The story of Lake Hazar

Somewhere on the bed of this lake lie sunken structures believed to be the remains of old palaces and monasteries. When water was pumped out for the Hazar Irrigation Project, the level dropped sharply and the ruins rose to the surface. Hazar, also called Gölcük Lake, lies 20 km southeast of Elazığ and is a tectonic lake, formed by subsidence along the fracture system that runs from the Red Sea to the East Anatolian Fault.

Roughly elliptical, it stretches 20 km long and 5–6 km wide, sits 1248 m above sea level and covers 81 km². Hazarbaba Mountain, 2347 m high, rises to the south. With no outlet, its water is slightly soda-rich and salty.

Look for grebes, coots, herons and gulls along the shore, while carp gather mostly where Kürk Stream flows in. Along the southern shore runs the Diyarbakır-Kurtalan railway.