Kemaliye
Encyclopedia
Kemaliye ' onMouseout='HidePop("45956")' href="/topics/Romanization_of_Armenian">Romanized
Old Armenian: Akn, meaning "spring") is a both a town in and one of the nine districts
of Erzincan Province
in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey.
The town is known for its historic architecture, including many Ottoman-era houses. It is also notable for its commanding view of the river Karasu (Euphrates)
flowing south through a gorge above the Keban dam
.
Armenian
Christians in the 9th century. Alternatively, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica reports that Eğin was settled by Armenians who emigrated from Van
in the 11th century with Senekherim (presumably Senekerim I of the Artsruni
dynasty).
Eğin became known as a center of Armenian musicians, and later, literary poets.
In 1813, James Playfair
's "A System of Geography" described Eğin as "[A] little town in the form of an amphitheatre, at the foot of a mountain, in a fruitful tract that reaches to the Euphrates."
Armenian historian Vahakn Dadrian
reports that in 1896, the town was evenly divided between Armenians and Muslims (Turks
and Kurds). He says that Eğin was notable for its prosperity and had previously escaped the 1895–1896 Hamidian massacres
through a ransom payment by the Armenians of 1500 Turkish gold pounds. However, British archaeologist David George Hogarth
writing for the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica noted a massacre of Armenians in Eğin on November 8, 1895.
Although Dadrian reports that Eğin escaped during the Hamidian massacres, he says it was less fortunate when the Ottoman government retaliated for the 1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover
by Armenian Dashnaks (itself a response to the Hamidian massacres). On September 15, 1896, three weeks after the Ottoman Bank Takeover, Ottoman troops killed "upwards of 2,000 Armenians" including "many women and children" according to a report by the French Ambassador. Of the 1,500 houses located in the Armenian quarter of Eğin, 980 were pillaged and burned. Eğin was chosen to be the target of the massacre because the leader of the bank raiding party, Papken Siuni
, was a native of Eğin. According to a report by the British Consul at Harput, the pretext used to attack the town's Armenian quarter was that the Armenians of the town were "set to cause trouble". The same report by the Consul said that there were no revolutionary movement whatever and no powder magazine exploded during the massacre. A few pistols and revolvers were found in the ruins of the burnt houses. Hogarth's report for the Encyclopædia Britannica
15 years later also notes a massacre of Armenians at Eğin "in the summer of 1896".
By 1911, Hogarth estimated the population of Eğin at 20,000 and assessed them as "fairly evenly divided between Armenian Christians and Moslems". He described Eğin as an important town in the Mamuretülaziz Vilayet "...picturesquely situated in a theatre of lofty, abrupt rocks, on the right bank of the western Euphrates, which is crossed by a wooden bridge. The stone houses stand in terraced gardens and orchards, and the streets are mere rock ladders."
On 21 October 1922, following the Turkish War of Independence
, a decree was issued renaming Eğin as Kemaliye (and Selinti as Gazipaşa
) in honor of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. The former name is still known and used locally and sometimes even beyond. Kemaliye was administered as part of Elazığ Province
until 1926, and within Malatya Province
between 1926 and 1938. In 1938 it was transferred to Erzincan Province
.
and, increasingly in recent years, tourism. The original features of many of the old houses in Kemaliye have been restored, and the town has begun to attract an increasing number of visitors. The section of the Euphrates
flowing past Kemaliye has become a popular rafting
route. Kemaliye retains a strong handicrafts-production industry, particularly in ironmongery
. The town is also famous for its honey.
Kemaliye has traditionally been a source of emigrants, especially to Istanbul
, creating ties to Turkey's former capital where certain crafts and trades, such as the meat industry, were reserved, sometimes by means of imperial decree
s, for natives of Erzincan Province for centuries. The trend of emigration continues today, although thanks to improving general awareness of the town's natural and architectural attractions, assisted by the presence of sizable and active communities of natives abroad, there is an increasing movement of visitors towards Kemaliye as well.
Romanization of Armenian
- Hübschmann-Meillet :In linguistic literature on Classical Armenian, the commonly used transliteration is that of Hübschmann-Meillet .It uses a dot above mark to express the aspirates, t῾, ch῾, č῾, p῾, k῾...
Old Armenian: Akn, meaning "spring") is a both a town in and one of the nine districts
Districts of Turkey
The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 957 districts . In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the kaza....
of Erzincan Province
Erzincan Province
Erzincan Province is a province in the eastern region of Anatolia, Turkey, and home to Erzincan, a city which was destroyed and rebuilt after an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on December 27, 1939...
in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey.
