Kerki

Kerki is a town in eastern Turkmenistan. It is located in Lebap Province. It was formerly known as Zamm[1] and, between 1999 and 2017, as Atamyrat. It is situated on a plain on the left bank of the Amu Darya river.

For the village in Azerbaijan, see Karki, Azerbaijan.
Kerki
Kerki
Location in Turkmenistan
Coordinates: 37°51′11″N 65°14′13″E
Country Turkmenistan
ProvinceLebap Province
DistrictKerki District

Overview

Nearby towns and villages include Mukry (3.3 nm), Amyderya (2.1 nm), Surkhi (3.1 nm) and Kiikchi (2.2 nm).[2]

The town is served by Kerki Airport located 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the town centre. In August 2012, the state national company Turkmenistan Airlines announced an international tender to design and construct a new complex with the capacity of 100 passengers per hour.[3] In February 2013 a road bridge connecting the city with village Kerkichi was commissioned [4]

In 1999, the railway line from Türkmenabat to Kerki was finished, linking Kerki to the Turkmen railway network without having to take a detour into neighbouring Uzbekistan.[5] In late 2016, a railway line was built south to Imamnazar on the border with Afghanistan and further to Aqina, turning Kerki into a railway hub.[6] It is expected to become part of a railway corridor through northern Afghanistan.

The name of the city - Kerki - is a Turkified pronunciation of the original Persian name Karkuh (کرکوه) meaning "Deaf Mountain.[7] In 1999, the city was renamed Atamyrat by Turkmen president Saparmurat Niyazov in honour of his father Atamyrat Niyazov, who had worked here as a teacher before being killed in World War II. In November 2017 the name was changed back to Kerki by president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.[8]

See also

References
    • Bosworth, C. E. (1989). "ĀMOL (ĀMŪYA)". Archived copy. Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 9. pp. 982–983. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2016-02-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Falling rain gazetteer
  3. "New Airport in Atamurat, East of Turkmenistan". The Gazette of Central Asia. Satrapia. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  4. Президенты Украины и Туркмении открыли мост через Амударью и заложили новый аэропорт
  5. Grantham, Andrew (15 July 2008). "Atamyrat to Afghanistan railway plan". Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  6. Salehai, Zarghona (28 November 2016). "Afghan-Turkmenistan railroad inaugurated". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  7. Muqaddasī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, and M. J. de Goeje. 1967. Kitāb Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fī maʻrifat al-aqālīm. Bibliotheca geographorum Arabicorum, pars 3. Laydin: Maṭbaʻ Brīl.
  8. "Внесены изменения в административно-территориальное деление Лебапского велаята" [Changes to the administrative-territorial divisions in Lebap velayat] (in Russian). Türkmenistan Bu Gün. 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
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