Gürün is a town in

Sivas Province Sivas Province () is a province of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Its area is 28,164 km2 (the second largest province after Konya), and its population is 634,924 (2022). Its adjacent prov ...

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 ...

. It is the seat of Gürün District.İlçe Belediyesi
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023. Its population is 10,657 (2022). The mayor is Nami Çiftçi ( MHP).

History

Ancient history

The city was inhabited during the Old Assyrian Kingdom and

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

. Ancient rock caves dating to 2000 BC are located in the district. The caves would have been in use, possibly as a kind of apartment complex, during the Hittite period. The caves were also "used as a cold storage area, woodshed and animal feed storage area by local people until a short time ago", and are now open to visitors. Nami Çiftçi, the town's mayor, told Daily Sabah that they "don't have a precise date determined by expert engineers or by people who are well-versed in this field, so I invite our historians to Gürün. Come, bring your knowledge and your tools, study these caves so that we can have the data regarding their age, and we can announce it to the world".

Modern history

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 ...

, a sizable portion of the city's

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

population was deported and killed. According to the memoir '' Goodbye, Antoura'', during the pre-genocide years the Armenian population had achieved a level of stability in Gürün, with at least one Armenian family owning large swathes of land and orchards. In 1915, the Ottoman government appropriated these lands, and the Armenian population was deported southward and westward into the Syrian desert, eventually reaching the cities of

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

and

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

. A student association of Armenians from Gürün was founded in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1899, which later became the Compatriotic Union of Gurin. The union's initial purpose was to assist survivors of the genocide and their families, and it established chapters across the world. The compatriotic union published two periodicals, one from 1930 to 1933 in New York and another from 1976 to 1981 in New Jersey, as well as a book titled ''Badmakirk' Gurini'' ("History Book of Gurin", 1974, Beirut). The union cooperated with Armenians from Gürün in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

to found the village of Nor Kyurin in

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

. The organization was dissolved in the late 20th century, as the last Armenians born in Gürün died of old age. In September 2018, it was announced that a dilapidated Armenian church in Gürün would be renovated.

Demographics

In his '' Seyahatname'',

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

claimed that the town's population then was wholly made up of Turkomans. In 1914, there were 13,874 Armenians living in the

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

of Gürün, which contained five villages that were exclusively Armenian and a few scattered settlements. Gürün, the kaza's seat, had 12,168 residents, 8,406 of whom were Armenian.

Notable people

* Antranig Dzarugian (1913–1989), Armenian writer, poet, educator and journalist *

Haroutiun Galentz Haroutiun Galentz, (; March 27, 1910 in Gürün, Kyurin - March 7, 1967 in Yerevan) also known as Kalents, was a prolific Armenians, Armenian painter. Biography Galentz was born in Gürün, Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey) on March 27 of 1910 ...

(1910–1967), Armenian painter * Abdüllatif Şener (born 1954), Turkish politician * Vahe Vahian (1909–1998), Armenian poet, writer, editor, pedagogue and orator * İsmet Yılmaz (born 1961), Turkish politician *

Cem Yılmaz Cem Yılmaz (, born 23 April 1973) is a Turkish actor, stand-up comedian, musician, filmmaker, screenwriter, and cartoonist. He has four franchise film series '' G.O.R.A.'', '' Karakomik Fimler'', '' Organize İşler'', '' Vizontele''. Also, H ...

(born 1973), Turkish comedian

References

External links

World Surface - Gürün, Turkey