| Type: | municipality |
| Akçakiraz | |
| Coordinates: | 38.6167°N 55°W |
| Province: | Elazığ |
| District: | Elazığ |
| Elevation M: | 920 |
| Population Total: | 8047 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Postal Code: | 23180 |
| Area Code: | 0424 |
| Blank1 Name: | Climate |
| Blank1 Info: | Csa |
Akçakiraz (former Perçenç, from the original Armenian Parchanj [Armenian: Բարջանճ])[1] is a belde (town) in the central district (Elazığ District) of Elazığ Province, Turkey.[2] Situated south of Elazığ and near the junction of two Turkish state highways D.300 and D.885 which connect Elazığ to Bingöl and Diyarbakır respectively. Its population is 8,047 (2021).[3]
It consists of 10 quarters: Paşalar, Kıraç, Yenice, Hürriyet, Kültür, Yeşilyurt, Yüzbaşı, Yeşilkuşak, Zafer and Bahçekapı.[4]
According to the official municipality page the town was founded in 1670 by a certain İsmail Bey who was probably a member of Karakoyunlu dynasty (which had founded a short lived Turkmen empire in the 14th and 15th centuries).[5] Local Armenian tradition held that the town was founded by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, patron saints of the Armenian Church. While the author of a study on the village finds this story to be apocryphal, he believes Armenians were the original founders of the village.[6] All the Armenians were expelled or massacred during the course of the Armenian genocide of 1915.[7]