Şemdinli

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Şemdinli (Assyrian: ܫܲܡ̱ܣܕܝܼܢ Shamizdin; Kurdish: Şemdinan) is a district located in the Hakkari Province of southeastern Turkey.

This district, along with many others located in southeastern Turkey, was previously inhabited by Assyrians before World War I.[1]

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[edit] Assyrians

The district of Şemdinli lies in the center of the Assyrian Nochiya Tribe. The district of Şemdinli is the heart of their tribe. It is the home of the famous Assyrian Matran Family. The Nochiya tribe of Şemdinli are well known for their adherence to the Nestorian faith, growing tobacco and for their religious customs (such as lent and prayer were strictly observed).[2]

[edit] Şemdinli today

Located at the farthest corner of Turkey, the district of Şemdinli is a mountainous land. First glimpsed from atop a frightfully high mountain pass, Şemdinli-town makes one think of the valleys of Switzerland.

There is an overly visible military presence in the town, which is justified by the strategic position of the town astride a mountain route connecting the least-controllable corners of Iran and Iraq. The local language is Kurdish – actually, two varieties of Kurdish spoken by the Gerdi and Herki clans.[citation needed]

[edit] Nehri

15 km southwest of the town is Nehri, officially called Bağlar, the former capital of the valley of Şemdinan. Here at the beginning of the 19th century Seyid Taha, who claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad[citation needed], set up the headquarters of a powerful sufi lodge of the Nakshibendi order[citation needed]. He reconciled the warring clans and set up a medrese that became a spiritual beacon of the Kurdish lands. His son Seyid Ubeydullah grew strong enough to make war on Persia. A grandson, Seyid Abdülkadir, was the last president of the Ottoman Senate[citation needed]. He was hanged in 1925 for suspected complicity in the Kurdish rebellion of that year[citation needed].

The lodge (tekke) and the residence of the seyids are now scant ruins in an overgrown mulberry grove[citation needed].

[edit] Bombings

A bomb ripped Şemdinli town centre on November 1, 2005. It was officially attributed to PKK, the Kurdish guerrilla group. A second bomb went off near a bookstore on November 9. The suspects of this attack, however, were caught in the act by bystanders. They were said to be members of a gendarmerie special-operations unit. The resulting investigation developed into a major political issue in Turkey in the first half of 2006. [1] [2] [3]

[edit] See also


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