Geographical name changes in Turkey
Geographical name changes in Turkey have been undertaken, periodically, in bulk from 1913 to the present by successive Turkish governments. Thousands of names within the Turkish Republic or the Ottoman Empire have lost or departed from their popular or historic alternatives in favour of recognizably Turkish names, as part of the Turkification policy. The governments have argued that such names are foreign and/or divisive against Turkish unity. Names changed were usually of Armenian, Greek, Laz, Georgian, Bulgarian, Kurdish, Assyrian, or Arabic origin.
Turkey's efforts to join the European Union in the early 21st century has led to a decrease in the incidence of such changes from local, and particularly the central government.[citation needed] In some cases legislation has restored the names of certain villages (primarily those housing Kurdish minorities).[citation needed] Place names that have formally changed frequently persist in local dialects and languages throughout the ethnically diverse country.
The policy commenced during the final years of the Ottoman Empire and continued into the Turkish Republic. Under the Kemalist oriented government, specialized governmental commissions were created for the purpose of changing names. Approximately 28,000 topographic names were changed, which included 12,211 village and town names and 4,000 mountain, river, and other topographic names. Most name changes occurred in the eastern regions of the country where minority ethnicities form a large part or a majority of the population. Policies at times included banning the use of foreign names that were considered divisive and inappropriate.
Contents
History[edit]
Ottoman Empire[edit]
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170326231426im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d4/Enverpascha.jpg/220px-Enverpascha.jpg)
The Committee of Union and Progress took the reins of the Ottoman government through a coup d'état in 1913.[1] At the height of World War I and during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, when the ethnic cleansing policies of non-Muslim Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian minorities were underway, Minister of War Enver Pasha issued an edict (ferman) on October 6, 1916, declaring:[2][3][4][5][6]
It has been decided that provinces, districts, towns, villages, mountains, and rivers, which are named in languages belonging to non-Muslim nations such as Armenian, Greek or Bulgarian, will be renamed into Turkish. In order to benefit from this suitable moment, this aim should be achieved in due course.
General Directorate of State Archives of the Republic of Turkey, İstanbul Vilayet Mektupçuluğu, no. 000955, 23 Kânunuevvel 1331 (October 6, 1916) Ordinance of Enver Paşa
Enver Pasha did not change the geographical names belonging to Muslim minorities (i.e. Arabs and Kurds) due to the Ottoman government's role as a Caliphate.[7] His decree inspired many Turkish intellectuals to write in support of such measures. One such intellectual, Hüseyin Avni Alparslan (1877–1921), a Turkish soldier and author of books about Turkish language and culture, was inspired by the efforts of Enver Pasha, writing in his book Trabzon İli Lâz mı? Türk mü? (Is the Trabzon province Laz or Turkish?) that:[8]
If we want to be the owner of our country, then we should turn even the name of the smallest village into Turkish and not leave its Armenian, Greek or Arabic variants.
Only in this way can we paint our country with its colors.
It is not known how many geographical names were changed under the ordinance. The ultimate overarching objective behind it failed due to the collapse of the Ottoman government and trials of its leaders before Ottoman and European courts for massacres against ethnic minorities committed in 1915.[5][9]
A decreased level of cultural repression has taken place in the Turkish Republic, however non-mainstream Turkic origin place names have invariably been officially renamed over the course of time.[4][7]
Republic of Turkey[edit]
Turkish nationalism and secularism were two of the six founding principles of the Turkish Republic.[10] Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the early decades of the Republic, aimed to create a nation state (Turkish: Ulus) from the Turkish remnants of the Ottoman Empire. During the first three decades of the Republic, efforts to Turkify[11][7][5] geographical names were a recurring theme.[12][13][14][15] Imported maps containing references to historical regions such as Armenia, Kurdistan, or Lazistan (the official name of the province of Rize until 1921) were prohibited (as was the case with Der Grosse Weltatlas, a map published in Leipzig).[16]
