Turkey: Kars
Kars is the easternmost city of size in Turkey. The city, just as this region overall has a long, and often tragic history. Back in the 9-10th century, Kars was the capital of the ancient Armenian Kingdom and it was then, when the famous Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Apostles was built here and is standing to this day. The 11-12th centuries saw Kars change hands several times between the Turkish Seljuks and the Byzantine Empire. Then came Mongols for a couple centuries, who were eventually defeated by the Kingdom of Georgia that incorporated Kars for another 100-odd years. Then came Timurland (from present day Uzbekistan), who established a vast empire covering Central Asia/Afghanistan/most of Iran. Anatolian beyliks came next and then they lost to the invading Persians, who took over for another long time. For the next two centuries, Kars was the main subject of wars between Ottoman sultans and Persian shahs and changed hands half a dozen times, each time more and more fortifications built, laid siege, destroyed, and rebuilt. Crazy enough? But wait, in 1807, the Russian Empire attacked and was repelled, just to come back in 1828 and capture Kars for the Russian crown. Russia and Turkey fought for Kars most of the 19th century, with Russia firmly in control and making this the southernmost oblast of the Russian Empire. Under the Russian control, thousands of Muslims left the lands, while Armenians and Russians came. Then came WWI, and Turkey attempted to retake the former Ottoman lands through a treaty with a weak Bolshevik Russia, but the local Armenian troops took control of the lands and Kars became an integral part of the First Republic of Armenia. The Turkish-Armenian War happened in the early 1920s, when Turkey won and retook the entire territory, resulting in mass Armenian casualties and refugees. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union brought Bolshevism and created Soviet Georgia and Armenia in the north and signed the Treaty of Kars with Turkey in 1921, establishing the present day Turkish borders. In 1945, following the WWII victory, the Soviet Union annulled the Treaty of Kars and demanded the return of all the lands to Georgia and Armenia. Initially, the USA supported the Soviet claim, but then the Cold War set in and Turkey became an ally/pawn in the big game – the borders never changed. In 1993, the border with Armenia was permanently closed following the Karabakh War and remains as such to this day.
