Kars(Armenian:ԿարսorՂարս;[2]Azerbaijani:Qars;Kurdish:Qers[3]) is a city in northeastTurkey.It is the seat ofKars ProvinceandKars District.[4]As of 2022, its population was 91,450.[1]Kars, in classical historiography (Strabo), was in the ancient region known asChorzene(Greek:Χορζηνή), part of the province ofAyraratin theKingdom of Armenia,[5]and later thecapitalof theBagratid Kingdom of Armeniafrom 929 to 961. Currently, the mayor of Kars is Türker Öksüz.[6]The city had anArmenianethnic majorityuntil it was re-captured byTurkish nationalist forcesin late 1920.

Kars
Կարս
Qers
Clockwise from top:View of Kars city centre,Castle of Kars,Panoramic view of Kars Topçuoğlu Hamam andTaşköprü,Cathedral of Kars
Kars is located in Turkey
Kars
Kars
Location in Turkey
Coordinates:40°36′28″N43°05′45″E/ 40.60778°N 43.09583°E/40.60778; 43.09583
CountryTurkey
ProvinceKars
DistrictKars
Government
• MayorTürker Öksüz[tr](trustee)
Elevation
1,768 m (5,801 ft)
Population
(2022)[1]
91,450
Time zoneUTC+3(TRT)
Postal code
36000
Area code0474
Websitewww.kars.bel.tr

Etymology

The city's name may derive from theArmenianwordhars,meaning 'bride'.[7]According to another hypothesis, the name derives from theGeorgianwordkari,meaning 'gate'.[8]

History

Medieval period

Little is known of the early history of Kars beyond the fact that, during medieval times, it had its own dynasty of Armenian rulers and was the capital of a region known asVanand.Medieval Armenian historians referred to the city by a variety of names, includingKaruts’ k’aghak’('Kars city'),Karuts’ berd,Amrots’n Karuts’,Amurn Karuts’(all meaning 'Kars Fortress').[2]At some point in the ninth century (at least by 888) it entered into the domains of theArmenian Bagratunis.Kars was the capital of theBagratid kingdom of Armeniabetween 929 and 961.[9]During this period, the town's cathedral, later known as theChurch of the Holy Apostles,was built.[10]

In 963, shortly after the Bagratuni seat was transferred toAni,Kars became the capital of a separate independent kingdom, again called Vanand. However, the extent of its actual independence from the Kingdom of Ani is uncertain: it was always in the possession of the relatives of the rulers of Ani, and, after Ani's capture by theByzantine Empirein 1045, the Bagratuni title "King of Kings" held by the ruler of Ani was transferred to the ruler of Kars.

In 1064, just after the capture of Ani byAlp Arslan(leader of theSeljuk Turks), the Armenian king of Kars,Gagik-Abas,paid homage to the victorious Turks so that they would not lay siege to his city. In 1065 Gagik-Abas ceded his kingdom to the Byzantine Empire, but soon after Kars was taken by the Seljuk Turks.[2]

The 10th-centuryArmenian Church of the Holy Apostles,as seen in a photo taken in the late 19th century.
Map of the Armenian Kingdom under the reign of the Bagratid dynasty, 10-11th centuries A.D.