Journalist and writer Ayşe Hür has noted that after the death of Ataturk and during the Democratic period of the Turkish Republic in the late 1940s and 50s, "ugly, humiliating, insulting or derisive names, even if they were Turkish, were subjected to changes. Village names with lexical components meaning red (kizil), bell (çan), church (kilise, e.g. Kirk Kilise) were all changed. To do away with "separatist notions", the Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Tatar, Circassian, and Laz village names were also changed."[17]
The Special Commission for Name Change (Ad Degistirme Ihtisas Komisyonu) was created under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. It brought together professors, politicians, generals, linguists, and academicians throughout Turkey to take up the task of official name changing.[18][19][20] Among the commission's participants were members of the Office of the General Staff, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Education, and history and geography professors from Ankara University.[11] The initiative proved successful, as approximately 28,000 topographic names were changed, including 12,211 village and town names and 4,000 mountain, river, and other topographic names.[21][22][23][24][25] This figure also included names of streets, monuments, quarters, neighborhoods, and other components that make up certain municipalities.[12][21][26] By 1927, all street and square names in Istanbul which were not of Turkish origin were changed.[26][27] The campaign continued until 1978, and was reintroduced after the military coup of 1980 in 1981–83.[18] During the heightened tension between Kurdish rebels and the Turkish government, the focus of geographical name changing in the 1980s was on Kurdish villages, towns, rivers, etc.[11][28]
In 1981, the Turkish government stated in the preface of Köylerimiz, a publication dedicated to names of Turkish villages, that:
Approximately 12,000 village names that are non-Turkish, understood to originate from non-Turkish roots, and identified as causing confusion have been examined and replaced with Turkish names, and put into effect by the Substitution Committee for Foreign Names functioning at the Directorate General for Provincial Governments in our Ministry.[29]
At the culmination of the policy, no geographical or topographical names of non-Turkish origin remained.[14] Some of the newer names resembled their native names, but with revised Turkish connotations (i.e. Aghtamar was changed to Akdamar).
Current status[edit]
Although geographical names have been formally changed in Turkey, their native names persist and continue in local dialects throughout the country.[30] At times, Turkish politicians have also used the native names of cities during their speeches. In 2009, when addressing a crowd in the town of Güroymak, president Abdullah Gul used the native name Norşin.[31] Also that year, when talking about his family origins, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the native Greek name of Potamya instead of Güneysu.[31]
Efforts at restoring the former names of geographical terms have been recently introduced in Turkey.[32] In September 2012, legislation was introduced to restore the names of (primarily Kurdish) villages to their former native names.[33] According to the bill, the province of Tunceli would be named Dersim, Güroymak would be named Norşin, and Aydınlar would be named Tilo.[33]
Comparative analysis[edit]
Most of the geographical name changes occurred in the eastern provinces of the country and on the coast of the eastern Black Sea, where minority populations tend to live. Through independent study, etymologist Sevan Nisanyan estimates that, of the geographical location name changes, 4,200 were Greek, 4,000 Kurdish, 3,600 Armenian, 750 Arabic, 400 Assyrian, 300 Georgian, 200 Laz, and 50 others.[4][12][13][14][15] The official statistics of The Special Commission for Name Change (Ad Degistirme Ihtisas Komisyonu) claim that the total number of villages, towns, cities, and settlements renamed is 12,211.[21][23] The chart below lists the provinces and the number of villages or towns renamed.[34][28]
