Şemdinli

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Şemdinli
A view of Şemdinli
Şemdinli
Coordinates: 37°18′00″N 44°34′00″E / 37.30000°N 44.56667°E / 37.30000; 44.56667Coordinates: 37°18′00″N 44°34′00″E / 37.30000°N 44.56667°E / 37.30000; 44.56667
Country Turkey
Province Hakkâri
Government
 • Mayor Sedat Töre (BDP)
 • Kaymakam Mesut Gençtürk
Area[1]
 • District 1,661.05 km2 (641.33 sq mi)
Population (2012)[2]
 • Urban 21,048
 • District 67,173
 • District Density 40/km2 (100/sq mi)
Post code 30800
Website www.semdinli.bel.tr

Şemdinli (Syriac: ܫܲܡ̱ܣܕܝܼܢ Shemsdin; Kurdish: Şemzînan) is a district located in the Hakkari Province of southeastern Turkey. The population is 11,211 as of 2010.[3] It was previously in the Ottoman vilayet of Van and the district centre was called Nevşehir.[4] The mayor is Sedat Töre (BDP).

Assyrians

Further information: Shemsdin (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)

The district of Şemdinli 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 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).[5]

Şemdinli today

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.

On 23 July 2012, Turkish security forces began a major security offensive, backed by airpower, against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) around Şemdinli. Interior minister, İdris Naim Şahin, explained that the forces were attempting to block the PKK's escape routes into northern Iraq, and that as many as 115 PKK fighters had been killed. Television news channel, Nergis Televizyonu (NTV), claimed that up to two thousand troops were involved in the operation. On 5 August 2012, PKK forces fired on a military post in the village of Gecimli, triggering clashes that killed 22 terrorists, soldiers and village guards, and injuring 15 others, including five civilians. The military post was one of a number attacked in Hakkâri Province, although there were no reports of casualties in the other incidents.[6]

Bombings

Further information: Şemdinli incident

A bomb exploded in Şemdinli town centre on November 1, 2005. It was officially attributed to the PKK, an armed Kurdish militant group. On November 9 one man was killed in a grenade attack on a local bookshop. The suspects of this attack, however, were caught in the act by bystanders. They were said to be members of a Turkish Gendarmerie unit, JITEM. The resulting investigation developed into a major political issue in Turkey in the first half of 2006.[7] After a lengthy legal process the three suspects were eventually sentenced to 39 years.

Investigations concerning the Şemdinli bombing trial were blocked by the military, and all the judges and prosecutor associated with the Şemdinli bookshop bombing case transferred from Van to other cities following a June 2007 decree.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05. 
  2. ↑ "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. 
  3. ↑ Statistical Institute
  4. ↑ http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=1380/entry?entry=islam_SIM-6803
  5. ↑ Solomon (Sawa) Solomon from Nineveh Magazine 1st & 2nd quarter 1997, vol. 20, no 1&2.
  6. ↑ "Turkish Troops Kill 115 Kurdish Rebels as Offensive Blocks Escape Routes to Iraq". The Guardian (London). Associated Press. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012. 
  7. ↑ "Court says senior officers involved in Şemdinli bombing". Turkish Daily News. 2006-07-19. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  8. ↑ Retrograde Human Rights Trends and Stagnation of the Human Rights Reform Process, 4th part of the Human Rights Watch July 2007 report titled "Turkey: Human Rights Concerns in the Lead up to July Parliamentary Elections".

External links

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