The Seljuks quickly relinquished direct control over Kars and it became a small emirate whose territory corresponded closely to that of Vanand, and which bordered the similarly created but largerShaddadidemirate centered at Ani. The Kars emirate was a vassal of theSaltukidsin Erzurum, whose forces were effective in opposingGeorgianattempts at seizing Kars. Thus, it was only in 1206 that Zakare of theZakarids–Mkhargrdzelisucceeded in capturing Kars, joining it to their fiefdom of Ani.[11]It was conquered in 1242 by theMongols[12]and later Kars fell under Georgian influence. During the reign ofDavid IX of Georgia,theIlkhanateoccupied the southern territories of theKingdom of Georgia,which included Kars.[13]By 1358, the city was ruled by theJalayiridsand in 1380 it fell to theQara Qoyunlu.[14]In 1387 the city was leveled and the surrounding countryside was devastated byTimur(Tamerlane).[14]Anatolian beyliksfollowed for some time after that, until it firstly fell into the hands of theQara Qoyunluand subsequentAq Qoyunlu.After the Ak Koyunlu, as it went naturally for almost all their former territories, the city fell into the hands of the newly establishedSafavid dynastyofIran,founded by kingIsmail I.Following thePeace of Amasyaof 1555 that followed theOttoman–Safavid War of 1533–1555,the city was declared neutral, and its existing fortress was destroyed.[15][16]In 1585, during theOttoman–Safavid War of 1579–1590,the Ottomans took the city alongsideTabriz.[17]On June 8, 1604, during the next bout of hostilities between the two archrivals, theOttoman–Safavid War of 1603–1618,Safavid rulerAbbas Iretook the city from the Ottomans.[18]The fortifications of the city were rebuilt by the Ottoman SultanMurad IIIand were strong enough to withstand a siege byNader ShahofPersia,in 1731.[19]It became the head of asanjakin theOttomanErzurum vilayet.[19]In July 1744, the city wasagain besiegedby Nader Shah. Later, in August 1745, a huge Ottoman armywas routedat Kars byNader Shahduring theOttoman–Persian War of 1743–1746.[20]As a result, the Turks fled westwards, raiding their own lands as they went.[20]

Russian administration

The 1828 Russian siege of Kars (painterJanuary Suchodolski).
The Armenian Cathedral of Kars, which was converted into a mosque in 1993.

In 1807, Kars successfully resisted an attack by theRussian Empire.During a break between the Russian campaigns in the region conducted against the Ottomans, in 1821, commander-in-chiefAbbas MirzaofQajar Iranoccupied Kars,[21]further igniting theOttoman–Persian War of 1821–1823.After another Russian siege in 1828 the city was surrendered by the Ottomans on June 23, 1828, to the Russian general CountIvan Paskevich,11,000 men becomingprisoners of war.[19]At the end of the war it returned to Ottoman control for diplomatic reasons, Russia gaining only two border forts. During theCrimean War,an Ottoman garrison led by British officers, including GeneralWilliam Fenwick Williams,kept the Russians at bay during aprotracted siege,but after the garrison had been devastated by cholera and food supplies were depleted, the town wassurrenderedtoGeneral Mouravieffin November 1855.[19]

The city's significance increased as theOttomanandRussian empirescontested its possession. The fortress was stormed by the Russians in theBattle of Karsduring theRusso-Turkish War, 1877–78[19]under generalsLoris-MelikovandIvan Lazarev.Following the war, Kars was transferred toRussiaby theTreaty of San Stefano.Kars became the capital of theKars Okrugand largerKars Oblast( "region" ), comprising theokrugs( "districts" ) of Kars,Ardahan,Kagizman,andOlti,which was the most southwesterly extension of the RussianTranscaucasus.In the following years the Russians supported the fortification of Kars.[22]

From 1878 to 1881 more than 82,000 Muslims from formerly Ottoman-controlled territory migrated to the Ottoman Empire. Among those there were more than 11,000 people from the city of Kars. At the same time, manyArmeniansandPontic Greeks(here usually calledCaucasus Greeks) migrated to the region from the Ottoman Empire and other regions of Transcaucasia. According to the Russian census data, by 1897Armeniansformed 49.7%,Russians26.3%,Caucasus Greeks11.7%,Poles5.3% and Turks 3.8%.[23]

World War I

Armenian civilians fleeing Kars after its capture byKâzım Karabekir's forces.
Interior of the Kars cathedral.

In theFirst World War,the city was one of the main objectives of the Ottoman army during the lostBattle of Sarikamishin theCaucasus Campaign.Russia ceded Kars,ArdahanandBatumto the Ottoman Empire under theTreaty of Brest-Litovskon 3 March 1918. However, by then Kars was under the effective control of Armenian and non-Bolshevik Russian forces. The Ottoman Empire captured Kars on 25 April 1918,[24]but under theArmistice of Mudros(October 1918) was required to withdraw to the pre-war frontier[25]and Kars came under control of theFirst Republic of Armenia.[26]The Ottomans refused to relinquish Kars; its military governor instead established a government, theProvisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus,led by Fahrettin Pirioglu, that claimed Turkish sovereignty over Kars and Turkic-speaking regions as far as Batumi andAlexandropol(Gyumri). Much of the region fell under the administrative control ofArmeniain January 1919 but the pro-Turkish government remained in the city until a joint operation launched by British and Armenian troops dissolved it on 19 April 1919, arresting its leaders and sending them toMalta.[27]In May 1919, Kars came under the full administration of the Armenian Republic and became the capital of its Vanand province.

