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A crater and crater lake sitting atop Tendurek Mountain, located in eastern Türkiye near the Iranian border and roughly 100 kilometers northeast of Mount Ararat, are awaiting tourism development, according to a geography expert.
Tendurek Mountain straddles the border of Agri and Van, two provinces in Türkiye's mountainous east that sit near the country's frontier with Iran.
The peak rises between Diyadin and Dogubayazit, two towns in Agri province, and Caldiran, a town in neighboring Van province, both located in the same border region. The volcanic mountain is known for its geographic and geological features.
The mountain's summit crater sits at an elevation of 3,500 meters, with a crater lake located to its east. The site's natural surroundings and snow-covered terrain have drawn attention in the region.
Tendurek previously hosted the Türkiye Enduro and ATV Championship, an off-road motorsports event organized by the Agri Governorate, the province's provincial administration.
Alperen Kayserili, chair of the Department of Geography at Agri Ibrahim Cecen University's Faculty of Science and Letters, said the most recent lava flow in Türkiye occurred at Tendurek in 1855, spreading across a wide area.
Kayserili said crater lakes in Türkiye are typically associated with Nemrut Crater Lake, a well-known volcanic site also located in the country's eastern region.
He noted that Tendurek has a lesser-known counterpart: a second crater, called Small Tendurek, sitting at 3,200 meters and containing its own crater lake.
Kayserili said both the larger and smaller Tendurek craters are worth visiting and deserve wider recognition. He linked further tourism development at the site to progress in Türkiye's ongoing security normalization process in the region.
Kayserili said the university is involved in a project examining the mountain, bringing together specialists from multiple fields, including geographers, chemists, biologists, molecular biologists, occupational health and safety experts, pulmonologists and mountaineering specialists.
The project aims to determine whether Tendurek poses any risk or remains geologically stable, he said. Researchers plan to measure sulfur and carbon dioxide levels and monitor seismic activity to assess the mountain's condition.
Kayserili said Agri province, home to Mount Ararat, also contains other volcanic peaks, including Suphan and Tendurek, all of which hold significance for mountaineering tourism.
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