Province | Number | Province | Number | Province | Number | Province | Number | Province | Number |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Erzurum | 653 | Kastamonu | 295 | Giresun | 167 | Amasya | 99 | Denizli | 53 |
Mardin | 647 | Gaziantep | 279 | Zonguldak | 156 | Kütahya | 93 | Burdur | 49 |
Diyarbakır | 555 | Tunceli | 273 | Bursa | 136 | Yozgat | 90 | Niğde | 48 |
Van | 415 | Bingöl | 247 | Ordu | 134 | Afyon | 88 | Uşak | 47 |
Sivas | 406 | Tokat | 245 | Hakkari | 128 | Kayseri | 86 | Isparta | 46 |
Kars | 398 | Bitlis | 236 | Hatay | 117 | Manisa | 83 | Kırşehir | 39 |
Siirt | 392 | Konya | 236 | Sakarya | 117 | Çankırı | 76 | Kırklareli | 35 |
Trabzon | 390 | Adıyaman | 224 | Mersin | 112 | Eskişehir | 70 | Bilecik | 32 |
Şanlıurfa | 389 | Malatya | 217 | Balıkesir | 110 | Muğla | 70 | Kocaeli | 26 |
Elazığ | 383 | Ankara | 193 | Kahramanmaraş | 105 | Aydın | 69 | Nevşehir | 24 |
Ağrı | 374 | Samsun | 185 | Rize | 105 | Izmir | 68 | Istanbul | 21 |
Erzincan | 366 | Bolu | 182 | Çorum | 103 | Sinop | 59 | Edirne | 20 |
Gümüşhane | 343 | Adana | 169 | Artvin | 101 | Çanakkale | 53 | Tekirdağ | 19 |
Muş | 297 | Antalya | 168 |
Notable geographical name changes[edit]
Armenian[edit]
Armenian geographic names were first changed under the reign of Sultan Abdulhamit II. In 1880, the word Armenia was banned from use in the press, schoolbooks, and governmental establishments, to be replaced with words like Anatolia or Kurdistan.[35][36][37][38][39] Armenian name changing continued under the early Republican era up until the 21st century. It included the Turkification of last names, change of animal names,[40] change of the names of Armenian historical figures (i.e. the name of the prominent Balyan family was concealed under the identity of a superficial Italian family called Baliani),[41][42] and the change and distortion of Armenian historical events.[43]
Most Armenian geographical names were in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman empire. Villages, settlements, or towns that contain the suffix -kert, meaning built or built by (i.e. Manavazkert (today Malazgirt), Norakert, Dikranagert, Noyakert), -shen, meaning village (i.e. Aratashen, Pemzashen, Norashen), and -van, meaning town (i.e. Charentsavan, Nakhichevan, Tatvan), signify an Armenian name.[7] Throughout Ottoman history, Turkish and Kurdish tribesmen have settled into Armenian villages and changed the native Armenian names (i.e. the Armenian Norashen was changed to Norşin). This was especially true after the Armenian genocide, when much of eastern Turkey was depopulated of its Armenian population.[7]
Sevan Nişanyan estimates that 3,600 Armenian geographical locations have been changed.[4]
Armenian name | Named changed to: | Notes |
---|---|---|
Govdun | Goydun | Armenian: "House of cows" |
Aghtamar | Akdamar | Of unknown meaning[46] Turkish: White vein |
Akn | Eğin, later Kemaliye | Armenian: "Fountain"[47] |
Manavazkert | Malazgirt | Armenian: "City of Menua" (named after Urartian king Menua) |
Vostan | Gevaş | Armenian: "Belongs to King" |
Kayl Ket | Kelkit River | Armenian: "Wolf River".[48] The village of Kelkit in the Gümüşhane Province also gets its name from the Kelkit River. |
Norashen | Güroymak | Armenian: "New city". A proposal has been introduced to restore its former name. The Kurdish community of Güroymak claim it is a Kurdish native name called "Norşin".[33] |
Zeytun | Süleymanlı | Armenian: "Olive". Turkish: named after Turkish general Suleyman who captured the village in 1915.[49] |
Çermuk | Çermik | Armenian: "Hot springs" |
Khachkar | Kaçkar | Armenian: Khachkar or cross-stone.[50][51] |
Everek | Develi | Derives from the Armenian word Averag meaning ruins. |
Karpert | Harput, later Elâzığ | Armenian: "Rock fortress" |
Ani | Anı[52] | Historical capital of Bagratuni Armenia. Turkish: "Memory"[53] |
Sevaverag | Siverek | Armenian: "Black ruins" |
Chabakchur (Çabakçur) | Bingöl | Armenian: "rough waters". Turkish: "Thousand lakes". Çabakçur was used until 1944. Kurds refer to the city as Çolig. |
Metskert | Mazgirt | Armenian: "Big city" |
Pertak | Pertek | Armenian: "Small castle" |
Assyrian[edit]