Skirmishes between theTurkish revolutionariesand Armenian border troops inOltitook place during the summer of 1920. In the autumn of that year four Turkish divisions under the command of GeneralKâzım Karabekirinvaded the Armenian Republic, triggering theTurkish-Armenian War.[28]Kars had been fortified to withstand a lengthy siege but, to the astonishment of all, was taken with little resistance by Turkish forces on 30 October 1920, in what some modern scholars have called one of the worst military fiascoes in Armenian history.[29]The terms of theTreaty of Alexandropol,signed by the representatives of Armenia and Turkey on 2 December 1920, forced Armenia to give back all the Ottoman territories granted to it in theTreaty of Sèvres.

After theBolshevikadvance into Armenia, theTreaty of Alexandropolwas superseded by theTreaty of Kars(October 23, 1921), signed between Turkey and theSoviet Union.The treaty allowed for Soviet annexation ofAdjarain exchange for Turkish control of the regions ofKars,Igdir,andArdahan.The Treaty of Kars established peaceful relations between the two nations, but as early as 1939, some British diplomats noted[citation needed]indications that the Soviet Union was not satisfied with the established border. TheTreaty of Kars,signed in 1921 by theGovernment of the Grand National Assemblyand by the Soviet republics ofArmenia,AzerbaijanandGeorgia,established the current north-eastern boundaries of Turkey. The treaty includedde jureprovisions guaranteeing the Armenian residents right to relinquish Turkish nationality, leave the territory freely and take with them either their goods or the proceeds of their sale, but by some accounts formerly Armenian lands hadde factobecome state property as a consequence of the treaty.[30]

After World War II

Fethiye Mosque, the former Russian military cathedral built in tribute to Alexander Nevsky
The Gazi Ahmet Paşa Konağı, a traditional house in Kars built during the period the city was part of the Russian Empire

After World War II, the Soviet Union attempted to annul the Kars treaty and regain the Kars region and the adjoining region of Ardahan. On June 7, 1945, Soviet Foreign MinisterVyacheslav Molotovtold the Turkish ambassador to MoscowSelim Sarperthat the regions should be returned to theSoviet Union,on behalf of the Georgian and Armenian republics. Turkey found itself in a difficult position: it wanted good relations with the Soviet Union, but at the same time they refused to give up the territories. Turkey itself was in no condition to fight a war with the Soviet Union, which had emerged as a superpower after the second world war. By the autumn of 1945, Soviet troops in the Caucasus were ordered to prepare for a possible invasion of Turkey. Prime MinisterWinston Churchillobjected to these territorial claims, whilePresidentHarry Trumaninitially felt that the matter should not concern other parties. With the onset of theCold War,however, the United States came to see Turkey as a useful ally against Soviet expansion and began to support it financially and militarily. By 1948 theSoviet Uniondropped its claims to Kars and the other regions.[31]

Recent history

In April 1993, Turkey closed its Kars border crossing with Armenia, in a protest against the capture of theKelbajardistrict ofAzerbaijanby Armenian forces during theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War.[32]Since then the land border betweenArmeniaandTurkeyhas remained closed. In 2006, former Kars mayor Naif Alibeyoğlu said that opening the border would boost the local economy and reawaken the city.[33]Despite unsuccessful attempts to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2009,[34]there remained opposition and pressure from the local population against the re-opening of the border.[35]Under pressure from Azerbaijan, and the local population, including the 20% ethnicAzerbaijaniminority, the Turkish foreign ministerAhmet Davutoğlureiterated in 2010 and 2011 that opening the border withArmeniawas out of the question.[36][37]As of 2014,the border remains closed.[38]

The last elected mayor of Kars wasAyhan Bilgenof thePeoples' Democratic Party(HDP), who was elected in 2019, and arrested and deposed in 2020. He was replaced by the governor ofKars Province,Eyüp Tepe, as a government-appointed trustee.[39][40][41][42]

