Tuzluca ( az, Duzluca; ku, Qulp; hy, Կողբ ''Koghb''; russian: Кульп or Тузлуджа) is a town and district of the Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The northern portion of the district forms part of 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 c ...

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 ''Ox ...

Etymology

''Tuz'' means ''salt'' in the

Turkish language Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...

. The Turkish name ''Tuzluca'' is derived from the salt mines that have existed here since at least medieval times; a salt mine still operates.

History

Known by

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

as ''Koghb'', Tuzluca was historically part of various Armenian kingdoms. The town and the surrounding area later became an Ottoman frontier Kurdish chiefdom and a scene of constant warfare between the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and

Persia 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 ...

. It was especially renowned for its salt mines. In 1746, the region was finally ceded to Persia and became part of the

Erivan Khanate The Erivan Khanate ( fa, خانات ایروان, translit=Xānāt-e Iravān; hy, Երեւանի խանութիւն, translit=Yerevani xanut'iwn; az, ایروان خانلیغی, translit=İrəvan xanlığı), also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd, was ...

. After the Russo-Persian War, 1826–1828 and Treaty of Turkmenchay, it passed from Persian to Russian control. Under Russian rule, the town, now known as ''Kulp'', became part of the Surmali district of the Armenian Oblast and later the

Erivan Governorate The Erivan Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly correspondin ...

. In 1829, shortly after the Russian annexation, Baltic German explorer

Friedrich Parrot Johann Jacob Friedrich Wilhelm Parrot (14 October 1791) was a Baltic German naturalist, explorer, and mountaineer, who lived and worked in Dorpat (today Tartu, Estonia) in what was then the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. A pione ...

of the University of Dorpat (Tartu) travelled to Surmali as part of his expedition to climb

Mount Ararat Mount Ararat or , ''Ararat''; or is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and th ...

. Two members of Parrot's expeditionary team, medical students Carl Schiemann and Maximilian Behaghel von Adlerskron, travelled to Kulp with four

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

to examine the salt mines. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, the town came under the administration of the Democratic Republic of Armenia. However, it 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 national ...

in the Treaty of Kars. It was traditionally part of

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

province until the creation of predominantly Iğdır province in 1993. Today, Tuzluca serves as a highland retreat for

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

patients. Apricots and other fruit and vegetables are grown in the district.

Government

In the local elections in March 2019 Ahmet Sair Sadrettin Türkan from the

Felicity Party The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the C ...

(SP) was elected mayor. Kaymakam is Abdullah Kadıoğlu.

Population

The town has a mixed population of

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 numer ...

and

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

Notable people

* Eznik of Kolb, writer (5th century) *

Mehmet Hakkı Suçin Mehmet Hakkı Suçin (born 1970) is an author, literary translator and Arabist from Turkey. Biography Born in Tuzluca, (then part of Kars), he graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Letters in 1993. He worked as a translator and interpre ...

, Arabist and translation scholar *

Servet Çetin Servet Çetin (born 17 March 1981) is a Turkish footballer who last played for Mersin Idmanyurdu in the Süper Lig. He received the nickname ''Ayıboğan'' which literally means; ''a man who could choke a bear'', due to his height and strength. ...

, soccer player

References

External links

*
Official website of the Tuzluca Municipality
*
Official website of the Tuzluca District
*
Iğdır's News website
Populated places in Iğdır Province Districts of Iğdır Province Kurdish settlements in Turkey {{Iğdır-geo-stub