Most Assyrian name changes occurred in the southeast of Turkey near the Syrian border in the Tur Abdin region. The Tur Abdin (Syriac: ܛܘܼܪ ܥܒ݂ܕܝܼܢ) is a hilly region incorporating the eastern half of Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the border with Syria. The name 'Tur Abdin' is from the Syriac language meaning 'mountain of the servants (of God)'. Tur Abdin is of great importance to Syriac Orthodox Christians, for whom the region used to be a monastic and cultural heartland. The Assyrian/Syriac people[54][55] of Tur Abdin call themselves Suroye and Suryoye, and traditionally speak an Eastern Aramaic dialect called Turoyo.[56]
After the Assyrian genocide, the Assyrians of the region were either depopulated or massacred. Currently, there are 5, 000 Assyrians living in the region.[57]
Nişanyan estimates that 400 Assyrian geographical locations have been changed.[4]
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170326231426im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Tur_Abdin.svg/500px-Tur_Abdin.svg.png)
Assyrian name | Named changed to: | Notes |
---|---|---|
Kafrô Taxtaytô | Elbeğendi | Eastern Aramaic: "Lower Village"[58] |
Barsomik | Tütenocak | Named after Nestorian Patriarch Bar Sawma |
Merdô | Mardin | Eastern Aramaic: "Fortresses"[59][60] |
Iwardo | Gülgöze | Eastern Aramaric: "Fountain of flowers" |
Arbo | Taşköy | Eastern Aramaic: "Goat" |
Qartmîn | Yayvantepe | Eastern Aramaic: "Middle village" |
Kfargawsô | Gercüş | Eastern Aramaic: "Sheltered village" |
Kefshenne | Kayalı | Eastern Aramaic: "Stone of peace" |
Beṯ Zabday | İdil | Named after Babai the Great who founded a monastery and school in the region. |
Xisna d'Kêpha (Hisno d'Kifo) | Hasankeyf | Eastern Aramaic: "Rock fortress" |
Zaz | İzbırak | |
Anḥel | Yemişli |
Greek[edit]
Many of the Greek names have maintained their origins from the Byzantine empire and Empire of Trebizond era.
With the establishment of the Ottoman empire, many Turkish name changes have continued to retain their Greek origins. For example, the modern name "İzmir" derives from the former Greek name Σμύρνη "Smyrna", through the first two syllables of the phrase "εις Σμύρνην" (pronounced "is Smirnin"), which means "to Smyrna" in Greek. A similar etymology also applies to other Turkish cities with former Greek names, such as İznik (from the phrase "is Nikaean", meaning "to Nicaea"), Istanbul (from the phrase "is tan Polin" or "to the City"), or even for the Greek island of Kos, called "İstanköy" in Turkish.[44]
Nişanyan estimates that 4,200 Greek geographical locations have been changed, the most of any ethnic minority.[4]
Greek name | Named changed to: | Notes |
---|---|---|
Potamia | Güneysu | Greek: "River". On August 12, 2009, when talking about his family origins, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the native Greek name of Potamya instead of Güneysu.[31] |
Néa Phôkaia | Yenifoça | |
Hadrianoupolis | Edirne | Greek: "City of Hadrian". Founded by Emperor Hadrian in about 123 A.D. Became temporary Ottoman capital after Ottoman conquest in 1363.[61] |
Kalipolis | Gelibolu | Greek: "Beautiful city". The city was founded in the 5th century B.C.[62] |
Makri | Fethiye | Greek: "long". Following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of Makri were sent to Greece where they founded the town of Nea Makri (New Makri).[63] |
Kalamaki | Kalkan | Until the early 1920s, the majority of its inhabitants were Greeks. They left in 1923 because of the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey after the Greco-Turkish War and emigrated to Attica, where they founded the town of Kalamaki.[64] |
Konstantinoupolis | Istanbul | Greek: "City of Constantine". Founded by Emperor Constantine in 330 A.D. The name Istanbul has been in use since even before the 1453 Ottoman conquest. Different names of the city coexisted during the Ottoman times, until all names other than Istanbul became completely obsolete towards the late empire.[65] |
Neopolis | Kuşadası | It was known as Neopolis (New city) during the Byzantine era and later as Scala Nova or Scala Nuova under the Genovese and Venetians.[66] |
Sinasos | Mustafapaşa | In 1924, during the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of the town left to Greece and founded Nea Sinasos, a town in the northern part of the island of Euboea. |
Smyrna | Izmir | Ancient Greek city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Greeks left the city after the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922 to their "new" homeland Greece |
