Siirt
Siirt | |
|---|---|
 City center | |
  Siirt | |
| Coordinates: 37°55′30″N 41°56′45″E / 37.92500°N 41.94583°ECoordinates: 37°55′30″N 41°56′45″E / 37.92500°N 41.94583°E | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Region | Southeastern Anatolia |
| Province | Siirt |
| Government | |
| • Elected Mayor | Berivan Helen Işık (deposed) (HDP) |
| • Acting Mayor (Governor of Siirt Province) | Ali Fuat Atik |
| Area | |
| • District | 283.87 km2 (109.60 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 902 m (2,959 ft) |
| Population (2012)[2] | |
| • Urban | 135,350 |
| • District | 145,784 |
| • District density | 510/km2 (1,300/sq mi) |
| Website | www.siirt.bel.tr |
Siirt (Arabic: سِعِرْد Siʿird,', Syriac: ܣܥܪܬ, romanized: Siirt,[3] Kurdish: Sêrt,[4] Ottoman Turkish: سعرد Greek: Σύρτη) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188.[5] The majority of the city's population is Kurdish[6] although a significant Arab population lives in the town.[7]
History[]
The Hurrians first settled in the region some four thousand years ago. Later, Hurrian-speaking people founded the Kingdom of Mitanni that also encompassed the area of Siirt Province and lasted from around 1500 BCE to 1300 BCE.
Previously known as Saird, in pre-Islamic times Siirt was a diocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church (Sirte, Σίρτη in Byzantine Greek). In the medieval times, Arzan 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 until the 17th century.[8] An illuminated manuscript known as the Syriac Bible of Paris may have originated from the Bishop of Siirt's library, Siirt's Christians would worshipped in Syriac, a liturgical language descended from Aramaic still in use by the Chaldean Rite, 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 the middle of the seventh century. From 1858 to 1915 the city was the seat of a bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Most of the city's Assyrians, including Addai Scher their archbishop were killed during the Assyrian genocide along with the loss of the Syriac manuscript of Theodore of Mopsuestia's De Incarnatione.[9] During World War I, the Armenian population of Siirt became a victim of the Armenian genocide.[10]
Government[]
In the municipal elections of March 2019 Berivan Helen Işık of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was elected mayor.[11] 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.[12]
Landmarks[]
The city's landmark is the Great Mosque (Ulu Cami) built in 1129 by the Great Seljuk Sultan Mahmut II who belonged to the main branch of the dynasty that ruled from Baghdad after this Turkish Empire had split into several branches. The mosque was restored in 1965.
Economy[]
Siirt was in the past a fertile agricultural environment.
Siirt is famous in Turkey for its hand-made blankets (Siirt battaniyesi). Many visitors find themselves departing with one offered as a present. The traditional kilims produced by the Jirikan clan (aşiret Arabic: عشیرة) and revived since 1996 through joint efforts involving official instances and citizens are also much prized. Another product of interest is the Bıttım soaps proper to the region. Siirt also has an extremely rich culinary and spa culture. Depending district centers of Aydınlar (former Assyrian-rooted name was Tillo) with its historical medrese is renowned as a religious center and Pervari for its honey based on the particularly rich flora.
Trivia[]
Siirt was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's constituency from 2003 to 2007. His wife, Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, is from Siirt and the PM had been elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in a by-election held in Siirt in 2003.
Although Siirt remains one of the poorer cities in Turkey, some neighborhoods have fine and modern housing including new shops, banks and hotels.[13]
Climate[]
Siirt has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa, Trewartha: Cs) with very hot, dry summers and chilly, wet winters. During winter months there is frequent frost and occasional snowfall.
