# Muradiye

Muradiye (Kurdish: Bêgirî, Armenian: Բերկրի, romanized: Berkri) is a municipality and district of Van Province, Turkey. Its area is 912 km$^2$, and its population is 45,718 (2022). It is best known for its impressive waterfalls.

## History

The tenth-century Byzantine text De Administrando Imperio mentions "Perkri" belonging to King Ashot I Bagratuni at the beginning of the ninth century before being turned over to an Arab ruler, Abu'l-Ward. After the death of Ashot's son, Smbat I, another Arab ruler, Abu Sawada, took possession of Berkri.

### Forced evacuations

The Muradiye district also experienced forced evacuations of some of its inhabitants as a consequence of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.

## Government

Mehmet Ali Tunç was elected mayor in the local elections 2014. He was detained and a trustee was appointed instead in January 2017. In the local elections in March 2019, Yılmaz Şalan from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected mayor. On the 6 November 2019, Şalan was arrested due to charges relating to terrorism. The current Kaymakam is Erkan Savar.

## Composition

There are 48 neighbourhoods in Muradiye District:
* Açıkyol
* Adaklı
* Akbulak
* Akçaçay
* Alkasnak
* Aşağı Argıt
* Babacan
* Balaklı
* Beşparmak
* Beydağı
* Çakmak
* Çiçekli
* Dağören
* Devetaş
* Doğangün
* Dürükkaş
* Erişen
* Esenkoç
* Fatih
* Fevzi Çakmak
* Gönderme
* Görecek
* Güllüçimen
* Gültepe
* Gümüştepe
* Kandahar
* Karahan
* Karaoğlan
* Keçikıran
* Kemerköprü
* Kocasaban
* Köşkköy
* Kuşçu
* Otlakbaşı
* Ovapınar
* Sarımehmet
* Şehitmehmetbey
* Sürüyolu
* Tansu
* Topuzarpa
* Uluşar
* Ünseli
* Yakıncak
* Yalındüz
* Yavuz Selim
* Yenişehir
* Yukarı Argıt
* Yumaklı

## Climate

The climate in Muradiye, with hot, dry summer, and cold, snowy winters, can be classified a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dsa).
Climate data for Muradiye (1991–2020) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 0.8 (33.4) | 2.1 (35.8) | 7.0 (44.6) | 13.7 (56.7) | 19.7 (67.5) | 26.3 (79.3) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.6 (88.9) | 26.3 (79.3) | 18.4 (65.1) | 10.2 (50.4) | 3.3 (37.9) | 16.0 (60.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.4 (24.1) | −3.3 (26.1) | 1.6 (34.9) | 7.8 (46.0) | 13.1 (55.6) | 18.6 (65.5) | 23.1 (73.6) | 22.9 (73.2) | 17.6 (63.7) | 11.1 (52.0) | 4.1 (39.4) | −1.6 (29.1) | 9.3 (48.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −8.7 (16.3) | −7.7 (18.1) | −2.7 (27.1) | 2.7 (36.9) | 7.1 (44.8) | 11.3 (52.3) | 15.7 (60.3) | 15.4 (59.7) | 9.9 (49.8) | 4.7 (40.5) | −0.9 (30.4) | −5.7 (21.7) | 3.5 (38.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 45.2 (1.78) | 46.23 (1.82) | 61.88 (2.44) | 76.36 (3.01) | 56.25 (2.21) | 26.39 (1.04) | 17.97 (0.71) | 9.28 (0.37) | 23.37 (0.92) | 43.08 (1.70) | 52.1 (2.05) | 56.23 (2.21) | 514.34 (20.25) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.6 | 7.3 | 10.0 | 10.7 | 9.9 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 8.1 | 79.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 67.2 | 66.4 | 65.1 | 61.7 | 57.5 | 49.0 | 43.0 | 41.6 | 48.0 | 59.5 | 63.6 | 67.2 | 57.8 |
| Source: NOAA ||||||||||||||

## Education

In the early 2000s, there was reported a lack of teachers. Teachers were teaching more than 50 children per average.

## Earthquake

In 1976 an earthquake occurred in Muradiye, Van, and caused the death of about 3,640 people and leaving 51,000 people homeless.