"},"population_total":{"wt":"15260"},"population_as_of":{"wt":"2022"},"postal_code":{"wt":"36500"},"area_code":{"wt":"0474"},"website":{"wt":"{{url|http://www.sarikamis.bel.tr/}}"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBA">Municipality in Kars, Turkey
Sarıkamış | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 40°20′17″N42°34′23″E / 40.33806°N 42.57306°E | |
Country | Turkey |
Province | Kars |
District | Sarıkamış |
Government | |
• Mayor | Harun Hayali (MHP) |
Elevation | 2,100 m (6,900 ft) |
Population (2022) [1] | 15,260 |
Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Postal code | 36500 |
Area code | 0474 |
Website | www |
Sarıkamış or Sarikamish (Kurdish : Zerqamîş, [2] Armenian : Սարիղամիշ, romanized: Sariġamiš [3] ) is a town in Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Sarıkamış District. [4] Its population is 15,260 (2022). [1]
The town is perhaps best known for being the site of the Battle of Sarikamish, one of the major battles of the Caucasus front of World War I.
For most of the 19th century, Sarikamish was an insignificant settlement that was divided into two parts: upper Sarikamish and lower Sarikamish.
Obsidian from Sarikamish was found at several Neolithic sites in South Caucasus, such as at Aratashen, and at Khramis Didi-gora dating from the 6th millennium BC. Obsidian from Meydan Dağ (to the south of Sarikamish) was also found in South Caucasus. [5]
During the later history, nearby archaeological sites date from Urartian times: there is a Urartian fortress on a hill beside upper Sarikamish, another, 12 km (7.5 mi) away, beside Chatak village, and a third, 15 km (9.3 mi) away, at a site known as Yedikilise. [6] In 1878, archaeologist Alexander Yeritsian discovered near Sarıkamış a cuneiform inscription made during the reign of Urartian king Argishti I. [7] To the east and south of the town, in the forests of Soğanlı, there were many medieval Armenian monasteries, but most were in ruins by 1878. [8]
Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan invaded the Sarikamish area including Allahüekber and Soğanlı mountains in 1064, only a few years prior to the battle of Manzikert between the armies of Alp Arslan and Byzantines.[ citation needed ] The area was then taken by Selim I in 1514 and became a liva of Kars sancak of the Ottoman Empire.
In the 19th century, the region around Sarikamish became a conflict zone between the Ottoman and Russian empires. Battles took place at nearby Zivin in 1829, 1855 and 1877.
After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Sarikamish became part of the Russian empire, incorporated within the militarily administered Kars Oblast, which was renowned for the extreme ethnic diversity of its population. Lower Sarikamish developed into a small, modern town. Being close to the Ottoman border, it was also a military station with barracks for two regiments. It had a railway station that was the railhead for the line running from Kars and Alexandropol. [9]
An important battle took place between the armies of the Ottoman and Russian empires in and around the city in late December 1914-January 1915 as part of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.
Enver Pasha, the leader of the Ittihat ve Terakki party in Istanbul, personally led the army along with Hafiz Hakki Pasha, who was his brother in-law, to scale the Mount Allahu Ekber and afterwards attack the Russian army in Sarikamish. Enver Pasha intended to occupy the town in order to halt logistic support to the city of Kars, which the Turks lost to the Russians in 1878, and which he was planning to reoccupy.
In mid December, Enver Pasha entered the Caucasus region through Armenia. Enver ordered his forces to attack along many routes with the goal of arriving suddenly at Sarikamis at the same time. The chief German military advisor, Liman von Sanders strongly argued against this plan but was ignored. Governor General Vorontsov planned to withdraw his forces to the city of Kars. But General Yudenich, in charge of the defense of the area, ignored Vorontsov's wishes to withdraw and instead stayed to defend Sarikamis. [10]
Enver's forces lost touch with one another and arrived at Sarakamis at different times from December 29 through 3 January. The first divisions to arrive briefly took control of the barracks in the western part of the city but were driven off. In the following days, as more Ottoman forces arrived at the battle, they attacked without coordination and the Russians under the skillful command of Yudenich fought off the attacks one by one. The battle finally ended on January 4 and the Ottoman army retreated in complete disorganization back through the mountains in the middle of winter.