| hideClimate data for Siirt (1991–2020, extremes 1939–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 19.7 (67.5) |
20.6 (69.1) |
28.5 (83.3) |
32.9 (91.2) |
36.2 (97.2) |
40.2 (104.4) |
44.4 (111.9) |
46.0 (114.8) |
40.0 (104.0) |
36.6 (97.9) |
25.8 (78.4) |
24.3 (75.7) |
46.0 (114.8) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 7.3 (45.1) |
9.3 (48.7) |
14.2 (57.6) |
19.7 (67.5) |
25.7 (78.3) |
32.8 (91.0) |
37.5 (99.5) |
37.6 (99.7) |
32.6 (90.7) |
25.2 (77.4) |
15.7 (60.3) |
9.1 (48.4) |
22.2 (72.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.3 (37.9) |
4.7 (40.5) |
9.2 (48.6) |
14.3 (57.7) |
19.8 (67.6) |
26.5 (79.7) |
30.9 (87.6) |
30.9 (87.6) |
25.8 (78.4) |
18.9 (66.0) |
10.6 (51.1) |
5.1 (41.2) |
16.7 (62.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 0.4 (32.7) |
1.2 (34.2) |
5.1 (41.2) |
9.7 (49.5) |
14.3 (57.7) |
20.1 (68.2) |
24.1 (75.4) |
24.1 (75.4) |
19.4 (66.9) |
13.7 (56.7) |
6.8 (44.2) |
2.3 (36.1) |
11.8 (53.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −19.3 (−2.7) |
−16.5 (2.3) |
−13.3 (8.1) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
2.0 (35.6) |
8.2 (46.8) |
13.1 (55.6) |
14.4 (57.9) |
8.5 (47.3) |
0.3 (32.5) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
−14.6 (5.7) |
−19.3 (−2.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 81.0 (3.19) |
98.6 (3.88) |
115.2 (4.54) |
102.2 (4.02) |
63.9 (2.52) |
9.7 (0.38) |
3.8 (0.15) |
2.2 (0.09) |
7.9 (0.31) |
49.1 (1.93) |
76.8 (3.02) |
90.3 (3.56) |
700.7 (27.59) |
| Average precipitation days | 12.73 | 12.53 | 14.83 | 14.07 | 11.33 | 4.13 | 1.53 | 1.00 | 2.47 | 8.77 | 9.07 | 11.90 | 104.4 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 70 | 70 | 59 | 56 | 52 | 33 | 25 | 23 | 28 | 46 | 61 | 69 | 49 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 108.5 | 121.5 | 164.3 | 192.0 | 263.5 | 333.0 | 356.5 | 331.7 | 285.0 | 217.0 | 156.0 | 105.4 | 2,634.4 |
| Mean daily sunshine hours | 3.5 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 6.4 | 8.5 | 11.1 | 11.5 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 7.2 |
| Source 1: Turkish State Meteorological Service[14] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Weatherbase[15] | |||||||||||||
Gallery[]
A bridge in Siirt
Ebul Vefa Mosque
Ibrahim hakkı shrine in Siirt Tillo
The city hall
Siirt Tillo
Siirt Street scene
Siirt Saat Kulesi
Siirt Market area
Siirt Ulu Camii
Hacı Abdulhakim Sancak Çarşı Camii
Hacı Abdulhakim Sancak Çarşı Camii Minber
References[]
- ^ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
- ^ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
- ^ Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Siirt — ܣܥܪܬ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified December 9, 2016, http://syriaca.org/place/188.
- ^ Adem Avcıkıran (2009). Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî (PDF) (in Turkish and Kurdish). p. 57. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ Şehir, belde ve köy nüfusları – 2009 Archived October 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Tuskish Institute of Statistics
- ^ Watts, Nicole F. (2010). Activists in Office: Arabic and Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey (Studies in Modernity and National Identity). Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-295-99050-7.
- ^ Avram, Andrei A.; Focşeneanu, Anca; Grigore, George (2011), Les principales caractéristiques de l'arabe parlé a Siirt (Turquie), Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, pp. 255–277
- ^ Sinclair, T. A. (1989-12-31). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume III. Pindar Press. p. 295. ISBN 978-0-907132-34-9.
- ^ Gaunt, David; Beṯ-Şawoce, Jan (2006), Massacres, resistance, protectors: Muslim-Christian relations in Eastern Anatolia during World War I, Gorgias Press LLC, pp. 251–253, ISBN 978-1593333010
- ^ Kevorkian, Raymond (2016-01-25). "The Extermination of Ottoman Armenians by the Young Turk Regime (1915-1916) | Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network". extermination-ottoman-armenians-young-turk-regime-1915-1916.html. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
- ^ "Siirt Seçim Sonuçları - 31 Mart 2019 Yerel Seçimleri". www.sabah.com.tr. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
- ^ "Four mayors detained over alleged terror links - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
- ^ Siirt in South East Turkey Photo Gallery by Dick Osseman at. Pbase.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.
- ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ "Siirt, Turkey Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
External links[]
| show Siirt in Siirt Province of Turkey |
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| show Authority control  |
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- Siirt
- Cities in Turkey
- Districts of Siirt Province
- Populated places in Siirt Province
- Kurdish settlements in Turkey
- Assyrian communities in Turkey
- Arab settlements in Turkey