Dogubeyazit

Dogubeyazit is a city and district of Agri Province of Turkey, and is Turkey's most eastern district, the border crossing to Iran.

Mount Ararat by girldiplomat

Elevation 1625 m. Area 2.383 km². Population (2002) 115.754 (up from 73.794 in 1980) of which 56.261 live in the town of Dogubeyazit, the remainder in the surrounding countryside.

The town of Dogubeyazit is a settlement with a long history. It lies 15km southwest of Mount Ararat, 93km east of the city of Ağrı and 35km from the Iranian border. The town stands on a plain surrounded by some of Turkey's highest peaks including: Ararat (5,137m) Little Ararat (3,896m) Kaletepe (3,196m) Arıdağı (2,934m) Tendürek Dağı (3,533m) and Göllertepe (2,643m).

The weather on the plain is hot and dry in summer, cold and dry in winter.

History

The area has had a rich history since it was settled during the times of the Kingdom of Urartu (over 2700 years ago). It was subsequently conquered by Persians, Romans, Arabs, and Byzantines all of whom would have used the plain to rest and recoup during their passages across the mountains. Turkish peoples arrived in 1064, but were soon followed by the Mongols and further waves of Turks. The castle of Beyazit was built and rebuilt many times throughout this history, although it is named after the Turkish warlord Celayırlı Şehzade Bayazıt Han who ordered one of the rebuildings (in 1374). Ultimately, the town was renamed Beyazit itself.

After its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in 1514 the area was ruled by Turkish generals, later including İshakpaşa, who built the palace that still bears his name.

The town saw fighting in the Turko-Persian War of 1821-1822, was attacked by Russia in 1856, and taken by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. When the Russians retreated many of the Armenian population left with them to build New Beyazit (now Gavar at Armenia) on the shore of Gokcegol. Dogubeyazit was further ravaged during World War I, the Armenian Genocide, and the Turkish War of Independence and a newer city was built in the 1930s (hence the new Turkish name "Dogubeyazit" which literally means "East Beyazıt").

Dogubeyazit Today

Today Dogubeyazit is a small town with a predominantly Kurdish population  serving an impoverished rural area on a high altitude, dry plain. There is high meadow for grazing on the sides of these mountains while the plain is used for grazing and for growing grains and grasses, mainly as winter foodstuff for livestock. The mountainsides are however insufficiently forested. Life on the mountainside is hard, with people living in mud-houses. Apparently in the past rice was grown here and the land has potential for more fruitful agriculture than is practiced today.Dogubeyazit attracts visitors to Mount Ararat, who usually stop to see Ishak Pasha Palace and other historical monuments, and others crossing the border to Iran. The economy of the town is boosted by providing food and accommodation (and nowadays internet cafes) for these travellers (some of it very close to the mountain) and in the market in Dogubeyazit there is a small trade in cheap manufactured goods from Iran and beyond. There is also a strong military presence on the border which also benefits the shops, cafes, billiard halls and restaurants of Dogubeyazit.