Percentage of geographical name changes in Turkey from 1916 onwards

Percentage of geographical name changes in Turkey from 1916 onwards

Province	Number	Province	Number	Province	Number	Province	Number	Province	Number
Erzurum	653	Kastamonu	295	Giresun	167	Amasya	99	Denizli	53
Mardin	647	Gaziantep	279	Zonguldak	156	Kütahya	93	Burdur	49
Diyarbakır	555	Tunceli	273	Bursa	136	Yozgat	90	Niğde	48
Van	415	Bingöl	247	Ordu	134	Afyon	88	Uşak	47
Sivas	406	Tokat	245	Hakkari	128	Kayseri	86	Isparta	46
Kars	398	Bitlis	236	Hatay	117	Manisa	83	Kırşehir	39
Siirt	392	Konya	236	Sakarya	117	Çankırı	76	Kırklareli	35
Trabzon	390	Adıyaman	224	Mersin	112	Eskişehir	70	Bilecik	32
Şanlıurfa	389	Malatya	217	Balıkesir	110	Muğla	70	Kocaeli	26
Elazığ	383	Ankara	193	Kahramanmaraş	105	Aydın	69	Nevşehir	24
Ağrı	374	Samsun	185	Rize	105	Izmir	68	Istanbul	21
Erzincan	366	Bolu	182	Çorum	103	Sinop	59	Edirne	20
Gümüşhane	343	Adana	169	Artvin	101	Çanakkale	53	Tekirdağ	19
Muş	297	Antalya	168

Notable geographical name changes[edit source | editbeta]

Armenian[edit source | editbeta]

Armenian geographical locations were first abolished under the reign of Sultan Abdulhamit II. In 1880, the word Armenia was banned from use in the press, schoolbooks, and governmental establishments, and was subsequently replaced with words like Anatolia or Kurdistan.^{[38][39][40][41][42]} Armenian name changing continued under the early Republican era up until the 21st century. It included the Turkification of last names, change of animal names,^[43] change of the names of Armenian historical figures (i.e. the name of the prominent Balyan family was concealed under the identity of a superficial Italian family called Baliani),^[44][45] and the change and distortion of Armenian historical events.^[46]

Most Armenian geographical names were in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman empire. Villages, settlements, or towns that contain the suffix -kert, meaning built or built by (i.e. Manavazkert (today Malazgirt), Norakert, Dikranagert, Noyakert), -shen, meaning village (i.e. Aratashen, Pemzashen, Norashen), and -van, meaning town (i.e. Charentsavan, Nakhichevan, Tatvan), signify an Armenian name.^[7] Throughout Ottoman history, Turkish and Kurdish tribesmen have settled into Armenian villages and changed the native Armenian names (i.e. the Armenian Norashen was changed to Norşin). This was especially true after the Armenian genocide, when much of eastern Turkey was depopulated of its Armenian population.^[7]

It is estimated by etymologist and author Sevan Nişanyan that 3, 600 Armenian geographical locations have been changed.^[14]

Armenian geographical names renamed in Turkey

Notable name changes of Armenian geographical locations:^[47][48]

Armenian name	Named changed to:	Notes
Govdun	Goydun	Armenian: "House of cows"
Aghtamar	Akdamar	Armenian: from the folkloric legend "Aghtamar".[49] Turkish: White vein
Akn	Eğin	Armenian: "Fountain"[50]
Manavazkert	Malazgirt	Armenian: "City of Menua" (named after Urartian king Menua)
Vostan	Gevaş	Armenian: "Belongs to King"
Kayl Ket	Kelkit River	Armenian: "Wolf River".[51] The village of Kelkit in the Gümüşhane Province also gets its name from the Kelkit River.
Norashen	Güroymak	Armenian: "New city". A proposal has been introduced to restore its former name. The Kurdish community of Güroymak claim it is a Kurdish native name called "Norşin".[36]
Zeytun	Suleymanli	Armenian: "Olive". Turkish: named after Turkish general Suleyman who captured the village in 1915.[52]
Sassoun	Sason	Armenian: from the folkloric legend "Sanasar"
Çermuk	Çermik	Armenian: "Hot springs"
Khachkar	Kaçkar	Armenian: Khachkar or cross-stone.[53][54]
Everek	Develi	Derives from the Armenian word Averag meaning ruins.
Karpert	Harput later Elâzığ	Armenian: "Rock fortress"
Ani	Anı[55]	Historical capital of Bagratuni Armenia. Turkish: "Memory"[56]
Sevaverag	Siverek	Armenian: "Black ruins"
Chabakchur (Çabakçur)	Bingöl	Armenian: "rough waters". Turkish: "Thousand lakes". Çabakçur was used until 1944. Kurds refer to the city as Çolig.
Metskert	Mazgirt	Armenian: "Big city"
Pertak	Pertek	Armenian: "Small castle"