The Prince Islands
|
Prens Adaları |
During the Byzantine period, princes and other royalty were exiled on the islands, and later members of the Ottoman sultan's family were exiled there as well, giving the islands their present name. |
Kurdish[edit]
The Kurdish geographical name changes were exempt under the Ottoman Empire due to the Islamic religious orientation of Kurds. During the Republican era and especially after the Dersim massacre, Kurdish geographical name changes became more common.[7] During the Turkish Republican era, the words Kurdistan and Kurds were banned. The Turkish government had disguised the presence of the Kurds statistically by categorizing them as Mountain Turks.[67][68] This classification was changed to the new euphemism of Eastern Turk in 1980.[69]
Also included in the category of Kurdish geographical name changes are Zazaki, which is considered among Kurdish group, along with Kurmanci. Nişanyan estimates that 4,000 Kurdish geographical locations have been changed.[4]
Kurdish name | Named changed to: | Notes |
---|---|---|
Qilaban | Uludere | Kurdish: "Castellan" |
Dersîm | Tunceli province | In September 2012, legislation was promulgated to restore the name of the province of Tunceli to Dersim.[33] |
Qoser | Kızıltepe | Kurdish: "Red mountain" |
Şax | Çatak | Kurdish: "Tree branch" or "Mountain" |
Êlih | Batman | |
Karaz | Kocaköy | |
Pîran | Dicle | Kurdish: "Wise men" |
Hênî | Hani | Hênî: Spring |
Dara Hênî | Genç | Dar: Tree, Hênî: Spring |
Ginc (Genc) | Kaleköy, Solhan | Inhabited by Kurds of Zaza. The name comes from Middle Persian گنج "genc", which means treasure. This city should not be confused with the modern day city of Genç. Genc was the center of Bingöl Province between 1924-1927. In 1936 the city was moved to Dara Hênî where the Dara Hênî's name was ultimately changed to Genç. |
Çolig | Bingöl | The meaning of the name is interpreted as somewhere that is in a deep valley. |
Şemrex | Mazıdağı | Kurdish: "Road to Damascus (Şam)" |
Norgeh | Pazaryolu | Kurdish: "Place of light" |
Amed | Diyarbakir | Armenians also refer to the city as Dikranagerd (Armenian: built by King Tigran). |
Colemêrg | Hakkari | Hakkari was known as Çölemerik in accordance with government records in 1928. Armenians refer to the city as Gghmar which was noted in Tovma Artsruni's History of the House of Artsrunik written in the 10th century. |
Serêkaniyê | Ceylanpinar | Kurdish: "Head of spring (a natural fountain)" |
Riha | Şanlıurfa | The city was referred to as Edessa in a 4th century Greek text. It was also referred to as El-Ruha in a 7th-century Arabic text. The city was changed to Urfa. In 1984 the Turkish National Assembly changed its name to Şanlıurfa meaning Glorious Urfa in honor of the city's dedication to the Turkish War of Independence. |
See also[edit]
- Geographical renaming
- Geographical regions of Turkey
- Turkification
- Citizen speak Turkish!
- Surname Law
References[edit]
- ^ Naimark, Norman M. (2002). Fires of hatred: ethnic cleansing in twentieth-century Europe (1. Harvard Univ. Press paperback ed., 2. print. ed.). Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.]: Harvard Univ. Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-674-00994-3.
- ^ General Directorate of State Archives of the Republic of Turkey, İstanbul Vilayet Mektupçuluğu, no. 000955, 23 Kânunuevvel 1331 (October 6, 1916) Ordinance of Enver Pasha (retrieved from the private archives of Sait Çetinoğlu)
- ^ Ungor; Polatel, Ugur; Mehmet (2011). Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-4411-3055-6.
- ^ a b c d e f g Nisanyan, Sevan (2011). Hayali Coğrafyalar: Cumhuriyet Döneminde Türkiye'de Değiştirilen Yeradları (PDF) (in Turkish). Istanbul: TESEV Demokratikleşme Programı. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
Turkish: Memalik-i Osmaniyyede Ermenice, Rumca ve Bulgarca, hasılı İslam olmayan milletler lisanıyla yadedilen vilayet, sancak, kasaba, köy, dağ, nehir, ilah. bilcümle isimlerin Türkçeye tahvili mukarrerdir. Şu müsaid zamanımızdan süratle istifade edilerek bu maksadın fiile konması hususunda himmetinizi rica ederim.
- ^ a b c Öktem, Kerem (2003). Creating the Turk's Homeland: Modernization, Nationalism and Geography in Southeast Turkey in the late 19th and 20th Centuries (PDF). Harvard: University of Oxford, School of Geography and the Environment, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB, UK.
