The accumulation of snow following heavy snowfall over the last few days, especially in the eastern provinces of Turkey, has led to record snowfall in the province of Van, bordering Iran, where the thickness of snow has reached a height of more than 3 metres at the Karabet pass, on the Van-Bahçesaray road.
Turkish media such as NTV report that the continuing heavy snowfall in the Eastern Anatolia region has raised the snow level at the Karabet Pass, located at an altitude of 3,000 metres, where the snow has accumulated a thickness of 3 metres and 38 centimetres. With this figure, Van maintains its record position as the place with the highest snow accumulation in Türkiye.
The Karabet Pass, which has been closed to traffic since 27 December due to heavy snowfall and the risk of avalanches, remains blocked, so residents of the Bahçesaray district – located south of Lake Van – must travel to the provincial capital by crossing through the Hizan district in the neighbouring Bitlis province, following an alternative route that involves travelling for 250 kilometres.
The Bahçesaray district, where this mountain pass is located, is popularly known as the ‘Ninth Planet’ because of the long winter in this part of Anatolia. It is not uncommon for snow several metres high to accumulate on both sides of the roads, and snowfalls on the mountain peaks take many months to melt. So, while cities in western Turkey may already be experiencing spring-like conditions, heavy snowfall and blizzards are common in this part of the country, even in spring.
Avalanche risk warning in eastern Anatolia
Snowfall in recent days has prompted the authorities to issue weather warnings due to the risk of avalanches and thaws in inland areas of the eastern Black Sea and in the high and mountainous areas of eastern Anatolia, where the public is asked to exercise extreme caution in case of possible incidents due to the large amount of snow accumulated in these regions.
The warning is addressed especially to drivers, due not only to the snowfall but also to the presence of ice on the roads. In areas such as Sualtı, a region of Van on the border between Turkey and Iran, and on roads leading to military bases in the region, snow depths close to 4 metres in some areas, according to local media reports, have forced the use of heavy machinery to dig tunnels through the snow for vehicles to drive through.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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