Guide
Otlukbeli Gölü is protected as a natural site by decision of the Erzurum board for the protection of cultural and natural property; the provincial directorate gives no date for that decision.
Its claim to importance is stated in one sentence and not explained. The directorate says the lake's basin and the way it formed are, among lake types known to date, unique in the world, and that it is on this account described as a natural monument. It does not say what is unique about the basin, how the lake formed, or how large or deep it is.