The number of Turkish losses is estimated to be 60,000-80,000 dead out of an army of 90,000. It is very likely that the majority of Turkish soldiers died because of inadequate winter clothing and field shelters during the attack and retreat. In any event, this was an extraordinarily costly defeat for the Turks; in losses this was the worst single defeat they suffered in the entire war. Turkish soldiers reached their targets but they were too weak to win. The Russian casualties were estimated at 35,000. [11]
As one German officer attached to the army wrote later, the Ottoman 3rd army had "suffered a disaster which for rapidity and completeness is without parallel in military history." [12]
Sarıkamış has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb), [13] with cool summers and very cold winters.
Climate data for Sarıkamış (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.7 (27.1) | −1.5 (29.3) | 2.8 (37.0) | 9.3 (48.7) | 14.6 (58.3) | 19.6 (67.3) | 23.5 (74.3) | 24.8 (76.6) | 20.7 (69.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 5.5 (41.9) | −0.4 (31.3) | 10.9 (51.6) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −7.9 (17.8) | −6.9 (19.6) | −2.3 (27.9) | 3.6 (38.5) | 8.3 (46.9) | 12.7 (54.9) | 16.2 (61.2) | 16.6 (61.9) | 12.4 (54.3) | 6.5 (43.7) | −0.4 (31.3) | −5.6 (21.9) | 4.5 (40.1) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −12.6 (9.3) | −11.8 (10.8) | −7.0 (19.4) | −1.4 (29.5) | 2.7 (36.9) | 5.9 (42.6) | 9.1 (48.4) | 9.1 (48.4) | 4.8 (40.6) | 0.6 (33.1) | −5.0 (23.0) | −10.0 (14.0) | −1.2 (29.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 33.45 (1.32) | 32.45 (1.28) | 51.08 (2.01) | 73.03 (2.88) | 83.88 (3.30) | 60.87 (2.40) | 44.68 (1.76) | 31.97 (1.26) | 22.84 (0.90) | 48.93 (1.93) | 36.15 (1.42) | 34.1 (1.34) | 553.43 (21.79) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.4 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 11.2 | 13.3 | 10.2 | 7.5 | 6.5 | 4.6 | 7.8 | 5.8 | 7.4 | 95.8 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 76.4 | 75.8 | 74.2 | 70.9 | 70.0 | 66.5 | 66.6 | 62.5 | 61.1 | 70.4 | 73.4 | 76.8 | 70.3 |
Source: NOAA [14] |
İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who was a part of the dictatorial triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas" in the Ottoman Empire.
Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in northwestern Russia during the Civil War.
The Battle of Sarikamish was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman empires during World War I. It took place from December 22, 1914, to January 17, 1915, as part of the Caucasus campaign.
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 30 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire, with some assistance from the other Central Powers; and on the other side, the British as well as troops from the British Dominions of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the Russians, and the French from among the Allied Powers. There were five main campaigns: the Sinai and Palestine, Mesopotamian, Caucasus, Persian, and Gallipoli campaigns.
The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dictatorship, and the British Empire, as part of the Middle Eastern theatre during World War I. The Caucasus campaign extended from the South Caucasus to the Armenian Highlands region, reaching as far as Trabzon, Bitlis, Mush and Van. The land warfare was accompanied by naval engagements in the Black Sea.
The Islamic Army of the Caucasus was a military unit of the Ottoman Empire formed on July 10, 1918. The Ottoman Minister of War, Enver Pasha, ordered its establishment, and it played a major role during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I.
Musa Kâzım Karabekir was a Turkish general and politician. He was the commander of the Eastern Army of the Ottoman Empire during the Turkish War of Independence, and fought a successful military campaign against the Armenian Democratic Republic. He was the a founder and leader of the Progressive Republican Party, the Turkish Republic's first opposition party to Atatürk, though he and his party would be purged following the Sheikh Said revolt. He was rehabilitated with İsmet İnönü's ascension to the presidency in 1938 and served as Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey before his death.
The Armenian volunteer units were units composed of Armenians within the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. Composed of several groups at battalion strength. The Russian-Armenian volunteer units took part in military activities in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I.
The Battle of Kars was the largest battle of the Turkish–Armenian War, which took place on October 30, 1920. It was fought between forces loyal to the Grand National Assembly under the command of Kâzım Karabekir and the army of the First Republic of Armenia. Karabekir's army captured the fortified city of Kars after launching a massive assault, taking minor casualties and capturing around 3,000 Armenian soldiers, as well as several high-ranking Armenian military officers and civilian officials. The swift capture of Kars opened the path for Turkish forces to advance towards Armenia's largest city at the time, Alexandropol, and effectively decided the outcome of the Turkish–Armenian War in the Kemalists' favor.
