Bingöl

Bingöl
Bingöl
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 38°53′10″N 40°30′6″E / 38.88611°N 40.50167°E / 38.88611; 40.50167
CountryTurkey
ProvinceBingöl
DistrictBingöl
Government
 • MayorErdal Arıkan (AK Party)
Elevation
1,120 m (3,670 ft)
Population
 (2022)[1]
133,423
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code
12000
Area code0426
Websitewww.bingol.bel.tr

Bingöl (Armenian: Ճապաղջուր, romanizedChapaghjur; Kurdish: Çewlik;[2] Zazaki: Çewlîg[3]), known as Çapakçur before 1944, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Bingöl Province and Bingöl District,[4] and has a population of 133,423 (2022).[1] The city is situated in a predominantly Kurdish-speaking region of eastern Turkey and is known in Kurdish as Çewlik; it has been the subject of scholarly attention as a site of Kird/Zaza and Kurmanji Kurdish identity formation.[5]

Etymology

One of the historical names for the city, Bingöl literally means thousand lakes in Turkish; however, there are no lakes of considerable size within the boundaries of the province. The name rather refers to many tarns found around the city.[6][7]

History

Bingöl is located in what was historically the region of Sophene (first an independent kingdom and later an Armenian and Roman province).[8] The settlement is mentioned by its Armenian name, Chapaghjur (meaning "spread out water" in Armenian), by the 11th-century Armenian historian Stepanos Asoghik, who mentions it while describing the 995 Balu earthquake.[8] Chapaghjur is sometimes identified with the Roman fortress-town of Citharizum (Ktarich in Armenian).[8]

In the Middle Ages, Bingöl was known as Romanoupolis (Greek: Ῥωμανούπολις) after the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos, who incorporated it into the Byzantine Empire in 942. It initially formed a subdivision of the thema of Mesopotamia, but it was later (c. 970) elevated into a separate theme.[9]

Bingöl was ruled by the Suwaydid dynasty, a cadet branch of the Barmakids, from the 13th century until mid-Ottoman rule, autonomously from the Ottomans.[10] Bingöl and the surrounding district had a large Armenian population prior to the Armenian genocide.[8] Until the middle of the 20th century, the city was known as Çapakçur/Çabakçur, derived from its Armenian name.[11][12] In 1944, the place was renamed Bingöl, meaning "thousand lakes" in Turkish.

Kurdish-Turkish conflict

Bingöl has been the site of several violent incidents of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. On 23 October 2016, a car bombing targeting an armored police vehicle perpetrated by PKK militia members killed two police officers and injured 19 others.[13] On 8 June 2018, a group of PKK militia members attacked a military station and killed one Turkish soldier while injuring three others.[14]

Geography

Bingöl is 144 kilometres (89 mi) east of Elazığ and is situated in the high region of Eastern Anatolia. Bingöl is a mountainous area with heights reaching 3000 m, Bingöl city is at about 1120 m above sea level.[15] The Gayt River (Gayt Çayı), a right-bank tributary of the Eastern Euphrates (Murat River), runs through the city.

Climate

Bingöl has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsa, or Trewartha climate classification Dca), with hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The driest months are July and August and the wettest is February and December.

Highest recorded temperature:42.0 °C (107.6 °F) on 26 July 2001
Lowest recorded temperature:−25.1 °C (−13.2 °F) on 27 February 1992[16]

