DoÃÂubayazñt (; or , ) is a town in AÃÂrñ Province of Turkey, near the border with Iran. Its elevation is 1625 m. It is the seat of DoÃÂubayazñt District. Its population is 80,061 (2021). Also known as Kurdava, the town was the capital of the self-declared Republic of Ararat, a short-lived Kurdish state centered in the AÃÂrñ Province. Demographic research has identified DoÃÂubayazñt as a predominantly Kurdish-speaking city: a public health study by Bakiray Küçükkaya and Erbaydar (2012) noted that "the mother tongue of the majority of the population is Kurdish" in the district. Demographic studies of Kurdish-majority provinces in Turkey have consistently included DoÃÂubayazñt (in AÃÂrñ Province) among areas with high concentrations of Kurdish speakers.
For most of the periods described here, DoÃÂubayazñt was a larger and more important settlement than the present-day provincial capital AÃÂrñ, not least because it is located at the Iranian border crossing.
The area has a long history, with monuments dating back to the time of the Kingdom of Urartu (over 2700 years ago). Before the Ottoman Empire the site was referred to by its Armenian name Daruynk (written as ôáÃÂøÃÂõöàin Armenian). In the 4th century the Sasanians failed to capture the Armenian stronghold and royal treasury at Daroynk. Princes of the Bagratid dynasty of Armenia resided at Daroynk and rebuilt the fortress into its present configuration with multiple baileys and towers carefully integrated into the ascending rock outcrop. When King Gagik I Artsruni reoccupied the fortress ca.922 A.D. it became the seat of a bishop. It was subsequently conquered and reconquered by Persians, Armenians, Byzantines, and Seljuks all of whom would have used the plain to rest and recoup during their passages across the mountains. Turkish peoples arrived in 1064, but were soon followed by the Mongols and further waves of Turks. The castle of Daroynk was repaired many times throughout this history, although it is now named after the Turkish warlord Celayñrlñ à Âehzade Bayazñt Han who ordered one of the rebuildings (in 1374). Ultimately, the town itself was renamed Beyazit in the 16th century.
From the time of the Safavids, the area was ruled by Turkic-speaking generals, later including the Ottoman general ðshakpaà Âa, who built the palace that still bears his name.
The town saw fighting in the OttomanâÂÂPersian War (1821âÂÂ1823) when in 1821 commander-in-chief Abbas Mirza of Qajar Iran occupied the town, as well as when it was attacked by Russia later in 1856, and taken by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War (1877âÂÂ1878). When the Russians retreated many of the local Armenians left with them to build New Beyazit (now Gavar at Armenia) on the shore of Lake Sevan.
DoÃÂubayazñt was further ravaged during World War I and the subsequent Turkish War of Independence.
Starting in 1920, the area began producing sulphur.
The widely dispersed village of Bayazit, was originally an Armenian settlement and populated by Kurds in 1930 and Yazidis from the Serhed region. But in 1930 the Turkish Army destroyed it in response to the Ararat Rebellion. A new town was built in the plain below the old site in the 1930s (hence the new name "DoÃÂubayazñt", which literally means "East Beyazñt").
DoÃÂubayazñt was the capital of the Kurdish Republic of Ararat led by Ibrahim Haski and Ihsan Nuri of the Xoybûn organization between 1927 and 1930. The town was thus dubbed the provisional capital of Kurdistan and was subsequently presented to the League of Nations and the Great Powers as the center of an independent Kurdish state.
In January 2006, DoÃÂubayazñt was the centre of a H5N1 bird flu outbreak. Four children died from the disease after playing with chicken carcasses. 75,000 chickens in DoÃÂubayazñt and in surrounding villages were killed as a precaution.
In the local elections in March 2019, Yñldñz Acar was elected Mayor of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
The DoÃÂubayazñtspor football club plays in the lower divisions of the Turkish football league. It played in the Turkish Third League for three seasons.
DoÃÂubeyazñt district center stays in the south of the Aras Mountains. The town of DoÃÂubayazñt is a settlement with a long history. It lies 15 km southwest of Mount Ararat, 93 km east of the city of AÃÂrñ and 35 km from the Iranian border. The town stands on a plain surrounded by some of Turkey's highest peaks including: Ararat (5,137 m), Little Ararat (3,896 m), Tendürek DaÃÂñ (3,533 m), Kaletepe (3,196 m) ArñdaÃÂñ (2,934 m) and Göllertepe (2,643 m). Kizil Mountain at 2,730 m is two kilometers east of the town.
The climate on the plain is hot and dry in summer, cold and somewhat snowy in the winter; it is classified as a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa), transitioning to a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk).
DoÃÂubayazñt is twinned with: