Kiğı (; ) is a town and seat of the Kiğı District of

Bingöl Province Bingöl Province (; ; ; ) is a province of Turkey. The province was known as Çapakçur Province () before 1945 when it was renamed as Bingöl Province. Its area is 8,003 km2, and its population is 282,556 (2022). The province encompasses 11 ...

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 ...

. The mayor is Hikmet Özüağ ( AKP). The town is populated by

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 ...

of the Giransor tribe and had a population of 2,926 in 2021.

Neighborhoods

The town is divided into the neighborhoods of Abar, Eskişehir, Yenişehir and Yeşilyurt.

History

Historically this area was ruled by different Armenian, Byzantine, Kurdish and Turkic dynasties. During the Middle Ages, Kiğı had been a

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

town of the Ilkhanids The town became a part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

was a

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

of the Erzurum Eyalet. Historically a nearby iron mine was used but mining stopped in 17th century. The main sights in the town are the citadel, the mosque built in 1401/02 and commissioned by ''Pir Ali'' son of the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

''Kutlu''. The medieval Muslim tomb and bathhouse of ''Yazıcızadeler'' and the ruins of a church. There were battles in this area between the Russians and Ottomans during World War I. The current location of the town was moved here after a

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

raid in the 16th century, the old site was near the citadel. But the present structure is largely a restoration from later times.

Demographics

In 1891, the

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

had 41,225 inhabitants, including 12,040 Armenians. In 1909, 16,255 Armenians lived in 50 villages. On the eve of the first World War, 19,859 Armenians lived in the

. They had 45 churches, five monasteries, and 63 schools. They were deported on 8 June 1915 as part of 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 ...

. Most of them were massacred by the Special Organization.

Notable people

* Munzur Çem

References

Populated places in Bingöl Province Kiğı District Kurdish settlements in Bingöl Province District municipalities in Turkey {{Bingöl-geo-stub