page_title: Iğdır
section_title: Modern history
hierarchical_section_title: Iğdır / History / Modern history
caption_attribution_description: English: A highlighted map from 1903 of the Surmalu uyezd within the Erivan Governorate.
context_page_description: Iğdır, is the capital of Iğdır Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The highest mountain in Turkey, Ağrı Dağı or Mount Ararat, is partly in Iğdır province.
context_section_description: Iğdır was taken by the Russian Empire from Persia after the latter's defeat in the Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828. It was organized as part of the Armenian Oblast in 1828 and made a part of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate in 1840, and then the Surmalu Uyezd of the Erivan Governorate in 1850. According to the Russian family lists accounts from 1886, of the total 71,066 inhabitants of the districts 34,351 were Azerbaijanis (48.3%, mentioned as 'Tatars' in the source), 22,096 Armenians (31.1%) and 14,619 Kurds (20.6%). Population of Iğdır was monoethnic and consisted of 2912 Armenians according to 1894 publication. Under Russian rule, two primary schools, one for boys and the other for girls, and three churches were opened and 100 Armenian families were allowed to move to Iğdır. The town's population rose to 10,000 in 1914 and largely busied itself with agriculture and commerce.
  Following the Russian Revolution of October 1917, the area came under the control of a temporary administrative committee created by the three main ethnic groups in the Caucasus. Though it attempted to negotiate a truce with the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman forces launched an eastward offensive and took Iğdır on May 20, 1918. They occupied it until the signing of the Armistice of Mudros in November 1918. The Republic of Armenia then assumed control over Iğdır. The Armenian population suffered heavily during the grueling winter of 1918–19, as famine, disease and the cold killed many. In May 1919, its status was elevated to that of a city.
  Based on the boundaries drawn by US State Department in November 1920, Iğdır was envisaged as an integral part of the Armenian republic. However, in September 1920 the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey led by Mustafa Kemal launched a war to eliminate the republic and overran Iğdır. Turkish General Kâzım Karabekir commanded the armies but his forces were initially unable to take Iğdır due to strong Armenian resistance. However, within a few days, on October 20, 1920, the Turkish army managed to drive the Armenian forces out of Iğdır. According to official Turkish documents, after their defeat in the Shahtahti area, Armenian forces abandoned Iğdır. They burned the Markara Bridge which spanned the Araxes river and retreated to the northern bank on November 13, 1920. Turkey annexed the region of Iğdır after the conclusion of several peace treaties, and its territorial gains were mainly formalized under the 1921 Treaty of Kars.
  In the early years of the Republic of Turkey, Iğdır was a district of the province of Bayazıt. It was made a part of the Kars Province in 1934 and remained part of it until it became the seat of the newly formed Iğdır Province on 27 May 1992.
caption: The Surmali uyezd in 1903
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