Kars
Kars (
Armenian: Ղարս or Կարս,
Kurdish: Qers,
Azeri: Qars) is a city in northeast
Turkey and the capital of the
Kars Province, formerly at the head of a
sanjak in the
Turkish vilayet of
Erzurum. It is situated in .
Population: 8,672 (
1878); 20,891 (
1897); 54,000 (
1970); 142,145 (
1990); 130,361 (
2000).
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A hand drawn illustration of Kars in 1917 by an Armenian. The river which led to Erzurum can be seen on the upper left. On the upper right can be seen three red domed structures, marked by a number one, which are outdoor lavatories. The citadel can be seen on the right. Note the two large domed Armenian churches in the middle and lower section of the picture. |
In the
10th century the region surrounding Kars was an
Armenian Kingdom, ruled by the
Bagratid family. Later on, Kars was captured by the
Seljuk Turks, by the
Mongols in the
13th century, and by
Timur (Tamerlane) in
1387. The city later permanently went under Ottoman rule until 1877. The citadel built by Ottoman Sultan
Murad III was strong enough to withstand a
siege by
Nadir Shah of
Persia, in
1731, and in
1807 it successfully resisted the
Russians. After a brave defence it surrendered on
June 23,
1828 to the Russian general Count
Ivan Paskevich, 11,000 men becoming
prisoners of war. During the
Crimean War the Turkish
garrison, guided by General
William Fenwick Williams and other foreign officers, kept the Russians at bay during a
protracted siege; but after the garrison had been devastated by
cholera and food had utterly failed, nothing was left but to
capitulate in November of
1855. The
fortress was again stormed by the Russians in the
Battle of Kars during the
Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 under generals
Loris-Melikov and
Lazarev Ivan Davidovich and on its conclusion was transferred to
Russia by the
Treaty of San Stefano.
Russia lost Kars,
Ardahan and
Batum by the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on
March 3, 1918. The Turks took back control in Kars on
April 25,
1918 and the
Republic of Southwest Caucasus was established in the zone, but when the
armistice of Mudros (
October 1918) was established the Ottoman army withdrew to the frontiers of 1914. The British occupied Batum but the Ottomans refused to relinquish Kars; its military governor constituted a provisional government led by Fahrettin Pirioglu that claimed Turkish sovereignty over Kars and the Turkish-speaking and Islamic neighbouring regions to Batum and
Gumru (
Alexandropol). The region was occupied by
Armenia in January 1919 but the pro-Turkish government was supported in the city of Kars until the arrival of the British troops, who dissolved it on
April 19 1919, sending its leaders to
Malta. Kars was given to Armenia together with Iğdır in May
1919. The Turkish-Armenian war of September-December/1920, and the fall of the First Republic resulted in the treaty of Alexandropol signed by the representatives of Armenia and Turkey on December 2 1920, in accordance with which Armenia was to give up all the territories granted to her by the treaty of Sevres and to cede to Turkey about 60 per cent of her prewar territory including Kars.
Following the
Turkish War of Independence, Turkey signed the
Treaty of Kars (October 23, 1921) with the Soviet Union in which Turkey relinquished claims to Batum in return for sovereignty over Kars and Ardahan. The government of Armenia to the present day, does not officially recognize the current border. The borders as defined by the treaty of Kars, are far from been fair from the point of view of Armenian nationalists many of whom still consider the Treaty of Sevres as the basis for the resolution of Armenian-Turkish animosity. The Soviets attempted to negotiate with Turkey to at least allow them access to the ancient ruins of
Ani as it poses no regional significance to Turkey. However, Ankara rufused these attempts and the border between Armenia and Turkey has remained unchanged for nearly a century. Since the
Nagorno-Karabakh War, the borders between Armenia and Turkey have been closed in retaliation for Armenia's occupation of Karabakh. Kars Mayor
Naif Alibeyoğlu, believes that the border should be opened again and that there should be no nationalist sentiment against the Armenians. [
1]
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Kars Citadel and Apostles church |
As a city at the juncture of
Armenian,
Caucasian,
Russian, and Turkish cultures, the buildings of Kars come in a variety of architectures. Kars Castle (Kars Kalesi) also known as the Kars
citadel) sits atop a rocky hill overlooking Kars. Its walls date back to the Bagratid Armenian period (there is surviving masonry on the north side of the castle) but it probably took on its present form during the 13th century when Kars was ruled by the Zakarid dynasty. The walls bear crosses in several places, including a khachkar with a building inscription in Armenian on the easternmost tower, so the much repeated mantra that Kars kastle was built by
Ottoman Sultan Murad III during the war with
Persia, at the close of the
16th century is false. However, Sultan Murad probably did reconstruct much of the city walls (they are similar to those that the Ottoman army constructed at Ardahan). At the foot of the plateau is St. Arak'elos Cathedral, or the Church of the
Apostles. Built in the 10th century, it constitutes a domed
tetraconch atop a square base with four apses. The drum of the dome features bas relief depictions of The Twelve Apostles and the dome itself is covered by a conical roof. It housed a small museum in the 1960s and 1970s, then stood derelict for about two decades until its conversion into a mosque in 1998.
* Kars is the setting of the
novel 'Kar' ('Snow') by famous
Turkish novelist
Orhan Pamuk.
* The Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents was born in Kars.
* The philosopher and mystic
G. I. Gurdjieff grew up in Kars.
* Famous Turkish actress
Hulya Avsar has a familial relation with Kars.
* Famous Turkish actor
Tamer Karadagli was born in Kars.
*
Kars Governor's Office*
Kars Guide and Photo Album by Luc Wouters*
Kars Weather Forecast Information*
Treaty of Kars*
The Treaty of Kars on "Atlas of Conflicts" (by Andrew Andersen)*
VirtualANI - A history and description of the city of Kars*
Pictures of the city and the nearby city of Ani*
Armenian History and Presence in Kars