Climate data for Bingöl (1991–2020, extremes 1961–2025) (Station height:1139, coordinates:38°53′5″N 40°30′3″E / 38.88472°N 40.50083°E / 38.88472; 40.50083)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.8
(56.8)
16.2
(61.2)
22.3
(72.1)
30.3
(86.5)
33.9
(93.0)
38.0
(100.4)
42.0
(107.6)
41.3
(106.3)
39.4
(102.9)
32.1
(89.8)
25.5
(77.9)
22.8
(73.0)
42.0
(107.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.4
(36.3)
4.1
(39.4)
10.2
(50.4)
16.9
(62.4)
23.1
(73.6)
29.8
(85.6)
34.7
(94.5)
35.1
(95.2)
29.9
(85.8)
22.0
(71.6)
12.7
(54.9)
5.2
(41.4)
18.8
(65.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.1
(28.2)
−0.8
(30.6)
4.7
(40.5)
10.9
(51.6)
16.2
(61.2)
22.2
(72.0)
26.7
(80.1)
26.7
(80.1)
21.3
(70.3)
14.5
(58.1)
6.8
(44.2)
0.7
(33.3)
12.3
(54.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −5.5
(22.1)
−4.6
(23.7)
0.4
(32.7)
5.8
(42.4)
10.2
(50.4)
15.0
(59.0)
19.3
(66.7)
19.1
(66.4)
13.9
(57.0)
8.6
(47.5)
2.2
(36.0)
−2.8
(27.0)
6.8
(44.2)
Record low °C (°F) −23.2
(−9.8)
−21.6
(−6.9)
−20.3
(−4.5)
−9.2
(15.4)
1.0
(33.8)
3.5
(38.3)
8.8
(47.8)
7.8
(46.0)
4.2
(39.6)
−2.4
(27.7)
−15.0
(5.0)
−25.1
(−13.2)
−25.1
(−13.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 138.7
(5.46)
128.9
(5.07)
134.4
(5.29)
110.5
(4.35)
82.5
(3.25)
21.3
(0.84)
6.6
(0.26)
5.1
(0.20)
15.4
(0.61)
65.3
(2.57)
93.1
(3.67)
133.3
(5.25)
935.1
(36.81)
Average precipitation days 12.67 12.2 14.3 14.83 14.37 5.37 2 1.5 2.83 8.47 8.93 12.57 110
Average snowy days 10.7 9.0 4.5 0.7 0.1 0 0 0 0 0.1 1.2 5.6 31.9
Average relative humidity (%) 72.8 71.1 65.5 60.9 57.1 44.3 37.2 35.9 41.4 56.4 65 73.2 56.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 105.4 124.3 148.8 165.0 213.9 270.0 285.2 275.9 240.0 189.1 135.0 102.3 2,254.9
Mean daily sunshine hours 3.4 4.4 4.8 5.5 6.9 9.0 9.2 8.9 8.0 6.1 4.5 3.3 6.2
Source 1: Turkish State Meteorological Service[17]
Source 2: NOAA NCEI (humidity),[18] Meteomanz(snowy days 2000-2024, extremes since 2024)[19]

Earthquakes

On 1 May 2003, the whole area suffered from an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4, leaving 177 dead and 520 injured.[20] On 8 March 2010, the area suffered another earthquake, of magnitude 6.1, with its epicenter in Elazığ Province, 45 km (28 mi) west of Bingöl. On 14 June 2020, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred in the region, killing a village guard and injuring 21 others.[21]

Demographics

Ethnic background

In 1891, the kaza had 20,800 inhabitants: 16,465 Muslims and 4,385 Armenians.[22]

Mother tongue, Çapakçur District, 1927 Turkish census[23]
Turkish Arabic Kurdish Circassian Armenian Unknown or other languages
975 1 9,416
Religion, Çapakçur District, 1927 Turkish census[23]
Muslim Armenian Orthodox Other Christian
10,395

The 1927 census data, recording Kurdish as the mother tongue of approximately 9,400 of the district's roughly 10,400 inhabitants, reflects the historically predominant linguistic character of the region. Zeyneloğlu, Sirkeci, and Civelek, in a spatial and demographic analysis of Kurdish language shift in Turkey published in Kurdish Studies, identify Bingöl as a province with a historically high concentration of Kurdish speakers, noting that even provinces located closer to predominantly Turkish-speaking areas, such as Bingöl, maintained substantial Kurdish-speaking populations through the mid-twentieth century.[24]

Language

The population of Bingöl and its surrounding province has historically comprised speakers of two Kurdish language varieties: Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish) and Zazaki (also called Kird or Kirmanckî), the latter being spoken by a significant portion of the provincial population.[25] Ishakoglu (2018) examines the province as a key site of contest over Kird/Zaza identity, noting that a majority of Bingöl Province's population is of Kurdish Zazaki background, with ongoing scholarly debate regarding the classification of Zazaki as a dialect of Kurdish or as a distinct but closely related Iranian language.[26]

Population

Transport

Bingöl Airport opened on 12 July 2013. It has a passenger capacity of 500,000 a year.

Education

Bingöl University opened on 29 May 2007.[34] The university has nine faculties, six vocational schools and five institutes.