Demographics

According to Turkey's 2011 Statistical Yearbook, the area has been depopulating because of migration to bigger cities.[43]InIstanbulalone, there are 269,388 people from Kars, more than three times the city's population.[44][45]

Today, Kars has a mixed population ofAzerbaijanis,KurdsandTurks.[36]

The Azerbaijanis are mainly composed of theTerekemeandQarapapaqsub-ethnic groups.[46]The Shia Azerbaijanis make up 20% of the city's population.[47]

Most of the population in Kars isSunni Muslim,mainly made up by the population ofKurdsandTurks,and the minority isShia Muslim,mainly among theAzerbaijanis.

Year Total Turks Armenians Others
1878[48] 4,244 2,835 (66.8%) 1,031 (24.4%) 378Caucasus Greeks(8.9%)
1886[49] 3,939 841 (21.4%) 2,483 (63%) 322Caucasus Greeks(8.2%), 247Russians(6.3%)
1897[23] 20,805 786 (3.8%) 10,332 (49.7%) 5,478Russians(26.3%), 1,084Poles(5.2%), 733Caucasus Greeks(3.5%), 486Tatars(2.3%)
1916[50] 30,514 1,210 (3.9%) 25,665 (84.1%) 1,487Russians(4.9%), 1,828 other Christians (5.9%), 298 other Muslims, 25 Jews
1970[2] 54,000
1990[51] 78,455
2000[52] 78,473
2013[52] 78,101

Government

Provincial Special Administration Building in Kars

The present day ethnic make-up of Kars is also reflected in politics, with the Turks andAzerbaijanisoften voting for the nationalistMHPand the Kurds often voting for the pro-KurdishHDP.On 30 March 2014, Murtaza Karaçanta (MHP) was elected mayor. During the June 2015 elections, Kars was won by the pro-KurdishHDP,becoming the largest political party in both the city and the province of Kars. The last elected mayor was Ayhan Bilgen from the HDP until he was deposed in October 2020.[39]

Climate

Kars has ahumid continental climate(Köppen:Dfb,Trewartha:Dcb). It experiences significantseasonalanddiurnal temperature variation,due to its location away from large bodies of water, its high elevation and location, where the high plateau ofEastern Anatoliaconverges with theLesser Caucasusmountain range.

Summers are generally brief and quite warm with cool nights. The average high temperature in August is 27°C(81°F).

Winters are very cold. The average low January temperature is −15°C(5°F), and temperatures can plummet to −30 °C (−22 °F) during the winter months. Kars experiences frequent and sometimes heavy snowfall, with four months of snow cover on average.[citation needed]

Highest recorded temperature:37.1°C(98.8°F) on 24 August 2022
Lowestrecorded temperature:−37.0°C(−34.6°F) on 4 February 1947[53]

