Yüksekova | |
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Coordinates: 37°34′00″N 44°17′00″E / 37.56667°N 44.28333°ECoordinates: 37°34′00″N 44°17′00″E / 37.56667°N 44.28333°E | |
Country | Turkey |
Province | Hakkâri |
Government | |
• Mayor | Ruken Yetişkin (BDP) |
• Kaymakam | Üzeyir Aziz Özeren |
Area | |
• District | 2,371.85 km2 (915.78 sq mi) |
Elevation | 1,950 m (6,400 ft) |
Population (2012) | |
• Urban | 68,230 |
• District | 115,966 |
• District density | 49/km2 (130/sq mi) |
Post code | 30300 |
Website | www |
Yüksekova (Kurdish: Gever; Syriac: Gawar), is a Kurdish populated city and formerly known as Gever, is a district of Hakkari Province of Turkey, situated on the border with Iran. Its location on the trade route between north western Iran and eastern Turkey made it an important juncture for travelers and the location of several ethnic groups that were active in regional trade.
Gawar or "Gaur, Gwer, Gabr, Gawr" is a term of Aramaic origin used to denote Zoroastrians in Mesopotamia by Persians and later applied to all non-Muslim people of Middle East in the Islamic era (see ). This word was later used as Islamic religious term as "Giaour, Gavur, Kuffar" which means "infidel". In the 1936 its name was changed to Yuksekova by Turkish authorities.
In the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Gawar had around 30 villages. The population of Gawar was 15,000. Inhabitants lived off agriculture that mainly consisted of wheat and barley, cotton, tea. Gawar had around 1497 families in the 1880s.
Up until World War I, Gawar was the seat of a bishop of the Church of the East. The district of Gawar served as the main travel stop for Assyrians traveling between the Hakkari tribal areas and the Urmia plains.
In the 1810s the whole population of villages in the region of the Upper Zab River were Predominantly Kurdish and Nestorian Christians.
The climate in Yüksekova is a dry-summer continental climate (Köppen: Dsb). Summers are virtually dry with the most rainfall occurring in late winter to early spring (February to April).