Hakkâri (), formerly known as Julamerk, (, , ) is a city and the seat of Hakkâri District in the

Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province in the southeast of Turkey. The administrative centre is the city of Hakkâri. Its area is 7,095 km2, and its population is 287,625 (2023). The current Governor is Ali Çelik. The province encompasses ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The city is populated by

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

and had a population of 58,470 in 2023. It is located about 40 kilometres from the Iraq–Turkey border, but the distance to the nearest Iraqi border crossing (Ibrahim Khalil Border Crossing) by road is about 270 km.

Etymology

According to medieval and most of modern scholars, Hakkari is named after a local Kurdish tribe called

Hakkâri Hakkari or Hakkâri may refer to: * Hakkari (historical region), a historical region in modern-day Turkey and Iraq *Hakkâri (city), a city and the capital of Hakkâri Province, Turkey *Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province ...

. According to Nicholas Al-Jeloo, Hakkari is derived from the Akkadian word Ikkari or Aramaic Akkare, meaning farmers.

Neighborhoods

The city is divided into the neighborhoods of Bağlar, Berçelan, Biçer, Bulak, Dağgöl, Gazi, Halife Derviş, Karşıyaka, Keklikpınar, Kıran, Medrese, Merzan, Pehlivan, Sümbül and Yeni.

History

Prior to the Assyrian genocide of 1915, Hakkari was the home of

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

for centuries. After the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman government, the Assyrian population was almost entirely erased, due to the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Assyrian Christians during the genocide. The only Assyrians who managed to escape did not return, as the region, and country at large, has remained hostile towards any indigenous people attempting to return to their homelands. The few remaining and the handful of those attempting to return to their indigenous land where Assyrians were still based just a few generations ago, continue to face intense persecution and even murder.

Hubushkia

Hubushkia was an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

kingdom located between the Urartian and

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n sphere of influence. The exact location of Hubushkia is unknown, but scholars suggests that the kingdom of Hubushkia was centred on the headwaters of the Great Zap River, in what is now

in Eastern Anatolia,

Hakkari kurgan stelae

Thirteen Kurgan stelae, never before seen in Anatolia or the Near East, were found in 1998 in their original location at the centre of Hakkari. The stelae were carved on upright flagstone-like slabs measuring between 0.7 m to 3.10 m in height. The stones contain only one cut surface, upon which human figures are chiseled. The theme of each stele reveals the foreview of an upper human body. The legs are not represented. Eleven of the stelae depict naked warriors with daggers, spears, and axes—masculine symbols of war. They always hold a drinking vessel made of skin in both hands. Two stelae contain female figures without arms. The stelae may have been carved by different craftsmen using different techniques. Stylistic differences shift from bas relief to a more systematic linearity. The earliest stelae are in the style of bas relief while the latest ones are in a linear style. They were made during a period from the fifteenth century BC to the eleventh century BC in Hakkari. Stelae with this type of relief are not common in the ancient Near East however there are many close parallels between these and those produced by a variety of peoples from the Eurasian steppes between the third millennium BC and the eleventh century AD. They are now on display in the Van Museum.

Sport

The women's football club Hakkarigücü Spor was promoted to the Women's First League to take part in the 2018–19 season after finishing the 2017–18 Second League season as runners-up.

Notable people

* Evdilsemedê Babek (972–1019), Kurdish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

* Abu'l-Hayja al-Hakkari (12th century), Kurdish ruler and tribal chief * Isa al-Hakkari (12th century),

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

Kurdish commander * Izz al-Din Shir (1384–1453) Famous founder of the Emirate of Hakkâri * Çelik Gülersoy (1930–2006), Turkish lawyer of Kurdish descent * Yılmaz Erdoğan (born 1967), film actor, activist, poet * Pervin Buldan (born 1967), Turkish politician of Kurdish origin

Population

Population history of the municipality from 1997 to 2023:

Climate

Hakkâri has a warm-summer, Mediterranean-influenced

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dsa'',

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

: ''Dca''). Hakkari city is at an elevation of around 1720 meters (5640 feet) and is surrounded by higher elevations nearby. The winters are cold and snowy with an average of −4 °C (23 °F). Summers are warm and dry with an average of 25 °C (76 °F). Highest recorded temperature: on 27 July 1966
Lowest recorded temperature: on 3 January 2009

Sister cities

In addition, Hakkâri was twinned with: * Boden, Sweden

References

External links

History of Hakkari (in Turkish)Assyrians in Hakkari
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakkari Provincial municipalities in Turkey Populated places in Hakkâri District Turkish Kurdistan Kurdish settlements in Hakkâri Province