- published: 05 Jan 2015
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Turtkul (Uzbek: To‘rtko‘l / Тўрткўл; Karakalpak: To‘rtku‘l / Төрткүл; Turkmen: Dörtgül / Дөрткүл; Russian: Турткуль) is a city in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. It is an administrative center of To‘rtko‘l District.
The city was founded in 1873 and before 1920 was known as Petroaleksandrovsk (Russian: Петро-Александровск). It was then a major jewelry producing center of Uzbekistan, and was equipped with telegraph in 1913 and with a radio station in 1922; the station began regular translations in 1930. In 1932, the city was renamed to Turtkul (from Turkish törktkül meaning square) and between 1932 and 1939 was the capital of the newly formed autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan. The city was standing nearby a major Amu Darya River, which is known for significantly altering its flow path several times in its history. In 1932, Amu Darya once more changed its terrain and flooded Turtkul. This and past damage by Amu Darya urged the authorities to move the capital of Karakalpakstal over 170 km to Nukus in 1939. The river banks were reinforced, stopping further flooding. However, in 1942 the river suddenly moved on Turtkul destroying it overnight. Consequently, in 1949 Turtkul had been relocated.