The occupation of Western Armenia by the Russian Empire during World War I began in 1915 and was formally ended by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It was sometimes referred to as the Republic of Van by Armenians. Aram Manukian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation was the de facto head until July 1915. It was briefly referred to as "Free Vaspurakan". After a setback beginning in August 1915, it was re-established in June 1916. The region was allocated to Russia by the Allies in April 1916 under the Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement.
The following is the Timeline of Armenian national movement which is the collection of activities during the Armenian national movement.
The Battle of Baku took place in August and September 1918 between the Ottoman–Azerbaijani coalition forces led by Nuri Pasha and Bolshevik–ARF Baku Soviet forces, later succeeded by the British–Armenian–White Russian forces led by Lionel Dunsterville and saw Soviet Russia briefly re-enter the war. The battle took place during World War I, was a conclusive part of the Caucasus Campaign, but a beginning of the Armenian–Azerbaijani War.
Arshak Ter-Gukasov was a Lieutenant-General of the Russian Empire. Born to an Armenian family in Tiflis, he started his military career in 1850 and was subsequently involved in the war in the Caucasus. After being promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and serving various governmental posts, he was then assigned as the Yerevan Forces commander of Russia's army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Owing to his successes in battle, Arshak Ter-Gukasov was awarded medals by Imperial Russia and other foreign powers.
The Persian campaign or invasion of Iran was a series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire, British Empire and Russian Empire in various areas of what was then neutral Qajar Iran, beginning in December 1914 and ending with the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, as part of the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. The fighting also involved local Persian units, who fought against the Entente and Ottoman forces in Iran. The conflict proved to be a devastating experience for Persia. Over 2 million Persian civilians died in the conflict, mostly due to the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman regime and Persian famine of 1917–1919, influenced by British and Russian actions. The Qajar government's inability to maintain the country's sovereignty during and immediately after the First World War led to a coup d'état in 1921 and Reza Shah's establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty.
The Russian Caucasus Army of World War I was the Russian field army that fought in the Caucasus Campaign and Persian Campaign of World War I. It was renowned for inflicting heavy casualties on the opposing forces of the Ottoman Empire, particularly at the Battle of Sarikamish. It was also known for its extremely diverse ethnic composition, consisting of units from throughout the Russian Empire and both soldiers and officers from the many ethnic communities settled since the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War in the militarily administered Kars Oblast in the Russian Transcaucasus. These included Georgians, Caucasus Greeks, and Armenians - the latter in particular strongly represented among both the soldiers and senior officers - as well as ethnic Russians and Ukrainians.
The German Caucasus expedition was a military expedition sent in late May 1918, by the German Empire to the formerly Russian Transcaucasia during the Caucasus Campaign of World War I. Its prime aim was to stabilize the pro-German Democratic Republic of Georgia and to secure oil supplies for Germany by preventing the Ottoman Empire from gaining access to the oil reserves near Baku on the Absheron Peninsula.
The Bergmann Offensive was the first engagement of the Caucasus Campaign. The first battle after the Russians took Bayazet during World War I. General Georgy Bergmann, commander of the 1st Caucasus Army Corps, took the initiative against the Ottoman Empire.
Hafiz Hakki Pasha, was an officer in the Ottoman Army who rose to the rank of Major General. He commanded troops during the Balkan Wars and the First World War.
The Battle of Ardahan was fought between 25 December 1914 and 18 January 1915 and was an Ottoman military operation commanded by German Lt. Col. Stange to capture the city of Ardahan and cut the Russian link to Sarikamish–Kars line, supporting the Battle of Sarikamish. By 3 January 1915, Vorontsov-Dashkov achieved a decisive victory over the Ottoman forces at Ardahan.
The Ottoman Empire was one of the Central Powers of World War I, allied with the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria. It entered the war on 29 October 1914 with asurprise attack on the Black Sea coast of Russia, which prompted Russia to declare war on 2 November 1914. Ottoman forces fought the Entente in the Balkans and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The Ottoman Empire did not defeat in the war in 1918 but lost many of its teretory and also win chanak kale war against Britain, Ustralia, New Zealand a year after war end. Finally they changed government format to republic in 1922 and the name of country become republic of turkiye.