Ardahan (tr;[ İl Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 January 2023.] Its population is 22,927 (2021).
History
Ancient and medieval
Ardahan was historically located in the region of
Gugars (
Gugark), which
Strabo calls a part of the Armenia that was taken away from the Kingdom of Iberia.
[Strabo. Geographica. 11.14.7 .][ "Ardahan," Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1976, vol. 2, p. 7.] In the
Middle Ages Ardahan served as an important transit point for goods arriving from the Abbasid Caliphate and departing to the regions around the
Black Sea. During the 8th to 10th centuries the region was in hands of the Bagrationi princes of Tao-Klarjeti under the name of Artaani, and later part of Kingdom of Georgia between 11th to 15th centuries. According to the Arab historian Yahya of Antioch, the
Byzantine Empire razed Ardahan and slaughtered its population in 1021.
The Mongols took hold of the city in the 1230s but the Georgian princes of Samtskhe were able to recapture it in 1266. In 1555, by the Peace of Amasya, the western part of the principality of Samtskhe was annexed by the Ottoman Empire,[ Evliya Çelebi. Turkakan Aghbyurner, Evlia Chelebi Turkish, trans. and commentary by A. Kh. Safrastian. Part of the Series on Foreign Sources on Armenia and Armenians: Turkish Sources, vol. 3. (Yerevan: Haykakan SSH Gitutyunneri Akademiayi Hratarakchutyun, 1967), p. 113.]
Modern
Before 1829 Ardahan was recorded to have had 400 households, the majority of them Armenian.
Many of them later emigrated to the
Russian Empire in the early 19th century. During the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) it was an important road junction connecting the border fortress of
Akhaltsikhe to the Kars-Erzerum road. The town passed into the hands of Russia following the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War and was made a part of the
Ardahan Okrug of the
Kars Oblast. The majority of the town was made up of
Armenians, while other ethnic groups included
Georgians,
Pontic Greeks (here usually called
Caucasus Greeks),
Caucasus Jews,
Russians,
Kurds,
Ossetians, and
Yazidis.
A
Polish people community was also established, with the majority of Poles being sent to Ardahan from the Russian Partition of
Poland after being conscripted to the Russian Army.
The town flourished economically under Russian rule, exporting fruits, smoked lamb meat, wheat and wood. New roads were constructed, linking Ardahan to
Akhalkalaki,
Kars, and
Oltu. On 25 December 1914, in the early months of the First World War, the
Ottoman Army occupied Ardahan and massacred many of its
Armenians,
Pontic Greeks, and
Georgians. The Russians, with the help of Armenian and Pontic Greek militias, captured the town on January 3, 1915, allowing some of the original inhabitants who had fled to return.
As Russian forces withdrew from the front following the October Revolution, a small Armenian volunteer force took up positions to defend the town from the approaching Ottoman Army. On March 6, 1918, the Ottoman army, along with the help of the town's Muslims, overwhelmed Ardahan'
The Fight of Domination in Ardahan According to Turkish, Georgian and Armenian Historians (Turkish Article) Page 1241 the town's remaining Armenians, Pontic Greeks, and Georgians fled to Armenia, northern Greece, and Georgia. The Treaty of Moscow, signed the following year between the Soviets and the Ankara Government, confirmed Ardahan as a part of Turkish territory.
In 1986 a brief description of the fortress was published.[Robert W. Edwards, "The Fortifications of Artvin: A Second Preliminary Report on the Marchlands of Northeast Turkey," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 40, 1986, pp.176-78, pls. 44-45.] The original late antique/medieval walls of Ardahan Kalesi were extensively rebuilt several times and in the 19th they were adapted to accommodate small cannons.
In 1960, Ardahan's population stood at 7,228 and was populated by both Kurds and Turkish people.
Demographics
|
1886 | 778 | Turks 403 (51.8%), Russians 172 (22.1%), Armenians 141 (18.1%), Greeks 48 (6.2%), Kurds 7 (0.9%) |
1897 | 4,142 | Russians 1,331 (32.1%), Armenians 1,315 (31.7%), Turks 746 (18%), Poles 206 (5%) |
1916 | 3,167 | Armenians 1,708 (53.9%), Sunni Muslims 778 (24.6%), Roma 361 (11.4%), Russians 270 (8.5%) |
1960 | 7,228 | |
1970 | 13,399 | |
1980 | 14,912 | |
1990 | 16,761 | |
2000 | 17,274 | |
2010 | 16,251 | |
Geography
Ardahan is situated in northeastern Turkey, close to the border with Georgia. It lies on the upper course of the river Kura, south of the Yalnızçam Mountains. The town consists of 7 quarters: Halilefendi, Karagöl, Kaptanpaşa, Yenimahalle, Gürçayir, Atatürk and Inönü.
[ Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 16 January 2023.]
Media
Ardahan has experienced significant growth in digital media since it gained the status of a province by separating from Kars in 1992. Many
media platforms operate in the city, and most of them broadcast over the internet. Ardahan's first
internet newspaper, founded by Mehmet Ali Arslan, continues to be actively published today. Traditional printed newspapers have largely switched to e-journalism since 2015, keeping up with the process of digitalization, and a few
newspapers continue their traditional printed publications in the city. Although the city does not have a satellite or terrestrial media outlet, there are many radio,
television and
newspaper platforms broadcasting over the internet.
[ i, Konak - C, Badem, "Çarlık Rusya İdaresinde Bir Vilayet Gazetesi: Kars (1883-1917)", Kebikeç, Sayı: 52, 2021][ Ardahan Gazetesi - "bölgede gazetecilik]
Climate
Ardahan has a humid continental climate (Köppen:
Dfb, Trewartha:
Dclc), bordering on a subarctic climate (Köppen:
Dfc, Trewartha:
Eclc) on higher elevations, with brief, mild summers and very cold winters.
Summers are mild to warm during daytime, but turn colder nocturnally. Because of this, temperatures below freezing have been recorded every month of the year. It is also frequently rainy most of the year, especially in spring and summer.
Winters are quite snowy with snow cover lasting from late October to mid April. Although it does snow in September and May, accumulating snowfall is rare. On rarer occasions, it has also snowed in summer months, such as the snowfall in August 2013. The highest recorded snow thickness was 113 cm (44.5 inches) on 30 January 1968.
Highest recorded temperature: on 29 August 1998
Lowest recorded temperature: on 21 January 1972
International relations
- Twin towns—Sister cities
Ardahan is
Sister city with:
Notable locals
External links
Further reading
-
Kyureghyan, Levon. Կարս և Արտահան ( Kars and Artahan). Vienna: Mechitarists, 1949.
-
Suren Yeremyan Հայաստանը ըստ «Աշխարհացույցի» ( Armenia According to the Ashkharatsuyts). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1963.
