Khoy, Khoi [key], city (1991 pop. 137,885), West Azerbaijan prov., NW Iran. It is the trade center for a fertile, irrigated farm region that produces grain, fruit, and timber. Because of its strategic location near Turkey and the Russian Empire (later the Soviet Union), control of the city has frequently been in dispute. Khoy was attacked by Russia in 1827, occupied by Turkey in 1911, and held by the Soviet Union during World War II. Nearby, in 1514, Selim I, an Ottoman sultan, defeated Shah Ismail of Persia at the battle of Chaldiran.
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