Climate data for Kars (1991–2020, extremes 1931–2023)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 9.3
(48.7)
12.0
(53.6)
19.1
(66.4)
25.0
(77.0)
28.3
(82.9)
33.9
(93.0)
35.6
(96.1)
37.1
(98.8)
33.0
(91.4)
26.8
(80.2)
21.9
(71.4)
15.9
(60.6)
37.1
(98.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −3.2
(26.2)
−1.2
(29.8)
4.9
(40.8)
12.3
(54.1)
17.3
(63.1)
22.2
(72.0)
26.3
(79.3)
27.3
(81.1)
23.0
(73.4)
16.1
(61.0)
7.5
(45.5)
−0.4
(31.3)
12.7
(54.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) −9.4
(15.1)
−7.7
(18.1)
−1.0
(30.2)
5.7
(42.3)
10.4
(50.7)
14.5
(58.1)
17.9
(64.2)
18.4
(65.1)
14.1
(57.4)
8.2
(46.8)
0.6
(33.1)
−6.2
(20.8)
5.5
(41.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −14.8
(5.4)
−13.4
(7.9)
−6.3
(20.7)
−0.2
(31.6)
4.3
(39.7)
7.4
(45.3)
10.5
(50.9)
10.7
(51.3)
6.1
(43.0)
1.5
(34.7)
−4.8
(23.4)
−11.2
(11.8)
−0.8
(30.6)
Record low °C (°F) −36.7
(−34.1)
−37.0
(−34.6)
−31.5
(−24.7)
−22.6
(−8.7)
−7.0
(19.4)
−4.0
(24.8)
0.1
(32.2)
−1.9
(28.6)
−4.4
(24.1)
−17.5
(0.5)
−30.0
(−22.0)
−35.0
(−31.0)
−37.0
(−34.6)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches) 23.2
(0.91)
21.4
(0.84)
33.1
(1.30)
57.0
(2.24)
83.6
(3.29)
75.0
(2.95)
65.1
(2.56)
45.1
(1.78)
29.7
(1.17)
44.6
(1.76)
26.6
(1.05)
25.6
(1.01)
530.0
(20.87)
Average precipitation days 9.97 9.6 11.23 13.9 18.93 14.37 11.13 9.67 7.07 10.17 8.43 10.43 134.9
Averagerelative humidity(%) 78.9 77.6 73.5 67.3 67.3 65.3 64.3 60.1 59.8 67.8 73.1 78.9 69.5
Mean monthlysunshine hours 105.4 132.8 167.4 183.0 226.3 276.0 316.2 310.0 249.0 192.2 147.0 102.3 2,407.6
Mean dailysunshine hours 3.4 4.7 5.4 6.1 7.3 9.2 10.2 10.0 8.3 6.2 4.9 3.3 6.5
Source 1:Turkish State Meteorological Service[54]
Source 2:NOAA(humidity)[55]

Sports

The town has afootballclub Kars S.K.Bandy,a sport which does not exist in Turkey today, was once played here.[56]

Education

Kars hosts theKafkas University,which was established in 1992.[57]

Transport

Kars Harakani Airport

Kars is served by a main highway fromErzurum,and lesser roads run north to Ardahan and south to Igdir. The town has an airport (Kars Harakani Airport), with daily direct flights to Ankara and Istanbul. Kars is served bya stationon theTurkish Railways(TCDD) that links it to Erzurum. This line was originally laid when Kars was within the Russian Empire and connected the city to nearbyAlexandropolandTiflis,with a wartime, narrow-gauge extension running to Erzurum. Turkey's border crossings with Armenia, including the rail link, theKars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway,have regrettably been closed since April 1993. Turkey's border withArmeniawas closed down after local Armenian forces occupied theKalbajar District(adjacent to disputedNagorno Karabakh) in Azerbaijan. (As of September 2018, Turkey maintains that the border will remain closed until Armenia ends its occupation).[58]Construction on a new line, theKars–Tbilisi–Baku railway,intended to connect Turkey withGeorgiaandAzerbaijan,began in 2010. The line became operational on October 30, 2017.[59]The line connects Kars toAkhalkalakiin Georgia, from where trains will continue toTbilisi,andBakuinAzerbaijan.[60]

Places of interest

Kars Citadel

Kars Citadel from the river

TheCastle of Kars(Turkish:Kars Kalesi), also known as theCitadel,sits at the top a rocky hill overlooking Kars. Its walls date back to theBagratuniArmenian period (there is surviving masonry on the north side of the castle) but it probably took on its present form during the thirteenth century when Kars was ruled by theZak'ariddynasty.

The walls bear crosses in several places, including aKhachkarwith a building inscription in Armenian on the easternmost tower, so the much repeated statement that Kars castle was built byOttomanSultanMurad IIIduring the war withPersia,at the close of the sixteenth century, is inaccurate. However, Murad probably ordered the reconstruction of much of the city walls (they are similar to those that the Ottoman army constructed atArdahan). During the eighteenth century, at theBattle of Kars (1745),a crushing defeat was inflicted upon the Ottoman army by the Persian conqueror,Nader Shah,not far from the city of Kars.

By the nineteenth century the citadel had lost most of its defensive purpose and a series of outer fortresses and defensive works were constructed to encircle Kars – this new defensive system proved particularly notable during theSiege of Karsin 1855.

