History of Sarikamis

Where did the name Sarikamis come from?

1. According to legend : Since one of the Circassian Beys bought some food and a turban to these lands, the name of this place was said as SARIĞALMIŞ, then SARIKAMIŞ, which is located in front of the Sarıçam Forests. denilmiş.   

2. According to legend : It originates from the settlement of a Turkish tribe in the upper Sarıkamış village from the Sarıkamış pit region between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Lake.  

With the armies of Alparslan on 16 August 1064 in order to spread the Islamic thought of the Seljuk-Turkish Empire established in Khorasan, to establish and maintain the Seljuk order civilization and Turkish domination in the regions from Central Asia to the Aegean coasts, the Caucasus coasts, and from the Caucasus to Yemen. Sarikamis became a Turkish homeland after the Byzantine Castle dominated the city of Ani, Kars castle, Allahu Akbar and Soğanlı Mountains.

After this happy historical event, the region, which constituted the border tribes for hundreds of years, has been a permanent scene of the Turkish-Russian struggle. Especially in the XIX. XX. It has experienced bloody events, dark and bitter days for centuries, it has been a victim of unjust intentions, a challenge to indecent invasions, and a shelter for dirty feet.

In 1877-1878, the Russians attacked our country in order to realize the idea of ​​PANISLAVISM for purely invasive purposes. The Russian armies, which suffered a terrible defeat against the Turkish army under the command of the Great Commander Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, fell in the Eastern front due to the unfortunate defeat in other fronts in the incapacity of the Ottoman Empire's Decline period. On March 3, 1878, AYASTAFANOS, on July 13, 1878, the Berlin Treaties were signed and Kars, Batum and Ardahan were left to the Russians as war compensation. This situation includes the full 40-year black days.

In these endless painful days, the people of Sarıkamış region expressed their suffering in burnt folk songs.

While forty years of dark days were going on, on November 1, 1914, the Russian armies, in the unceasing greed of their disgusting deeds, attacked again from Sarıkamış to Pasin to invade Anatolia. Russian armies, who suffered a heavy blow in the Battle of Köprüköy, which lasted for 6 days, staggered and fled to Sarıkamış. Tsar Nicholas established a second headquarters in order to raise the morale of the defeated armies in Sarıkamış and to prepare for a new offensive. Meanwhile, the famous Sarıkamış Operation started under the command of Enver Pasha, with the plan to destroy the Russian armies gathered between Sarıkamış, Selim and Kars. Our army, which had to fight with nature more than the enemies due to severe winter conditions, was defeated and ended in disaster in favor of Turkishness. This result went down in history as a terrible disaster and a painful memory.