Mayors of Bingöl

Notable people

References

  1. ^ a b c "Population Of Municipalities, Villages And Quarters". TÜIK. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  2. ^ Adem, Avcıkıran (2009). Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî (in Turkish and Kurdish). p. 55.
  3. ^ Ferhengê Kirmanckî (Zazakî)-Tirkî: Kırmancca (Zazaca)-Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish and Dimli). Weşanxaneyê Vateyî. 2009. p. 106. ISBN 978-975-6278-40-6.
  4. ^ İlçe Belediyesi Archived 6 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  5. ^ Ishakoglu, M. (2018). The Battle Over Kird/Zaza Identity Construction in Cewlig/Bingol (1980–2015) (PhD thesis). University of Exeter.
  6. ^ "Coğrafi Yapı". www.bintso.org.tr. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  7. ^ Evliyâ Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: III. pp. 240–241. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Hakobyan, Tadevos Kh.; Melik-Bakhshyan, Stepan T.; Barseghyan, Hovhannes Kh. (1991). Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան [Dictionary of toponymy of Armenia and adjacent territories] (in Armenian). Vol. 3. Yerevan: Yerevan State University Publishing House. p. 603.
  9. ^ Oikonomides, Nicolas (1972). Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles (in French). Paris, France: Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. p. 359.
  10. ^ Mahfuz, Söylemez M. (2010). According to the Tahrir Register Dated 1550 Liva of Çapakçur (PDF). Bingöl: Bingöl Belediyesi Kültür Yayınlar. p. 17. ISBN 978-975-6788-82-0. OCLC 1030056968. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Italian City-states and Catholic Missions in Mongolian World of the 13th and 14th Centuries", ANTHROPOLOGIA INTEGRA Vol. 3, No. 2, 2012, p. 9; academia.edu
  12. ^ Bingöl Tarihi, frmartuklu.org
  13. ^ "Bingöl'de zırhlı polis aracına saldırı: 2 polis şehit, 5'i polis 19 yaralı". www.sozcu.com.tr (in Turkish). 23 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  14. ^ DHA (8 June 2018). "Bingöl'de PKK pususu: 1 asker şehit, 3 asker yaralı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  15. ^ Aydan, Ö. (July 2003). "THE BİNGÖL EARTHQUAKE OF MAY 1, 2003" (PDF). Tokai University, Department of Marine Civil Engineering. p. 4.
  16. ^ "İllerimize Ait Genel İstatistik Verileri". mgm.gov.tr. Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  18. ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991–2020: Bingol" (CSV). ncei.noaa.gov. National Oceanic and Atmosoheric Administration. Retrieved 23 June 2024. WMO Station number: 17203
  19. ^ "Bingöl weather data by months". Meteomanz. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  20. ^ Aydan, Ö. (July 2003). "THE BİNGÖL EARTHQUAKE OF MAY 1, 2003" (PDF). Tokai University, Department of Marine Civil Engineering. p. 1.
  21. ^ "Bingöl'de deprem: Bir güvenlik görevlisi hayatını kaybetti". euronews (in Turkish). 15 June 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Kaza Chapaghjur – Ճապաղջուր". Virtual Genocide Memorial. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  23. ^ a b Sertel, Savaş (1 January 2014). "ERKEN CUMHURİYET DÖNEMİNDE BİNGÖL NÜFUSU". XVII. TTK Bildiri Kitabi.
  24. ^ Zeyneloğlu, Sinan; Sirkeci, Ibrahim; Civelek, Yusuf (2016). "Language shift among Kurds in Turkey: A spatial and demographic analysis". Kurdish Studies. 4 (1): 25–50. doi:10.33182/ks.v4i1.432.
  25. ^ Geerse, Mirjam T. (2011). The Everyday Violence of Forced Displacement: Community, Memory and Identity Politics among Kurdish Internal Forced Migrants in Turkey (PhD thesis). Utrecht University.
  26. ^ Ishakoglu, M. (2018). The Battle Over Kird/Zaza Identity Construction in Cewlig/Bingol (1980–2015) (PhD thesis). University of Exeter.
  27. ^ "1965 General Census" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1965. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 May 2022.
  28. ^ "1970 General Census" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1970. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2022.
  29. ^ "1975 General Census" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1975. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2022.
  30. ^ "1980 General Census" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1980. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2022.
  31. ^ "1985 General Census" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1986. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 May 2021.
  32. ^ "1990 General Census" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1991. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2021.
  33. ^ "1997 Population Count" (PDF) (in Turkish). Turkish Statistical Institute. 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2022.
  34. ^ Bingöl University Archived 11 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine