Eleşkirt (
Kurdish: Zêdikan)[2] is a town of
Ağrı Province in
Turkey. It is the seat of
Eleşkirt District.[3] Its population is 10,191 (2021).[1] Its name is a transference from Alashkert (
Armenian: Ալաշկերտ,
romanized: Alaškert), the valley's former administrative centre but now a village known as Toprakkale. It was known as Vagharshakert in medieval sources.[4] At the time of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 approximately half of the population consisted of
Armenians and the rest of
Kurds and
Turks.[5]
^Sinclair, T.A. London, 1989, "Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume II" p. 280
^Zatikyan, Hovhannes [Զատիկյան, Հովհաննես] Noravank, 2013, "Garin province in the second half of the nineteenth century" [ Կարինի նահանգը XIX դարի երկրորդ կեսին] pp. 391, 402 url =
http://www.noravank.am/upload/pdf/KARINI_NAHANGY.pdf