The town is known for its historic architecture, including many Ottoman-era houses. It is also notable for its commanding view of the river Karasu (Euphrates)
Karasu (Euphrates)
The Karasu or Western Euphrates is a long river in eastern Turkey, one of the two sources of the Euphrates. It has a length of about 450 km. To the ancient Greeks the river was known as the Τηλεβόας ....
flowing south through a gorge above the Keban dam
Keban Dam
The Keban Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates, located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. The dam was the first and most upstream of several large-scale dams to be built on the Euphrates by Turkey...
.
History
Eğin may have been founded by PaulicianPaulicianism
Paulicians were a Christian Adoptionist sect and militarized revolt movement, also accused by medieval sources as Gnostic and quasi Manichaean Christian. They flourished between 650 and 872 in Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire...
Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
Christians in the 9th century. Alternatively, the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica reports that Eğin was settled by Armenians who emigrated from Van
Van, Turkey
Van is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of the Kurdish-majority Van Province, and is located on the eastern shore of Lake Van. The city's official population in 2010 was 367,419, but many estimates put this as much higher with a 1996 estimate stating 500,000 and former Mayor Burhan...
in the 11th century with Senekherim (presumably Senekerim I of the Artsruni
Artsruni
Artsruni was an ancient Armenian noble family that claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria . Although it mirrors the Bagratuni claim of Davidic descent and the Mamikonian claim of descent from the royal Han Dynasty, it is usually interpreted as a piece of genealogical mythology...
dynasty).
Eğin became known as a center of Armenian musicians, and later, literary poets.
In 1813, James Playfair
James Playfair DD
James Playfair DD married Margaret Lyon and was the father of Sir Hugh Lyon Playfair.He studied at St Andrews University and then became minister of Newtyle and Meigle...
's "A System of Geography" described Eğin as "[A] little town in the form of an amphitheatre, at the foot of a mountain, in a fruitful tract that reaches to the Euphrates."
Vahakn Dadrian
Vahakn N. Dadrian , currently the director of Genocide Research at Zoryan Institute, is a professor of sociology, and an internationally-renowned expert on the Armenian genocide.-Biography:...
reports that in 1896, the town was evenly divided between Armenians and Muslims (Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and Kurds). He says that Eğin was notable for its prosperity and had previously escaped the 1895–1896 Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
The Hamidian massacres , also referred to as the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896, refers to the massacring of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, with estimates of the dead ranging from anywhere between 80,000 to 300,000, and at least 50,000 orphans as a result...
through a ransom payment by the Armenians of 1500 Turkish gold pounds. However, British archaeologist David George Hogarth
David George Hogarth
David George Hogarth was a British archaeologist and scholar associated with T. E. Lawrence and Arthur Evans.-Archaeological career:...
writing for the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica noted a massacre of Armenians in Eğin on November 8, 1895.
Although Dadrian reports that Eğin escaped during the Hamidian massacres, he says it was less fortunate when the Ottoman government retaliated for the 1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover
1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover
The 1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover was the seizing of the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, on 26 August 1896, by members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation...
by Armenian Dashnaks (itself a response to the Hamidian massacres). On September 15, 1896, three weeks after the Ottoman Bank Takeover, Ottoman troops killed "upwards of 2,000 Armenians" including "many women and children" according to a report by the French Ambassador. Of the 1,500 houses located in the Armenian quarter of Eğin, 980 were pillaged and burned. Eğin was chosen to be the target of the massacre because the leader of the bank raiding party, Papken Siuni
Papken Siuni
Bedros Parian better known by his nom de guerre Papken Siuni, was an important figure in the Armenian national movement, an Armenian Revolutionary Federation member and the leader, alongside Karekin Pastermadjian , of the 1896 Ottoman Bank takeover.- Early life :Bedros Parian was born in 1873 in...
, was a native of Eğin. According to a report by the British Consul at Harput, the pretext used to attack the town's Armenian quarter was that the Armenians of the town were "set to cause trouble". The same report by the Consul said that there were no revolutionary movement whatever and no powder magazine exploded during the massacre. A few pistols and revolvers were found in the ruins of the burnt houses. Hogarth's report for the Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
15 years later also notes a massacre of Armenians at Eğin "in the summer of 1896".
By 1911, Hogarth estimated the population of Eğin at 20,000 and assessed them as "fairly evenly divided between Armenian Christians and Moslems". He described Eğin as an important town in the Mamuretülaziz Vilayet "...picturesquely situated in a theatre of lofty, abrupt rocks, on the right bank of the western Euphrates, which is crossed by a wooden bridge. The stone houses stand in terraced gardens and orchards, and the streets are mere rock ladders."
On 21 October 1922, following the Turkish War of Independence
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence was a war of independence waged by Turkish nationalists against the Allies, after the country was partitioned by the Allies following the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I...
, a decree was issued renaming Eğin as Kemaliye (and Selinti as Gazipaşa
Gazipasa
Gazipaşa is a town and district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey, 180 km east of the city of Antalya. Gazipaşa is a quiet rural district famous for its bananas, oranges and international airport...
