Aralık

Template: Infobox city in Turkey / Maintenance / County

Aralık (Armenian Արալիխ, Aralix; Azerbaijani: Aralık; Kurdish: . Bashan ) is a town and a district of the province Iğdır in the extreme east of Turkey. The town has 6775 inhabitants and the county 22.425 inhabitants ( 2011). Aralık lies to the east Iğdırs and forming the easternmost point of the country. The city lies a few kilometers from the Turkish- Armenian border on the eastern slope of Mount Ararat.

The county Aralık has limits to Iran, Armenia and Nakhichevan. In the south, it borders on the Turkish province of Ağrı. The economy of the district depends enormously on the border crossing Dilucu after Nakhchivan.

History

In the Middle Ages Aralık was part of the kingdom of Bagratides. Subsequently, the region an arena of wars between the Ottomans and Safavids for several centuries. In 1746 it became part of the Khanate of Yerevan, which was a vassal state of Persia. After the Russian - Persian war from 1826 to 1828 and the Peace of Turkmantschai Aralık went to the Russians. Within the Russian Empire Aralık was part of the Oblast Armenia and later of the government Yerevan. For a brief period from 1917 to 1920 Aralık was part of the Democratic Republic of Armenia. With the Treaty of Kars was Aralık part of Turkey. Up until 1960, then was Aralık a Bucak within the county Iğdır Province Kars. From 1960 to 1992, there was then a district within the province of Kars. Since 1992 it belongs to Iğdır.