Özalp

Özalp

Özalp is a district of Van province of Turkey. It is located between the Saray district, where the border gate between Turkey and Iran is located, and the provincial center of Van. The railway passes through this district. Akgöl is located in the district territory, close to the Gürpınar border. Özalp District was founded in 1869 under the name Mahmudiye, in today's Saray district center. The district center was moved to today's Özalp center in 1948 and this place was transformed into the district center. The name of Kazım Pasha District center was changed to Saray and it was transformed into a District organization. The name of Özalp District Center was named after the current neighborhood Kargalı. This neighborhood was a village organization at that time. Urartians, Persians, Byzantines, Umayyads, Seljuks, Sökmens, Mongols, Karakoyunlular and Akkoyunlular dominated the region at different times. More realistic information about the civilizations that reigned in this region in history can be obtained through excavations in the ruins, popularly known as "gort", within the borders of Özalp district. The fact that the graves were seen in the east direction during the excavations carried out by historical artifact smugglers to search for treasure gave rise to the opinion among the public that the people living here worshiped the sun. In 1071, when the Seljuk sultan Alparslan entered Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert, the region, which was freed from the Byzantines and remained under the control of the Seljuks for a while, was later taken over by the Safavids. In 1555, after Suleiman the Magnificent defeated the Safavids, the region came under Ottoman rule. Özalp, whose former name was "Mahmudiye" and later called "Saray", was connected to the Hakkari sanjak and made "Kaza" in 1869. In 1948, the district center was moved from Saray to Kargalı and the new district center was named Özalp. Kargalı, which was a village before the district center was moved, has today become the name of the neighborhood south of the district center and separated by the small Özalp stream (which has been called by this name for a long time).