Oltu

Oltu
Oltu
Coordinates: 40°32′59″N 41°59′59″E / 40.54972°N 41.99972°E / 40.54972; 41.99972Coordinates: 40°32′59″N 41°59′59″E / 40.54972°N 41.99972°E / 40.54972; 41.99972
Country	Turkey
Province	Erzurum
Government
• Mayor	İbrahim Ziyrek (AKP)
• Kaymakam	Eyüp Tepe
Area
• District	1,394.09 km2 (538.26 sq mi)
Population (2012)
• Urban	22,127
• District	32,617
• District Density	Bad rounding here23/km2 (Bad rounding here61/sq mi)
Post code	25400
Website	www.oltu.bel.tr

Oltu (Georgian: ოლთისი, Oltisi; Armenian: Ողթիկ, Voght'ik; Russian: Ольта, Olta) is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is İbrahim Ziyrek (AKP). The population is 19,969 (as of 2010).

History

Olti is mentioned for the first time in sources dating to the tenth and eleventh centuries AD, although it is known that it had been established much earlier. The city-fortress had once belonged to the Mamikonian nakharars and later passed into the hands of the Bagratunis. Administratively, it was found within the borders of the region of Vok'aghe in the province of Tayk (known to the Georgians as Tao). Until 1000, it was a part of the domains of David Kuropalates, when in that year it shifted to Byzantine control. In the following centuries, Olti successively passed into the control of the Seljuk Turks, the Mongols and Turkmen tribes, all the while retaining its Armenian identity. The Ottomans conquered Olti from the Georgians in the sixteenth century.

In the summer of 1829, the Russians took control of the region but relinquished it to the Ottomans. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the town was incorporated into the Russian Empire and made a part of Kars Oblast. Prior to the out break of the First World War Olti had 1,090 households, 1000 of which were Turkish. In last months of 1918, Olti was nominally part of Democratic Republic of Georgia but it was ruled by Turkish warlords. In 1919, Olti was annexed by the Republic of Armenia. The following year, the armies of the Turkish Nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha invaded Armenia and occupied Olti, a territorial gain which was confirmed in subsequent treaties signed between the Turks and the Soviets.

Geography

Oltu is situated in the Oltu Brook Valley, a tributary of the Çoruh River, in the northeastern part of Turkey. Outside the valley the topography is mountainous, with ample mountain forests. The highest hills are Akdağ of 3,030m and Kırdağ of 2,000m. Annual average temperature is 10.2°C.

Oltu is famous for its Oltu stone or Oltu Gemstone, known as Black Amber with dull-bright black color and carved to produce jewelry, rosary beads, key-chains, pipes and boxes.