- ^ Dündar, Fuat (2001). İttihat ve Terakki'nin Müslümanları iskân politikası: (1913–1918) (in Turkish) (1. ed.). İstanbul: İletisim. p. 284. ISBN 978-975-470-911-7. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Sahakyan, Lusine (2010). Turkification of the Toponyms in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey (PDF). Montreal: Arod Books. ISBN 978-0-9699879-7-0.
- ^ Alparslan, Huseyin (1920). Trabzon ili laz mı türk mü? (in Turkish). Giresun Matbaası. p. 17. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Haigazn Kazarian (trans.). "Verdict ("Kararname") of the Turkish Military Tribunal". Published in theOfficial Gazetteof Turkey(Takvimi Vekayi),no. 3604 (supplement), July 22, 1919. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ Zürcher, Erik J. (2005). Turkey : a modern history (3, reprint, illustrated, revised ed.). London [u.a.]: Tauris. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-86064-958-5. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Öktem, Kerem (2008). "The Nation's Imprint: Demographic Engineering and the Change of Toponymes in Republican Turkey". European Journal of Turkish Studies (7). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
- ^ a b c Nişanyan, Sevan (2010). Adını unutan ülke: Türkiye'de adı değiştirilen yerler sözlüğü (in Turkish) (1. ed.). İstanbul: Everest Yayınları. ISBN 978-975-289-730-4.
- ^ a b Jongerden, edited by Joost; Verheij, Jelle. Social relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870–1915. Leiden: Brill. p. 300. ISBN 978-90-04-22518-3.
- ^ a b c Simonian, edited by Hovann H. (2007). The Hemshin: history, society and identity in the highlands of northeast Turkey (Repr. ed.). London: Routledge. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-7007-0656-3.
- ^ a b Jongerden, Joost (2007). The settlement issue in Turkey and the Kurds : an analysis of spatial policies, modernity and war ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill. p. 354. ISBN 978-90-04-15557-2. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ (Turkish) Başbakanlık Cumhuriyet Arşivi 030.18.01.02/88.83.20 (31 August 1939): 'Leipzigde basılmış olan Der Grosse Weltatlas adlı haritanın hudutlarımız içinde Ermenistan ve Kürdistanı göstermesi sebebiyle yurda sokulmaması.' [On the ban of importing the map 'Der Grosse Weltatlas' because it shows Armenia and Kurdistan within our borders], Bakanlar Kurulu Kararları Katalogu [Catalogue of the decisions of the Council of Ministers].
- ^ "28 BİN YERİN İSMİ DEĞİŞTİ, HANGİ İSİM HANGİ DİLE AİT?". KentHaber (in Turkish). 16 August 2009. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
Ayşe Hür, Demokrat Parti döneminde oluşturulan kurul için şöyle diyor: "Bu çalışmalar sırasında anlamları güzel çağrışımlar uyandırmayan, insanları utandıran, gurur incitici yahut alay edilmesine fırsat tanıyan isimler, Türkçe de olsalar değiştirildi. İçinde 'Kızıl', 'Çan', 'Kilise' kelimeleri olan köylerin isimleri ile Arapça, Farsça, Ermenice, Kürtçe, Gürcüce, Tatarca, Çerkezce, Lazca köy isimleri 'bölücülüğe meydan vermemek' amacıyla değiştirildi."
- ^ a b İnsel, Ahmet (16 September 2007). "İsmime dokunma". Radikal (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ Koylu, Murat (21 March 2011). "Bütün isimlerimizi geri istiyoruz". Yesil Gazete (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ Sediyani, İbrahim (2009). Adını arayan coğrafya (in Turkish). İstanbul: Özedönüş Yayınları. p. 178. ISBN 978-605-4296-00-2.
- ^ a b c (Turkish) Tunçel H., "Türkiye'de İsmi Değiştirilen Köyler," Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Firat Universitesi, 2000, volume 10, number 2.
- ^ Hacısalihoğlu, Mehmet (2008). Doğu Rumeli'de kayıp köyler : İslimye Sancağ'ında 1878'den günümüze göçler, isim değişikleri ve harabeler (in Turkish) (1. basım ed.). İstanbul: Bağlam. p. 150. ISBN 978-975-8803-95-8.