Other historical structures

TheTaşköprü(Stone Bridge, 1725), built over theKars River.
The ArmenianChurch of the Apostleshoused a museum in the 1960s–70s and was converted to a mosque in 1993.[61]
Belle Epoque Russian Architecture

Below the castle is a mosque, formerly the Armenian church known as Surb Arak'elots, theChurch of the Holy Apostles.Built in the 930's, it has atetraconchplan (a square with four semicircular apses) surmounted by a spherical dome on a cylindrical drum. On the exterior, the drum containsbas-reliefdepictions of twelve figures, usually interpreted as representing theTwelve Apostles.The dome has a conical roof. The church was converted to a mosque in 1579, and then converted into a Russian Orthodox church in the 1880s. The Russians built porches in front of the church's three entrances, and an elaborate clocktower (now demolished) next to the church. The church was used as a warehouse from the 1930s, and it housed a small museum from 1963 until the late 1970s. Then the building was left to itself for about two decades, until it was converted into a mosque in 1993. In the same district of Kars are two other ruinedArmenian churches.A Russian church from the 1900s was converted to a mosque in the 1980s after serving as a school gymnasium.[62]

The Grand Mosque of Kars is the largest historic mosque in the city. Built by theSeljuks,it was restored by theOttomansin 1579.

TheTaşköprü(Stone Bridge) is a bridge over theKars River,built in 1725. Close to the bridge are three old bath-houses, none of them operating any longer.

As a settlement at the juncture ofTurkish,Armenian,Georgian,KurdishandRussiancultures, the buildings of Kars come in a variety of architectural styles. Most Russian-era buildings in Kars are identical in architectural style to those of Gyumri in Armenia.Orhan Pamukin the novelSnow,set in Kars, makes repeated references to "the Russian houses", built "in aBalticstyle ",[63]whose like cannot be seen anywhere else in Turkey, and deplores the deteriorating condition of these houses.

  • The Mansion of Ahmet Tevfik Pasha (Ahmet Tevfik Paşa Konağı)
  • TheStone Bridge(Taşköprü)
  • The Topchuoglu Bath House (Topçuoğlu Hamamı)
  • The Ilbeoglu Bath House (İlbeyoğlu Hamamı)
  • The Mazlumaga Bath House (Mazlumağa Hamamı)
  • The House of Namık Kemal (Namık Kemal Evi)
  • Kars Museum (Kars Müzesi)
  • The Palace of Beylerbeyi (Beylerbeyi Sarayı)
  • The Mansion of Pasha (Paşa Konağı)
  • The Cemetery of Arap Baba (Arap Baba Şehitliği)
  • The Mosque of Yusuf Pasha (Yusuf Paşa Camii)
  • The Mosque of Evliya (Evliya Camii)
  • The Tomb of Ebul Hasan-i Harakani (Ebul Hasan-i Harakani Türbesi)
  • The Mosque of Fethiye (Fethiye Camii)
  • The Mansion of GaziAhmet Muhtar Pasha(Gazi Ahmet Paşa Konağı)
Monument of Humanity in Kars demolished on R. T. Erdogan's directive in 2011.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

The municipality of Kars has developed sister city relationships with following cities at home and abroad:[64]

