Erzurum

Erzurum (Armenian: Կարին Karin) is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the largest city in and the eponymous capital of Erzurum Province. The city is situated 1757 meters (5766 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census, increasing to 367,250 by 2010.

Erzurum, known as "The Rock" in NATO code, served as NATO's southeastern-most air force post during the Cold War. The city uses the double-headed Anatolian Seljuk Eagle as its coat-of-arms, a motif based on the double-headed Byzantine Eagle that was a common symbol throughout Anatolia and the Balkans in the medieval period.

Erzurum has some of the finest winter sports facilities in Turkey and hosted the 2011 Winter Universiade.

Name and etymology

During Roman times Erzurum was named Theodosiopolis (Latin: Theodosiopolis, Greek: Θεοδοσιούπολις). It got its present name after its conquest by the Seljuks following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

A neighboring commercial city named Artsn (Arcn, Artze, Arzan; Armenian: Արծն) was heavily sacked by the Seljuk Turks in 1048-49. Its Armenian, Syrian, and other Christian inhabitants moved to Theodosiopolis, which they began calling "Artsn Rum" (meaning Arzan of the Romans) to distinguish it from their former residence. The city's Muslim inhabitants changed the name to Arzan ar-Rum and then Erzurum. After the Arab conquest of Armenia, the city was known to the Arabs as Kālīkalā (which was adopted from the original Armenian name Karno K'aghak' (Armenian: Կարնո քաղաք), meaning "Karin City", to distinguish it from the district of Karin (Կարին). To the Georgians, the city was known as Karnu-Qalaqi (კარნუ-ქალაქი). Armenians still called it "Karin" or "Garin" during the modern period.

Erzurum (electoral district)

Erzurum is an electoral district of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. It elects six members of parliament (deputies) to represent the province of the same name for a four-year term by the D'Hondt method, a party-list proportional representation system.

Members

Population reviews of each electoral district are conducted before each general election, which can lead to certain districts being granted a smaller or greater number of parliamentary seats. Erzurum has been declining in population since 1999 relative to other provinces, resulting in a loss of two seats between 1999 and 2011.

General elections

2011

Presidential elections

2014

References

Coordinates: 37°50′N 34°45′E / 37.833°N 34.750°E / 37.833; 34.750