Başkale

Başkale (Kurdish; Elbak, Armenian; Albayrak, and alternatively rendered as Bashkala or Pashgala) is a town in south-eastern Turkey in Van Province. The town figured prominently in earlier centuries as the capital of the Ottoman vilayet of Kurdistan Province, Ottoman Empire, (in Hakkari sanjak), before the final dissolution of the empire in 1923. The name means "head fortress" (head as in located at the head of the valley) in Turkish.

Geography

Situated 2300 metres above sea level, in the valley of the Great Zab River, the town stands on the eastern slope of high barren mountains on the eastern fringe of the south eastern Taurus Mountains range. Owing to the high elevation, the winter is extremely severe and the summer very brief.

History

One of many events in the string of tensions which led to World War I was a massacre of approximately 50 Gawarnai Assyrians by Muslims on 30 October 1914 at Başkale in the local government centre. Armenians of Başkale were later deported and massacred by Turks and Kurds during the 1915-1918.[1]

City features

Başkale is best known historically for being a military station. Its now ruined fortress was once occupied by a Kurdish bey (chieftain) and lies a short distance uphill from the township. The fortress is a good example of Urartian architecture.

People

The population of Başkale is estimated at 14,114 (2000 census), principally Kurds. The surrounding mountainous districts contain numerous tribes of Kurds and Assyrians.

External links

• www.baskale.gov.tr Turkish Government - Başkale

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

38°10′N 44°00′E