Country Turkey Website www.tuzluca.bel.tr Area 1,254 km² | Post code 76900 Elevation 870 m Province Iğdır Province | |
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Tuzlucа (Armenian: Կողբ Koghb; Kurdish: Qulp; Azerbaijani: Duzluca; Russian: Кульп or Тузлуджа) is a town and district of the Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It was formerly known as Kulp under Russian administration, prior to the Treaty of Kars. The northern portion of the district forms part of the international border between Turkey and Armenia.
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Map of 76900 Tuzluca%2FI%C4%9Fd%C4%B1r, Turkey
Etymology
Tuz means salt in the Turkish language. The Turkish name Tuzluca is derived from the salt mines that have existed here since at least medieval times; a salt mine still operates.
History
Known by Armenians as Koghb, Tuzluca was historically part of various Armenian kingdoms. The town and the surrounding area later became a scene of 300 years of warfare between Turks (especially the Ottoman Empire from 1534 onwards) and the Persian Empire. It was especially coveted for its salt mines.
In 1746, the region was finally ceded to Persia and became part of the Erivan Khanate. After the Russo-Persian War, 1826-1828 and Treaty of Turkmenchay, it passed from Persian to Russian control. Under Russian rule, the town, now known as Kulp, became part of the Surmali district of the Armenian Oblast and later the Erivan Governorate. In 1829, shortly after the Russian annexation, Baltic German explorer Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat (Tartu) traveled to Surmali as part of his expedition to climb Mount Ararat. Two members of Parrot's expeditionary team, medical students Carl Schiemann and Maximilian Behaghel von Adlerskron, traveled to Kulp with four Cossacks to examine the salt mines.
After the Russian Revolution, the town came under the administration of the Democratic Republic of Armenia. However, it was ceded to Turkey by the Soviet Union in the Treaty of Kars. Today, Tuzluca serves as a highland retreat for asthma patients. Apricots and other fruit and vegetables are grown in the district.