Siirt ( ar, سِعِرْد, Siʿird; hy, Սղերդ, S'gherd; syr, ܣܥܪܬ, Siirt; ku, Sêrt) is a city in southeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and the seat of

Siirt Province Siirt Province, ( tr, , ku, Parêzgeha Sêrtê) is a province of Turkey, located in the southeast. The province borders Bitlis to the north, Batman to the west, Mardin to the southwest, Şırnak to the south, and Van to the east. It has an ar ...

. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188.

History

Previously known as ''Saird'', in pre-Islamic times Siirt was a diocese of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

(''Sirte'', Σίρτη in

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman c ...

). In the medieval times, Arzen was the main city and it competed with Hasankeyf over the control the region, Siirt was only to become a center of the region in the 14th century. But it was still dependent from

Hasankeyf Hasankeyf ( ar, حصن كيفا, translit=Ḥiṣn Kayfa‘, ku, Heskîf, hy, Հասանքեյֆ, translit=, el, Κιφας, translit=Kifas, lat, Cepha, syr, ܚܣܢܐ ܕܟܐܦܐ, Ḥesno d-Kifo) is a town and district located along the Ti ...

until the 17th century. An illuminated manuscript known as the Syriac Bible of Paris might have originated from the Bishop of Siirt's library, Siirt's Christians would have worshipped in Syriac, a liturgical language descended from

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

still in use by the Syriac Rite,

Chaldean Rite The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturg ...

, other Eastern Christians in India, and the Nestorians along the Silk Road as far as China. The Chronicle of Seert was preserved in the city; it describes the ecclesiastical history of the Persian realm through to the middle of the seventh century. From 1858 to 1915 the city was the seat of a bishop of the

Chaldean Catholic Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

. Most of the city's

Assyrians Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

, including

Addai Scher Addai Sher ( syr, ܐܕܝ ܫܝܪ, ) Also spelled Addaï Scher and Addai Sheir (3 March 1867 – 21 June 1915), was the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Siirt in Upper Mesopotamia. He was killed by the Ottomans during the 1915 Assyrian genocide. Ear ...

their archbishop were murdered during the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo or the Seyfo (; see below), also known as the Assyrian genocide, was the mass slaughter and deportation of Assyrian / Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish ...

along with the loss of artefacts such as the Syriac manuscript of

Theodore of Mopsuestia Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350 – 428) was a Christian theologian, and Bishop of Mopsuestia (as Theodore II) from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate. He is the best known ...

's De Incarnatione. Also during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the Armenian population of Siirt became a victim of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

Demographics

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three ti ...

referred to the city as an Arab city eager to get

Turkified Turkification, Turkization, or Turkicization ( tr, Türkleştirme) describes a shift whereby populations or places received or adopted Turkic attributes such as culture, language, history, or ethnicity. However, often this term is more narrowly ...

, while Kurds lived in the outskirts.

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

currently constitute a majority in the city with a significant Arab community.

Government

In the municipal elections of March 2019 Berivan Helen Işık of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected mayor. She was dismissed from her post on 15 May 2020 and detained over terror charges. Ali Fuat Atik, the Governor of the Siirt province was appointed trustee by the Ministry of the Interior.

Landmarks

The city's landmark is the Great Mosque (''Ulu Cami'') built in 1129 by the Great Seljuk Sultan Mahmud II who belonged to the main branch of the dynasty that ruled from

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

after this

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Empire had split into several branches. The mosque was restored in 1965.

Trivia

Siirt was Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

's constituency from 2003 to 2007. His wife, Mrs.

Emine Erdoğan Emine Erdoğan (; ; born 16 February 1955) is the current first lady of Turkey, and the wife of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Family and education Early life Emine Erdoğa, was born as Cemal and Hayriye Gülbaran’s fifth child and only daugh ...

, is from Siirt and the PM had been elected to the

Turkish Grand National Assembly The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

in a by-election held in Siirt in 2003. Although Siirt remains one of the poorer cities in Turkey, some neighbourhoods have fine and modern housing including new shops, banks and hotels.Siirt in South East Turkey Photo Gallery by Dick Osseman at
Pbase.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.

Climate

Siirt has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( Köppen: ''Csa,'' Trewartha'': Cs'') with very hot, dry summers and chilly, wet winters. During winter months there is frequent frost and occasional snowfall.

Notable people

Mehmet Güney Mehmet Güney (born 3 May 1936 in Siirt, Turkey) is an international judge and a Turkish diplomat. Biography Education Between 1954 and 1959, Mehmet Güney studied at the faculty of political science, then at the law faculty, of the Ankara ...

(1936*), Diplomat and judge * Coşkun Aral (1956*),

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locat ...

, photo journalist, television journalist and documentary

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. * Ethem Sancak (1958*), Businessmen * Zübeyir Aydar (1961*), politician, lawyer and president of the

Kongra-Gel The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(People's Congress of Kurdistan) * Yasin Aktay (1966*), Chairman of Justice and Development Party in Turkey * Hasan Özer (1974*), footballer and manager * Kerem Gürgen (1983*), boxer *

Evin Demirhan Evin Demirhan Yavuz (born 2 July 1995) is a Turkish freestyle wrestler competing in the 50 kg division. She is a member of Ankara Aski Spor Club. She won the gold medal at the 2022 European Wrestling Championships. Early life Demirhan was ...

(1995*), freestyle wrestler

Gallery

File:Bridge in siirt.jpg, A bridge in Siirt File:Ebul vefa mosque.jpg, Ebul Vefa Mosque File:Ibrahim hakkı shrine in siirt tillo.jpg, Ibrahim hakkı shrine in Siirt Tillo File:Siirt city hall(mayor).jpg, The city hall File:Siirt Tillo.jpg, Siirt Tillo File:Siirt Street scene 1526.jpg, Siirt Street scene File:Siirt Saat Kulesi 8416.jpg, Siirt Saat Kulesi File:Siirt Market area 8478.jpg, Siirt Market area File:Siirt Ulu Camii 1543.jpg, Siirt Ulu Camii File:Siirt Haci Abdulhakim Mosque 1512.jpg, Hacı Abdulhakim Sancak Çarşı Camii File:Siirt Haci Abdulhakim Mosque 1518.jpg, Hacı Abdulhakim Sancak Çarşı Camii Minber

References

External links

*
George_Grigore: Les principales caracteristiques de l'arabe parle a Siirt
{{Authority control Cities in Turkey Districts of Siirt Province Populated places in Siirt Province Kurdish settlements in Turkey Assyrian communities in Turkey Arab settlements in Turkey