Erzurum - Ερζερούμ

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Madrasa with two minarets of the Seljuk era

THE Theodosioupoli (Turkish: Erzurum, Armenian: Karin, Karin) is a city of Turkey.

At a glance

It is located at an altitude of 1,900 meters and has a population of 1,398,368 inhabitants according to the 2012 census. In late antiquity, the city belonged to its kingdom Of Armenia until its division between Byzantine Empire and her Persia with the treaty of Achilles in 387 AD. The city was then fortified by the emperor Theodosius the Great and was named in honor of Theodosius. It was occupied by the Arabs in 701, it was recaptured by Byzantine General Ioannis Kourkouas in 949 and came under their rule Of Turks after the battle of Manzikert in 1071. H. Turkish The name of the city seems to come from the Arabic phrase Arzan Ar-Rum (Arzan of the Romans) in contrast to the neighboring Arab state of Arzan which extended during the 9th and 10th AD. century in the territories of the ancient Armenian province of Arzani. Theodosioupolis was occupied by them Russians during the Russo-Turkish War in 1829 and again during the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, but both times it was returned with the following peace treaty to Ottoman Empire. During the First World War the city was again occupied by Russian army after a fierce battle in 1916. But it was too late for its Armenian population who had already been displaced and exterminated in the context of the Armenian genocide. After Russian Revolution Erzurum regained Turkish control in 1918 with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and became the seat of the 15th Army Corps under General Kazim Karabekir. In 1919, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk contacted Karabekir and together they convened an assembly of Muslim representatives from the eastern provinces of Turkey at the building of the former Sanasaryan Armenian College. In 1957 a university was founded in Erzurum called Ataturk University in memory of this national assembly. During the Cold War, Erzurum was referred to by NATO as "The Rock" because of its mountainous location as an advanced air base near Soviet Union.