References

  1. ^ab"Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports"(XLS).TÜİK.Retrieved13 March2023.
  2. ^abcdArakelyan, Babken;Vardanyan, Vrezh; Khalpakhchyan, Hovhannes (1979)."s.v. Kars".Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia.Vol. 5. Yerevan. pp. 342–343.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^Adem Avcıkıran (2009).Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî(PDF)(in Turkish and Kurdish). p. 57.Retrieved17 December2019.
  4. ^İl Belediyesi,Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  5. ^Strabo."Geography Stabo - Book XI - Chapter XIV".Retrieved2011-05-30.
  6. ^Gazete, Banka (26 November 2021)."Kars'ta Modern Besi Çiftliği ve Kesimhane tamamlanıyor".Gazete Banka.p.https://gazetebanka /.Retrieved26 November2021.
  7. ^Room, Adrian (2003).Placenames of the World.McFarland. p. 178.ISBN0-7864-1814-1.
  8. ^Ring, Trudy; Salkin, Robert M.; La Boda, Sharon (1996).International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe.Taylor & Francis. p. 357.ISBN1-884964-02-8.
  9. ^Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila, eds. (2009).The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, Volume 3.Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.371.ISBN978-0-19-530991-1.
  10. ^(in Armenian)Harutyunyan, Varazdat M."Chartarapetutyun" [Architecture] inHay Zhoghovrdi Patmutyun[History of the Armenian People], eds.Tsatur Aghayanet al. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1976, vol. 3, pp. 374–375.
  11. ^Lordkipanidze & Hewitt 1987,p. 135.
  12. ^Dashdondog 2011,p. 58.
  13. ^Rayfield 2013,p. 145.
  14. ^abBarthold & Heywood 1997,p. 670.
  15. ^Mikaberidze, AlexanderConflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1.ABC-CLIO, 31 jul. 2011ISBN1598843362p 698
  16. ^Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015).Historical Dictionary of Georgia(2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. xxxi.ISBN978-1442241466.
  17. ^Endress, GerhardIslam: An Historical Introductionpage 194. Edinburgh University Press, 2002ISBN978-0748616206
  18. ^Somel, Selcuk Aksin. (2003).Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empirepage XXXV. Scarecrow Press, 13 feb. 2003ISBN978-0810866065
  19. ^abcdeChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Kars".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 683.
  20. ^abKohn, George Childs.Dictionary of WarsRoutledge, 2013.ISBN978-1135954949p 506
  21. ^Aksan, Virginia.Ottoman Wars, 1700–1870: An Empire BesiegedRoutledge, 2014, p. 463ISBN978-1317884033
  22. ^Erickson, Edward J. (2001).Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War.Greenwood Publishing Group. pp.184.ISBN978-0-313-31516-9.
  23. ^abПервая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам Российской Империи кроме губерний Европейской России(in Russian). Demoscope Weekly.Retrieved8 April2014.
  24. ^"The Fall of Kars – April 25, 1918".ANI Armenian Research Center.22 August 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 9 November 2020.Retrieved3 April2020.
  25. ^"The Armistice Convention with Turkey"(PDF).germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.Retrieved3 April2020.
  26. ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1971).The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918-1919.University of California Press. pp.222.ISBN978-0-520-01805-1.
  27. ^Hovannisian, Richard G.(1971).The Republic of Armenia, Vol. I: The First Year, 1918–1919.Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 197–227.ISBN0-520-01984-9.
  28. ^Hovannisian, Richard G. (1996).The Republic of Armenia, Vol. IV: Between Crescent and Sickle, Partition and Sovietization.Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 182ff.ISBN0-520-08804-2.
  29. ^Hovannisian.Republic of Armenia, Vol. IV,pp. 253–261.
  30. ^Morack, Ellinor (2017-03-14).The Dowry of the State?: The Politics of Abandoned Property and the Population Exchange in Turkey 1921-1945.University if Bamberg Press. p. 167.ISBN9783863094638.
  31. ^Krikorian, Robert O. (2011), "Kars-Ardahan and Soviet Armenian Irredentism, 1945–1946," inArmenian Kars and Ani,ed.Richard G. Hovannisian.Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, pp. 393–409.
  32. ^Panico, Christopher; Rone, Jemera (1994).Bloodshed in the Caucasus: Escalation of the Armed Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh.Human Rights Watch/Helsinki Watch. p. 74.ISBN1-56432-142-8.Turkey cut all routes to Armenia in April 1993, after the Karabakh Armenian army - with alleged support from Russian and Armenian armies - seized Kelbajar province of Azerbaijan.
  33. ^"Kars battles for access to Armenia and beyond", Turkish Daily News, July 30th 2006.
  34. ^Staff (11 October 2009)."Turkey, Armenia to Reopen Border".The Wall Street Journal.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2009.
