Çadırkaya, Tercan
Çadırkaya | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates: 39°50′31″N 40°13′30″E / 39.842°N 40.225°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Erzincan |
| District | Tercan |
| Population (2021) | 2,013 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
Çadırkaya (Armenian: Բագառիճ, romanized: Bagarich; Zazaki: Pakariz) is a municipality (belde) in the Tercan District, Erzincan Province, Turkey. It had a population of 2,013 in 2021. Bagayarich (also spelled Bagayarič, Bagarich or Bagarinch) was an ancient locality in the northwestern part of Armenia in the district of Daranali (or Daranałi[k]). In ancient times, it housed the cult centre of the divinity Mihr (Mithra i.e. Mithras), the god of fire.
The neighborhoods of the municipality are Camii Kebir, Gözeler and Yeni. It is the birthplace of Soghomon Tehlirian, a famous Armenian revolutionary and assassin of Talaat Pasha, one of the architects of the Armenian genocide.
On the eve of World War I, before the Armenian genocide, the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople indicated that the town's population consisted of 1060 Armenians (in 182 houses), 750 Turks and 125 Zazas. It also harboured a medieval cathedral, a church, an Armenian school with 70 students as well as the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to Mihr. Statistics published by A-Do, compiled using data from the secretary of the Armenian church in Erzurum from around 1910, record 150 Armenian and 150 Muslim households within the settlement; Teotig notes 182 Armenian families there.