Agri, formerly Karaköse or Karakilise, is the capital of Ağrı Province at the eastern end of Turkey, near the border with Iran.
Economy and infrastructure
This is a very poor region with extremely cold winters, most live by grazing animals on the mountainside. Very few students manage to get to university, people get married in their teens, families with ten or more children are common. The local MP Fatma Salman Kotan has written of the need to erode the patriarchal nature of society in the region. The soldiers stationed here bring business to the restaurants and cafes of the town and there is also a certain amount of smuggling across the Iranian border.
The town provides only the most basic amenities like chemists shops and schools to the surrounding districts; the only social amenities are cafes where men gather to drink tea and smoke cigarettes. There are no bars or cinemas. The only theatre are the occasional state-sponsored travelling shows that perform in one of the schools.
Mount Ararat is 90km to the south, near to the town of Doğubeyazıt.