  35. ^Mammadli, Sabuhi (1 May 2009)."Border Turks Want Door to Armenia Kept Shut".CRS Issue 491.Institute for War and Peace Reporting.Archivedfrom the original on 23 September 2012.Note: archive not available until mid-2013.
  36. ^ab"Armenia border opening out of question, says Davutoğlu".Today's Zaman.19 July 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2012.Note: archive not available until mid-2013.
  37. ^"Two vast and ugly blocks of stone".The Economist.13 January 2011.
  38. ^"Turkish, Armenian journalists want the border opened".Today's Zaman.3 June 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2012.Note: archive not available until mid-2013.
  39. ^ab"Kars Seçim Sonuçları - 31 Mart 2019 Yerel Seçimleri".sabah.tr.Retrieved2019-09-12.
  40. ^"Turkish police detain dozens of HDP members, including Mayor Bilgen, over 2014 Kobane protests".duvarenglish.Retrieved2020-09-25.[permanent dead link]
  41. ^"Ayhan Bilgen sacked by the ministry of Interior".Milliyet(in Turkish). 2020-10-02.Retrieved2020-10-02.
  42. ^"Trustee replaces Kars mayor dismissed in pro-PKK probe targeting 2014 Kobani riots".Daily Sabah.2 October 2020.Retrieved2020-10-02.
  43. ^Turkish Statistical Institute (2011)."The provinces with highest out-migration according to their net migration rate"(pdf).Turkey in Statistics 2011 (The Summary of Turkey's Statistical Yearbook 2011).p. 15.
  44. ^"İstanbul'un nüfus bilgileri açıklandı".Sabah.
  45. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-13.Retrieved2014-03-13.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  46. ^(in Russian)Azeris.Great Soviet Encyclopedia
  47. ^"Two vast and ugly blocks of stone".The Economist.13 January 2011.Retrieved29 January2021.
  48. ^Mirzoyan, Sonya; Badem, Candan (2013).The Construction of the Tiflis-Aleksandropol-Kars Railway (1895-1899).Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation. p. 7.ISBN9789491145032.At the end of 1878, the indigenous population of the city of Kars included 2,835 Turks, 1,031 Armenians and. 378 Greeks.
  49. ^Свод статистических данных о населении Закавказского края, извлечённых из посемейных списков 1886 года, г. Тифлис, 1893. Available onlinehere
  50. ^Кавказский календарь на 1917 год[Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 198–201. Archived fromthe originalon 4 November 2021.
  51. ^The new encyclopædia Britannica,Volume 6, p. 751
  52. ^ab"Kars".Encyclopædia Britannica.Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2014.Pop. (2000) 78,473; (2013 est.) 78,100.
  53. ^"İllerimize Ait Genel İstatistik Verileri"(in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service.Retrieved23 August2024.
  54. ^"Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)"(in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service.Retrieved11 April2021.
  55. ^"WMO Climate Normals for 1991-2020: Kars-17097"(CSV).National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Retrieved23 August2024.
  56. ^Grigoryan, Aleksandr.В хоккей играют настоящие армяне.Noev Kovcheg(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2014.
  57. ^"Kafkas University - Kafkas".admissionglobal.Retrieved2017-11-03.
  58. ^"Turkey will not open Armenia border amid Karabakh occupation: Erdoğan - Turkey News".Hürriyet Daily News.15 September 2018.
  59. ^"Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway track becomes operational to carry Chinese goods to Europe".dnd.pk.30 October 2017.Retrieved27 February2018.
  60. ^Railway Gazette InternationalFebruary 2009 p54 with map
  61. ^"Burası cami oldu, burada ayin olmaz".Milliyet(in Turkish). 2008-06-24.Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, 1993 yılında kiliseyi Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı'na devretti. Böylece kilise, yıllar yine cami olarak kullanılmaya başlandı ve adı yine Kümbet Cami olarak değiştirildi.
  62. ^"THE CATHEDRAL OF KARS: Holy Apostles Church (Surb Arak'elots)."VirtualANI. December 7, 2000.
  63. ^Orhan pamuk and the city of KarsRetrieved 20 August 2023.
  64. ^"Kars Belediyesi'nin çalışmaları"(in Turkish). Siyasal Birikim. 8 October 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 8 April 2014.Retrieved8 April2014.68- KARDEŞ ŞEHİR:
  65. ^"Twin-cities of Azerbaijan".Azerbaijans.Retrieved2013-08-09.

Sources

  • Dashdondog, Bayarsaikhan (2011).The Mongols and the Armenians (1220-1335).Brill.
  • Barthold, W.; Heywood, C.J. (1997). "Kars". In Van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, CH. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam.Brill. pp. 669–671.
  • Lordkipanidze, Mariam Davydovna; Hewitt, George B. (1987).Georgia in the XI–XII Centuries.Tbilisi: Ganatleba Publishers.
  • Rayfield, Donald (2013).Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia.Reaktion books.

Further reading