) in honor of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. The former name is still known and used locally and sometimes even beyond. Kemaliye was administered as part of Elazığ Province
Elazig Province
Elâzığ Province is a province of Turkey with its seat in the city of Elâzığ. The source of the Euphrates river is located in this province.The province has a population of 552,646 as of 2010...
until 1926, and within Malatya Province
Malatya Province
Malatya Province is a province of Turkey. It is part of a larger mountainous area. The capital of the province is Malatya , which has many residents. Malatya is famous for its apricots. The area of Malatya province is 12,313 km². Malatya Province has 740,643 inhabitants. The population was...
between 1926 and 1938. In 1938 it was transferred to Erzincan Province
Erzincan Province
Erzincan Province is a province in the eastern region of Anatolia, Turkey, and home to Erzincan, a city which was destroyed and rebuilt after an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on December 27, 1939...
.
Geography and Economy
The immediate region is defined by the steep contours of the Euphrates (Karasu) gorge. Agricultural land is scarce and industrial development has been modest. The most notable industries have been forestry productsLumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and, increasingly in recent years, tourism. The original features of many of the old houses in Kemaliye have been restored, and the town has begun to attract an increasing number of visitors. The section of the Euphrates
Karasu (Euphrates)
The Karasu or Western Euphrates is a long river in eastern Turkey, one of the two sources of the Euphrates. It has a length of about 450 km. To the ancient Greeks the river was known as the Τηλεβόας ....
flowing past Kemaliye has become a popular rafting
Rafting
Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
route. Kemaliye retains a strong handicrafts-production industry, particularly in ironmongery
Ironmongery
Ironmongery originally referred both to the manufacture, and the place of sale of iron goods produced for domestic rather than industrial use. The usage of the term has expanded in recent times to include consumer goods made of aluminium, brass, or other metals, as well as plastics...
. The town is also famous for its honey.
Kemaliye has traditionally been a source of emigrants, especially to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, creating ties to Turkey's former capital where certain crafts and trades, such as the meat industry, were reserved, sometimes by means of imperial decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
s, for natives of Erzincan Province for centuries. The trend of emigration continues today, although thanks to improving general awareness of the town's natural and architectural attractions, assisted by the presence of sizable and active communities of natives abroad, there is an increasing movement of visitors towards Kemaliye as well.
Notable Natives
- Papken SiuniPapken SiuniBedros Parian better known by his nom de guerre Papken Siuni, was an important figure in the Armenian national movement, an Armenian Revolutionary Federation member and the leader, alongside Karekin Pastermadjian , of the 1896 Ottoman Bank takeover.- Early life :Bedros Parian was born in 1873 in...
(1873–1896) — Armenian revolutionary - SiamantoSiamantoAtom Yarjanian , better known by his pen name Siamanto , was an influential Armenian writer, poet and national figure from the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was killed by the Ottoman authorities during the Armenian Genocide.- Life :He was born in 1878, in the town on Ağın on the...
(1878–1915) — Armenian poet - Misak MetsarentsMisak MetsarentsFile:Grave of Misak Metsarents.jpgMisak Metsarents was a leading Western Armenian poet.Misak Metsarents was born in the Pingian village of Vilayet of Kharpert, near Agn. In 1894, he moved with his family to Sepastia, where he attended the Aramian School. Until 1902, he attended the Anatolia...
(1886–1908) — Armenian poet, born in the upstream village of Pingian, (now Adatepe, in DivriğiDivrigiDivriği is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The town lies on gentle slope on the south bank of the Çaltısuyu river, a tributary of the Karasu river....
district of Sivas provinceSivas ProvinceThe Sivas Province is a province of Turkey. It located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolian region of Turkey; it is the second largest province in Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Yozgat to the west, Kayseri to the southwest, Kahramanmaraş to the south, Malatya to the southeast, Erzincan...
) - Ahmet Kutsi TecerAhmet Kutsi TecerAhmet Kutsi Tecer was a Turkish poet and politician.-Biography:Born in Jerusalem, Tecer studied philosophy and started his career as a philosophy teacher. Then, he worked in the Education Ministry and was a member of parliament from 1942 to 1946...
(1901–1967) — Turkish writer, poet and national figure (born in Jerusalem to a father from the village of Apçağa near Eğin) - Enver Gökçe (born 1920) — Turkish poet
- Hasan Basri Aktan (born 1952) — politician; transport minister for Turkey (1999)
- Sait Munzur (born 1959) — Turkish cartoonist
- Doğu PerinçekDogu PerinçekDoğu Perinçek is a Turkish politician, leader of the Workers' Party , a scientific socialist organization, and former chairman of the Workers' Party . His first name Doğu means "East" in Turkish.-Personal life:...
(born 1942) — Turkish politician - Mehmet Can Akyıldız (born 1989) — Turkish journalist