Seok Pass, Söök Pass or Suyak Pass (russian: перевал Сёок, ky, Сөөк ашуусу) is a mountain pass in the

Terskey Alatau The Terskey Ala-Too ( ky, Тескей Ала-Тоо, Teskey Ala-Too, , russian: Терскей-Алатау, Terskey-Alatau) is a mountain range in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. It stretches south and southeast of Lake Issyk-Kul, from th ...

mountain range of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

. Its elevation of makes it the third highest mountain pass in Kyrgyzstan after

Bedel Pass Bedel Pass (Kyrgyz language, Kyrgyz: ; ) is a mountain pass in the Tian Shan Mountains range between Kyrgyzstan and China's Xinjiang. It has an elevation of . The pass linked China to Barskon, a settlement on the southern shore of lake Issyk-kul. ...

and

Kyzylart Pass Kyzylart Pass (russian: Кызыл-Арт; ky, Кызыл-Арт ашуусу) is a mountain pass and border crossing in the Trans-Alay Range on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The highest point is 4,280 m (14,042 ft). The border c ...

, and the highest one that is not on a border. It connects the Ala-Bel plateau, where the

Kumtor Gold Mine The Kumtor mine ( ky, Кумтөр, Kumtör) is one of the largest gold mines in Central Asia. The mine has been producing gold since 1997 and has produced over 13.8 million ounces of gold as of June 30, 2022. At 13,000 feet, the mine is the secon ...

is located, to the upper

Naryn River The Naryn ( ky, Нарын, uz, Norin) rises in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, flowing west through the Fergana Valley into Uzbekistan. Here it merges with the Kara Darya (near Namangan) to form the Syr Darya. It is long ...

valley.

Seok Pass is situated on the ancient

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

route connecting

Barskon Barskoon ( ky, Барскоон; russian: Барскаун, Barskaun; fa, ) is a settlement on the southern shore of Lake Issyk Kul in the Issyk-Kul Region of Kyrgyzstan. Its population was 9,040 in 2021. It is on the A363 highway between Bök� ...

on Lake

Issyk-Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...

and

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

province across the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...

mountains. It is one of three major passes on this route, located between

Barskoon Pass Barskoon ( ky, Барскоон; russian: Барскаун, Barskaun; fa, ) is a settlement on the southern shore of Lake Issyk Kul in the Issyk-Kul Region of Kyrgyzstan. Its population was 9,040 in 2021. It is on the A363 highway between Bökö ...

(elevation ) and

(elevation ). As the border road over Bedel Pass to China has remained closed since

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

times, Seok Pass is nowadays significant mainly as a strategic gateway on the A364 road to the southeastern high mountain desert areas of Kyrgyzstan along the Chinese border, and to the border posts at Kara-Say and Ak-Shyrak. Seok Pass mountain pass sign

The name means "Bone Pass" in Kyrgyz, a reference to the

Urkun The Central Asian revolt of 1916, also known as the Semirechye Revolt and as Urkun ( ky, Үркүн, lit=Exodus, translit=Ürkün, , ) in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, was an anti-Russian uprising by the indigenous inhabitants of Russian Turke ...

incident of 1916, when thousands of Kyrgyz died attempting to cross the border into China, fleeing from

Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n forces. The condition of the pass can be seen using Google Map
satellite imagery

References

Tian-Shan entry in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
(there called "Suka Pass")

* Mountain passes of Kyrgyzstan {{Kyrgyzstan-geo-stub