Kotur, konum itibariyle Osmanlı-İran sınır bölgesi üzerinde Osmanlı tarafından Van ve Hakkari, İran tarafından ise Hoy şehri arasında kalan bir yerdir. Bu yerle ilgili 1849 senesinde sınır tespiti kapsamında Osmanlı ve İran arasında başlayan Kotur'un kime ait olduğu tartışması uzunca bir süre devam eden bir soruna dönüşmüştür. Bu sorunun ortaya çıkış sürecine baktığımızda da Osmanlı ile İran arasında 1843-1847 yılları arasında yaşanan gerginliklerin sonlandırılması amacıyla aracı devletler olan İngiltere ve Rusya'nın etkisiyle Haziran 1847 tarihinde Erzurum Antlaşması imzalanmıştır. Bu antlaşmanın üçüncü maddesi gereğince de iki devletin kesin sınır çizgilerinin belirlenmesi adına bir komisyon kurulması, bu komisyonun Bağdat'ta toplanması, müzakereleri yürütmek üzere Osmanlı, İran, İngiltere ve Rusya'nın temsilciler göndermeleri kararlaştırılmıştır. Osmanlı Devleti, bu komisyon çalışmaları kapsamında Derviş Paşa başkanlığında bir heyeti görevlendirmiştir. Bu heyet 1849 senesi başlarında Bağdat'a gitmeden evvel Osmanlı yönetiminden aldığı talimat doğrultusunda önce Van ve Hakkari'de incelemelerde bulunarak Kotur'un sınırlarını belirlemiştir. 1849 senesinde bu şekilde başlayan Kotur'un hangi devlete ait olduğuna dair iddialar İran'ın itirazlarıyla daha da büyümüş ve sınır tespit komisyonu çalışmalarının ana tartışma konularından biri haline gelmiştir. Aracı devletler olan İngiltere ve Rusya da bu konuya müdahil olmuşlardır. 1849-1852 yılları arasında Kotur'la ilgili Osmanlı ve İran arasındaki gerginlik ileriki zamanlara yansımakla birlikte, bu yer 1878 Berlin Antlaşması'na kadar Osmanlı egemenliğinde kalmıştır

Kotur is located in the Ottoman-Iran border region, between Van and Hakkari provinces in the Ottoman side and Hoy province in the Iranian side. Kotur contains several villages and never lost its significance throughout the history due to its strategic location, geographical structure, its summer pasture features and several nomadic tribes visit the area during spring season. The conflict that started in 1849 between Ottoman Empire and Iran about the borderline in the area, whether Kotur belonged to the Ottoman Empire or Iran in its center, turned into a prolonged problem between these two nations. Historically an Ottoman region until 19th Century, Kotur turned into an area of conflict suddenly, which was related to developments of the time and the ongoing problems between Ottoman Empire and Iran. Especially during the reign of Mahmud II, the Empire lost to Iran in the front of the war of 1821-1823 and withdrawn from Van, Muş, Bayezid and other provinces. Although Iran gad to ask for peace due to an epidemic among its soldiers towards the end of the war, and retreated from the lands it occupied, this war affected Ottoman Empire negatively in many aspects. Thus, among the many subjects discussed during the peace talks after the war, establishment of borders between the two countries and the loyalty of the clans living around borders were one of the most significant ones. The times were not friendly with the Empire during this period as well. The state did not deal well with the problems with Iran in the eastern front, including the provinces of Van, Hakkari and Bayezid, of which Kotur was a part, due to various internal and external troubles and the arbitrary attitudes of local administrators (Beys) of fiefdoms and self-ordained acts of governors and many more issues. The troubles caused by the personal inaptitude of then ruler of the fief of Kotur, Musa Bey resulted in the purchase or lease of the land by Iranians without the knowledge of the Ottoman administration. Similarly Yahya Bey, the vassal of Çıhrık locality, acted so that the fiefdom was annexed to Iran, causing further problems for the Ottoman. The current Iranian administration and Crown Prince Abbas Mirza, Governor of Tabriz wanted to benefit from the Ottoman troubles by expanding Iranian influence. The attitude of Abbas Mirza on the border issues of 1832 and compelling actions against the Ottoman to resolve these issues brought in the attention of then Erzurum Governor, Esad Muhlis Pasha. He had significant providence on the strategic importance of the Iranian border region and especially Kotur, and the things that should be done to resolve the conflict. In short, Ottoman Empire was vulnerable in being informed about the events of the Iranian border regions, in displaying a timely response and in protecting its own borders. Thus, certain administrators assigned in Van, Erzurum and Hakkari provinces by the government attempted to deal with the issues and protect the Ottoman law, while others acting in the benefit of their self-interest, created further problems for the central authority. This case is one of the reasons why there were continuous problems between the Ottomans and Iran. To end the conflict that lasted between 1843-1847 between Ottomans and Iran, in June 1847 Erzurum Treaty was signed with the influence of the mediator nations, namely England and Russia. As per the third clause of this treaty, it was decided that a commission to determine the final borderline between the two states would be formed, this commission would meet in Baghdad and the Ottoman Empire, Iran, England and Russia would send representatives to conduct the negotiations. Ottoman State assigned a delegation led by Dervish Pasha to join the commission. Before arriving to Baghdad in the beginning of 1849, this delegation, as instructed by the Ottoman administration, conducted inspections in Van and Hakkari to determine the borders of Kotur. It was stated as a result of this border inspection that Kotur belonged to the Ottoman State since the Baghdad campaign of Murad IV and administered locally by a Bey. It was expressed that due to the problems Ottoman State experienced by the beginning of the 19th Century, the area was neglected and the Bey in charge sold certain villages that he was responsible to certain Iranian citizens, resulting in claims by Iran over these areas. Ottoman Empire took every opportunity to declare every evidence of Kotur’s tenure via Derviş Pasha, who was responsible for the negotiations during border determination talks. Iranian side, however, refused the claims of the Ottomans through their representative Mirza Cafer Han and by decree of the Iranian administration. These claims and confrontations heated up and pushed the works of the commission to a dead end in certain times, in others resulted in postponing the Kotur issue to deal with other border conflicts between the nations. Claims about the location of Kotur commenced as explained above, aggrandized with the objections of Iran, became one of the main subject matters of the discussions of the border determination commission. Mediator countries, England and Russia got involved in the discussions as well. Kotur stayed a part of Ottoman State until the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russia war, but within the framework of the Berlin Treaty signed at the end of this war, it was conceded to Iran per the request of Russia. In the light of these events, Kotur conflict for the Ottomans meant the security of Ottoman land and borders, the control of strategic areas in the east and public order. The state of the affairs in Iran of the time was not sufficient to change the course of the Kotur conflict, and furthermore the interventionist policies of England and Russia in the region prevented a common ground between the two neighboring countries to solve their problems.