Acar, Sason

Acar
Village
Acar is located in Turkey
Acar
Acar
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 38°17′31″N 41°15′00″E / 38.292°N 41.250°E / 38.292; 41.250
CountryTurkey
ProvinceBatman
DistrictSason
Population
 (2021)
472
Time zoneTRT (UTC+3)

Acar (Kurdish: Herend), formerly called Argint, is a village in the Sason District, Batman Province, Turkey.[1] The village is populated by Kurds of the Xiyan tribe and had a population of 472 in 2021.[2][3]

The hamlets of Güneşli (Herda) and Hasanlar (Hasanan) are attached to the village.[1]

History

Acar remained an Armenian village until 1952, when half of the village was sold to Kurds. After threats of violence from their Kurdish neighbours, in 1964 the village's Christian Armenian population mass converted to Islam. As reported in the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, the conversion involved 88 people - 48 children and 40 men and women - after which the names of the villagers were changed and the village church was converted into a mosque.[4] Despite the conversion, that same year Kurds burned the Armenian villager's fields and forced most of them to flee to Diyarbekir. Military intervention by the Turkish army allowed most to return the following year. They and their descendants continued to live in Acar until 1985, when the remainder of the village was sold to Kurds and the remaining Armenians moved to Istanbul.[5] Benninghaus reports a further conversion to Islam taking place in 1983.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "Türkiye Mülki İdare Bölümleri Envanteri". T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı (in Turkish). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2021" (XLS) (in Turkish). TÜİK. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Günümüz Sason Aşiretlerinin Dağılımı" (in Turkish). 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Eski Ermeni Köyünde Herkes Müslüman oldu" (in Turkish). 28 August 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Kaza Sason / Սասուն - Sasun". Virtual Genocide Memorial. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  6. ^ Peter Alfred, Andrews; Benninghaus, Rüdiger, eds. (1989). Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey. p. 357.