- ^ a b Eren, editor, Ali Çaksu ; preface, Halit (2006). Proceedings of the second International Symposium on Islamic Civilization in the Balkans, Tirana, Albania, 4-7 December 2003 (in Turkish). Istanbul: Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture. ISBN 978-92-9063-152-1. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ (Turkish) T.C. Icisleri Bakanligi (1968): Köylerimiz. 1 Mart 1968 gününe kadar. T.C. Icisleri Bakanligi, Iller Idaresi Genel Müdürlügü. Ankara
- ^ T.C. Icisleri Bakanligi (1977): Yeni Tabii Yer Adlari 1977. Yeni, Eski ve Illere Göre Dizileri. Icisleri Bakanligi, Iller Idaresi Genel Müdürlügü, Besinci Sube Müdürlügü. Ankara
- ^ a b Okutan, M. Çağatay (2004). Tek parti döneminde azınlık politikaları (in Turkish) (1. ed.). İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi Üniv. Yayınları. p. 215. ISBN 978-975-6857-77-9. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "'Milli' Olmadığı İçin İsmi Değiştirilen İstanbul Sokakları" (in Turkish). Ofpof. 1 October 2015.
- ^ a b Boran, Sidar (12 August 2009). "Norşin ve Kürtçe isimler 99 yıldır yasak". Firatnews (in Turkish). Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ Köylerimiz 1981, İçişleri Bakanlığı Yayınlan, Yedigün Matbaası, Ankara, 1982.
- ^ Bayrak, Emrullah (14 August 2009). "Official changes to Turkish place names sometimes a hard sell". Zaman. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Cengiz, Orhan Kemal (14 July 2011). "How the names of places have been changed in Turkey". Zaman. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
- ^ Villelabeitia, Ibon (20 August 2009). "Turkey renames village as part of Kurdish reforms". Reuters. Ankara. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
Turkey has begun restoring names of Kurdish villages and is considering allowing religious sermons to be made in Kurdish as part of reforms to answer the grievances of the ethnic minority and advance its EU candidacy.
- ^ a b c d "Turkey to restore some Kurdish place names". Zaman. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
- ^ Tuncel, Harun (2000). "Türkiye'de İsmi Değiştirilen Köyler English: Renamed Villages in Turkey" (PDF). Fırat University Journal of Social Science (in Turkish). 10 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ (Russian) Modern History of Armenia in the Works of Foreign Authors [Novaya istoriya Armenii v trudax sovremennix zarubezhnix avtorov], edited by R. Sahakyan, Yerevan, 1993, p. 15
- ^ Blundell, Roger Boar, Nigel (1991). Crooks, crime and corruption. New York: Dorset Press. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-88029-615-1.
- ^ Balakian, Peter. The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response. HarperCollins. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-06-186017-1.
- ^ Books, the editors of Time-Life (1989). The World in arms : timeframe AD 1900–1925 (U.S. ed.). Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-8094-6470-8.
- ^ K. Al-Rawi, Ahmed (2012). Media Practice in Iraq. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-230-35452-4. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
- ^ "Turkey renames 'divisive' animals". BBC. 8 March 2005. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
Animal name changes: Red fox known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica becomes Vulpes Vulpes. Wild sheep called Ovis Armeniana becomes Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus Roe deer known as Capreolus Capreolus Armenus becomes Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus.
- ^ "Yiğidi öldürmek ama hakkını da vermek ...". Lraper (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 January 2013.
- ^ "Patrik II. Mesrob Hazretleri 6 Agustos 2006 Pazar". Bolsohays News (in Turkish). 7 August 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
- ^ Hovannisian, ed. by Richard G. (1991). The Armenian genocide in perspective (4. pr. ed.). New Brunswick, NJ [u.a.]: Transaction. pp. 128–130. ISBN 978-0-88738-636-7.
- ^ a b c d e Sevan Nisanyan (12 January 2013). "Index Anatolicus" (Map). Türkiye yerleşim birimleriyle evanteri (in Turkish). Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d TC Dahiliye Vekaleti, Son Taksimati Mulkiyede Koylerimizin Adlari, Ankara 1928.
- ^ Sirarpe Der Nersessian, "Aght'amar, Church of the Holy Cross", page 1.
