İspir (Armenian: Սպեր, Sper; Georgian: სპერი, Speri) is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey.

[citation needed] The ancient kingdom of Hayasa-Azzi (2nd millennium BC), which was the forerunner of Armenian statehood, was located in the upper reaches of the rivers Euphrates and Chorokh, and included Sper.

[4] The Saspers were mentioned by Xenophon;[5] The illustrious dynasty of the Bagrationi originated in the most ancient Georgian district – Speri (today İspir).

One of their branches moved out to Armenia, the other to Georgian Kingdom of Iberia, and both won for themselves the dominant position among the other rulers of Transcaucasia.

[7] [clarification needed]In the 4th-3rd centuries BC Sper was organized into a province of the Iberian Kingdom as noted by Strabo.