Çatak (; ) is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Van Province Van Province (, , Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. Its area is 20,921 km2, and its population is 1,128,749 (2022). ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 1,952 km², and its population is 18,462 (2022). Its inhabitants are

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

. As mayor Abdürrahman Şeylan from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) was elected in the

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

in March 2019, Sercan Sakarya is the current Kaymakam, installed in August 2022.

2006 bomb attack

Two people were killed in a bomb explosion at an outdoor cafe in south-east Turkey, police stated on September 4, 2006. It followed a series of bombings in the last week of August 2006, at Turkish resorts and in Istanbul, that killed at least three people. A separatist militant group, the

Kurdistan Freedom Hawks The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, or TAK (), is a Kurdish nationalist militant group in Turkey seeking an independent Kurdish state in Turkish Kurdistan (eastern and southeastern Turkey). The group also opposes the Turkish government's policies towa ...

(TAK), has said it carried out those attacks. Its website warned on August 29, 2006, that it would turn "Turkey into hell". The group, which is said to be linked to the outlawed

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK), called on foreign tourists not to travel to the country. Turkish media said a remote-controlled bomb in Çatak was detonated as police arrived to investigate a suspicious package. One of the two people killed was a

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officer, the state-run

Anadolu Agency Anadolu Agency (, ; abbreviated AA) is a state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, Turkey. History The Anadolu Agency was founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence by the order of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. As the Empire's capital � ...

reported. A local official said the bomb had been placed in a rubbish bin.

Demographics

On the eve of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, before the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

, the

Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

indicated that the town's population consisted of 1,096 Armenians (219 houses) and 9 Kurds (2 houses). Former Armenian prime minister Simon Vratsian's personal bodyguard, Torgom Der Mgrdichian hailed from Shadakh.

Composition

There are 33

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Çatak District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023. * Adnan Menderes * Ağaçlık * Akçabük * Alacayar * Aşağı Narlıca * Atlıhan * Bahçelievler * Bilgi * Boyunpınar * Çılga * Cumhuriyet * Dalbastı * Derebaşı * Dokuzdam * Eliaçık * Görentaş * Hacıosman * Işınlı * Kaçıt * Karşıyaka * Konalga * Korulu * Narlı * Onağıl * Övecek * Selçuklu * Sırmalı * Sözveren * Sugeldi * Teknecik * Toyga * Uzuntekne * Yukarı Narlıca

References

Populated places in Van Province Districts of Van Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Kurdish settlements in Turkey {{Van-geo-stub