Turk Garakilsasi is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Duzkend (Akhuryan) district, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre lies 5 km to the southwest of the town of Gumru, at a height of 1,462 m above sea level. Until 1937 it had been within the former Gumru (Leninakan) district. Its name was noted in “The Iravan Province Review Book”, and was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was inhabited by 410 Azerbaijanis in 1886, 484 in 1897, 554 in 1904 and 911 Azerbaijanis in 1914. In 1918 Armenian armed units committed massacres against Azerbaijanis and expelled the population from the village. The Armenians removed from the Turkish provinces of Mush, Sasun, Khnus (Hinis) and Kars provinces were settled in the village. At present, only Armenians live in the village.

The village was named “Garakilsa”, because it was built near a church of the Christian Turks (Gipchags) constructed with black stone. The ethnonym “Turk” at the beginning of the toponym denotes a distinctive feature and indicates that its inhabitants are Turks (Azerbaijanis).

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 January 1935, it was renamed “Akhurik”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Shirak province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°45’ N., longitude 43°47’ E.