Şemdinli (Syriac: ܫܲܡ̱ܣܕܝܼܢ Shemsdin; Kurdish: Şemdinan) is a district located in the Hakkari Province of southeastern Turkey. The population is 11,211 as of 2010.[1]It was previously in the Ottoman vilayet of Van and the district centre was called Nevşehir.[2] The mayor is Sedat Töre (BDP).
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The district of Şemdinli (Syriac: ܫܲܡ̱ܣܕܝܼܢ Shemsdin) lies in the center of the Assyrian Nochiya Tribe of Hakkari. The district of Şemdinli is the heart of their tribe. It was the home of the famous Assyrian Khnanisho Matran Family. The Nochiya tribe of Şemdinli are well known for their adherence to the Assyrian Church of the East faith, growing tobacco, and for their religious customs (such as lent and prayer were strictly observed).[3]
Located at the farthest corner of Turkey, the district of Şemdinli is a mountainous land. There is a visible military presence in the town, owing to the strategic position of the town astride a mountain route connecting the least-controllable corners of Iran and Iraq.
A bomb ripped Şemdinli town centre on November 1, 2005. It was officially attributed to the PKK, an armed Kurdish separatist 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, JITEM. The resulting investigation developed into a major political issue in Turkey in the first half of 2006.[4]
Investigations concerning the Şemdinli bombing trial have been blocked by the military. All the judges and prosecutors associated with the Şemdinli bookshop bombing case were transferred from Van to other cities following a June 2007 decree.[5]
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