Turkish Kurdistan

The Hamurpet Lake in the Varto district of eastern Muş province is covered with ice due to freezing cold. The layer of ice is 25 centimeters thick. (AA Photo)

A plan to open grid-planned ancient city ruins in the eastern Van province's Erciş district to tourism has been prepared. (AA Photo)

Preparations have begun for the 3,000-year-old Şamran Irrigation Channel, which was built during the Urartu Kingdom period and is considered a world water engineering wonder, in the eastern province of Van to be included on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

Fog covers the top of the Munzur Mountain in Tunceli province's Ovacık district. (AA Photo)

Turkey has completed an 81-kilometer (50-mile) security wall along its eastern border with Iran, the interior minister said on Dec. 4. 

Süleyman Soylu shared the news on Twitter along with pictures of the wall, located in the eastern Ağrı province.

A 1,800-year-old sewer system was discovered during archaeological excavations in Amida Mound, described as
"heart of the old city", in the historical Sur district in southeastern Turkey.

Excavations in the Amida Mound, which hosted many civilizations, including Urartians, Persians, Romans, Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks, Artuqids and Ottomans, were concluded this year.

With the withdrawal of Lake Van, which is located in the province of Van's Erciş District, the ruins of a port from the Urartu era have come to light.

A distance of approximately 50 meters between the waters of Lake Van and the ruins of the old port has been reported.

Archaeologists have unearthed the 1800-year-old entrance of the Castle of Zerzevan, situated in the Çınar district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır and is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

"We have found the most important point to examine the architecture of the defense of the castle," said Aytaç Coşkun, the head of the excavation team.

A magnitude-5.6 earthquake jolted eastern Bingöl province on June 15, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said.

The agency said that the quake struck off the Karlıova district at 9.51 a.m. local time (0651 GMT).

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake jolted eastern Turkey on June 14, according to the country's disaster agency.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said the quake struck Turkey's eastern Bingöl province's Karlıova district at 5.24 p.m. local time (1524GMT). An aftershock with a magnitude of 4.7 was recorded in the same region, according to data provided by AFAD.