- ^ Ajaryan, H. Armenian Etymological Dictionary (Hayeren atmatakan bararan), Yerevan, 1971, State Univ.y Publ. House, vol. 1, p. 106–108.
- ^ Antonio Sagona and Claudia Sagona, Archaeology At The North-east Anatolian Frontier, I: An Historical Geography And A Field Survey of the Bayburt Province (Ancient Near Eastern Studies) Near Eastern Studies Supplement Series 14, 2004. ISBN 90-429-1390-8. p. 68, quoting Robert H. Hewsen, Geography of Ananias of Sirak: Aesxarhacoyc, the Long and the Short Recensions (Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (TAVO): Series B), 1992, p. 153.
- ^ Suny, edited by Ronald Grigor; Goçek,, Fatma Müge; Naimark, Norman M. A question of genocide : Armenians and Turks at the end of the Ottoman Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539374-3.
- ^ Marc Dubin; Enver Lucas (1989). Trekking in Turkey. Lonely Planet. p. 125. ISBN 0-86442-037-4.
- ^ Robert H. Hewsen. Armenia: A Historical Atlas. — University of Chicago Press, 2001. — 341 p. — ISBN 0-226-33228-4, ISBN 978-0-226-33228-4. P.212. "River between the port of Atina (now Pazar) on the coast and the great inland peak called Kajkar (Arm. Khach'k'ar) Dagh 'Cross-stone Mountain'"
- ^ Kürkcüoğlu, Erol. "Ermeni, Bizans ve Türk Hakimiyetinde Ani" (in Turkish). Institute for Armenian Research. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ Chorbajian, ed. by Levon; Shirinian, George (1999). Studies in comparative genocide. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-21933-8.
- ^ The Middle East, abstracts and index, Part 1. Library Information and Research Service. Northumberland Press, 2002. Page 491.
- ^ Atabaki, edited by Touraj; Mehendale, Sanjyot (2004). Central Asia and the Caucasus transnationalism and diaspora. London: Routledge. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-203-49582-7. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ Dalby, Andrew (1998). Dictionary of languages : the definitive reference to more than 400 languages (Rev. ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-231-11568-1. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
An East Aramaic dialect, Turoyo (sometimes called 'modern Assyrian' or 'Neo-Syriac') is spoken by Christian communities of the Syrian Orthodox Church whose traditional homes are on the Tur Abdin plateau in Turkey.
- ^ "Assyrian Association Building Attacked in Turkey". Assyrian International News Agency. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
Facing persecution and discrimination, Turkey's Assyrian population, once numbering more than 130,000, has been reduced to about 5,000.
- ^ "Kafro" (in German). Retrieved 16 January 2013.
- ^ Lipiński, Edward (2000). The Aramaeans: their ancient history, culture, religion. Peeters Publishers. p. 146. ISBN 978-90-429-0859-8.
- ^ Smith, of R. Payne Smith. Ed. by J. Payne (1998). A compendious Syriac dictionary : founded upon the Thesaurus Syriacus (Repr. ed.). Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-57506-032-3. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "History of Edirne". Edirne Tikaret ve Senayi Odası (English translation). Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- ^ Gallipoli, Turkey in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Darke, Diana (1986). Guide to Aegean and Mediterranean Turkey. London: M. Haag. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-902743-34-2. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
The town grew considerably at the end of the 19thC, and until the exchange of Graeco-Turkish populations in 1923 it had a large Greek population. Its name at that time was Makri in modern Greek.
- ^ Darke, Diana (1986). Guide to Aegean and Mediterranean Turkey. M. Haag. p. 160. ISBN 0-902743-34-1, 978-0-902743-34-2.
- ^ Room, Adrian (2006). Placenames of the world : origins and meanings of the names for 6,600 countries, cities, territories, natural features, and historic sites (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0-7864-2248-7. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ Tuğlacı, Pars (1985). Osmanlı şehirleri. Milliyet. p. 220.
- ^ Metz, Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Ed. by Helen Chapin (1996). Turkey: a country study (5. ed., 1. print. ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Print. Off. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-8444-0864-4. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the government had disguised the presence of the Kurds statistically by categorizing them as "Mountain Turks."
- ^ Bartkus, Viva Ona (1999). The dynamic of secession ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-0-521-65970-3. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "Linguistic and Ethnic Groups in Turkey". Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ Bengio, Ofra (2014). Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0292763018.