Eleşkirt

Eleşkirt
General view of Eleşkirt General view of Eleşkirt
Eleşkirt
Coordinates:
Country	Turkey
Province	Ağrı
Government
• Mayor	Sebahattin Sarı (AKP)
• Kaymakam	Mustafa Koç
Area
• District	1,545.18 km2 (596.60 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Urban	11,247
• District	39,040
• District density	25/km2 (65/sq mi)
Website	www.eleskirt.bel.tr

Eleşkirt or Kurdish Zêdikan, is a town and district of Ağrı Province in Turkey. Its name was transferred from Alashkert (Armenian: Ալաշկերտ Alaškert), the valley's former administrative centre, now the village of Toprakkale. Until the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 the town was heavily populated by Turks, Azeris, Kurds and, to some extent, Armenians.

The mayor is Sebahattin Sarı (AKP).

Places to see

Eleşkirt is a small town on a plain surrounded by high mountains, that has been occupied since the kingdom of the Urartu, as can be seen from:

• A burial mound (höyük) in the village of Pirabat

• The castle in the village of Toprakkale (ku:Kelê). In antiquity the district was ruled from the castle which was successively occupied by Romans, Persians, Arabs, Greek Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, Mongols and then further waves of Turks. There is a mosque which was built in 1687 in this village.

• There is a mountain named Kösedağ near the town. It is popular for climbing and, in winter, skiing. Actually a lot of tourists come to see and climb this mountain from different countries every year.