), which literally means "vulture" in Armenian. The village was supposedly named this because of the large number of vultures living in the area. It was renamed Dönemeç during the republican era.

Geography

Dönemeç is located 7 km away from the coast of

Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...

, on the right bank of the Engil River, also called the Dönemeç or Hoşap River (historically known as the Khoshab or Anggh River in Armenian). The village is about 1660 to 1685 meters above sea level.

History

The village was historically populated by

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

and fell into the Hayots Dzor canton of the

Vaspurakan Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...

province of historical Armenia. There are a number of ruined churches and monasteries in the area surrounding the village. In 1872 a number of inhabitants of the village wrote a letter seeking to cooperate with the secret organization "Union for Salvation" (), which was founded in

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

that same year and aimed at the betterment of conditions for Armenians, one of the first such Armenian political organizations. In 1877, the village fell victim to a raid by the Kurdish tribal leader Jalaleddin. Many of the villagers were killed 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 a ...

. The village was periodically attacked and looted after 1896. Its population was approximately 495 at the beginning of the twentieth century, consisting mainly of Armenians and a few

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. During the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

, most of the village's inhabitants were massacred, while a small number managed to flee and reach

Eastern Armenia Eastern Armenia (Armenian: Արևելյան Հայաստան, ''Arevelyan Hayastan'') refers to the eastern portion of the Armenian Highlands, historically inhabited by the Armenian people. Throughout history, Eastern Armenia has been contested and ...

. Since the Armenian genocide the village has been inhabited by Kurds.

Demographics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donemec Neighbourhoods in Edremit District, Van Former Armenian communities in Van Province Places of the Hamidian massacres