Şırnak Province (, ) is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Şırnak Province was created in 1990, with areas that were formerly part of the Siirt, Hakkâri and

Mardin Province Mardin Province (; ; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey. Its area is 8,780 km2, and its population is 870,374 (2022). The largest city in the province is Kızıltepe, while the capital Mardin is the second largest ci ...

s. It borders both

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The current

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the province is Cevdet Atay. The province had a population of 570,745 in 2023. Its area is 7,078 km². It encompasses 19

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, 240 villages and 192

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

. Considered part of

Turkish Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan () is the southeastern part of Turkey where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. The Kurdish Institute of Paris estimates that there are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey, the majority of them in the ...

, the province has a Kurdish majority.

Geography

Şırnak Province has some mountainous regions in the west and the south, but the majority of the province consists of plateaus, resulting from the many rivers that cross it. These include the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

(and its tributaries Hezil and Kızılsu) and Çağlayan. The most important mountains are

Mount Cudi Mount Judi (; ; ; ) is a mountain in Turkey. It was considered in antiquity to be Noah's or "Place of Descent", the location where the Ark came to rest after the Great Flood, according to very early Christian and Islamic traditions (the latte ...

(2089 m),

Mount Gabar Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

Mount Namaz Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

and

Mount Altın Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

Districts

Şırnak province is divided into seven

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(center district in bold): *

Beytüşşebap District Beytüşşebap District is a district of the Şırnak Province of Turkey. In 2023, the district had a population of 16,056. The seat of the district is the town of Beytüşşebap. Its area is 1,647 km2. Settlements Beytüşşebap Distric ...

Cizre District Cizre District is a district of the Şırnak Province of Turkey. Its population was 159,754 in 2022. Its area is 444 km2. The seat of the district is the town of Cizre. Settlements Cizre District contains no beldes, thirty-two villages, o ...

Güçlükonak District Güçlükonak District is a district of the Şırnak Province of Turkey. In 2021, the district had a population of 11,915. The seat of the district is the town of Güçlükonak. Its area is 466 km2. The district was part of Siirt Province ...

İdil District İdil District is a district of the Şırnak Province of Turkey. The seat of the district is the town of İdil and the population was 77,105 in 2021. Its area is 1,148 km2. The district was formed in 1937. The western part of the district ...

* Silopi District * Şırnak District * Uludere District

History

Inspectorate-General

In order to Turkify the local population, in June 1927, Law 1164 was passed, which allowed the creation of Inspectorates-General (''Umumi Müffetişlik,'' UM). The province was included in the First Inspectorate General (), which covered the provinces of Hakkâri, Siirt, Van,

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

, Şırnak

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Sanlıurfa, Elaziğ, and

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

. The First Inspectorate General was established in January 1928 and had its headquarters in

. The UM was governed by an Inspector General, who governed with a wide-ranging authority over civilian, juridical and military matters. In 1948 the policy of governing the province within the Inspectorate General was abandoned and the administration was not re-employed again, but the office of the Inspector General was only dissolved in 1952 during the government of the Democrat Party.

Kurdish-Turkish conflict

Şırnak has been a focal point in the ongoing Kurdish-Turkish conflict, which began in 1984. From its creation in 1990 to 2002, Şırnak Province was part of the OHAL (

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

) region which was declared to counter the

Kurdistan Workers Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gu ...

(PKK) and governed by a supergovernor, who was given additional powers than a normal Turkish provincial governor, including the power to relocate and resettle whole settlements. In December 1990, the supergovernor and the provincial governors in the OHAL region received

absolute immunity In United States law, absolute immunity is a type of sovereign immunity for government officials that confers complete immunity from criminal prosecution and suits for damages, so long as officials are acting within the scope of their duties. The ...

from prosecution in connection with decisions they made under Decree No. 430.

Turkish Forces' operation, 1992

On 18 August 1992 Turkish forces attacked the city, killing 54 people, mostly children and women. For three days homes were burned, livestock were killed, and people were killed. 20,000 out of 25,000 residents fled the city,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

reported. During the operation, a curfew was imposed in the town and when it finally ended, the whole city was in ruins. While the town was under bombardment, there was no way to get an account of what was happening in the region as journalists were prevented from entering the city centre which was completely burned down by the security forces. Şırnak was under fire for three days and tanks and cannons were used to hit buildings occupied by civilians. On 26 August 1992, Amnesty International sent requests to then Prime Minister,

Süleyman Demirel Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...

, Interior Minister

İsmet Sezgin İsmet Sezgin (6 January 1928 – 7 December 2016) was a Turkish politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey and Minister of National Defense from 1997 to 1999, as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly in 1995, as the Mini ...

, Emergency Legislation Governor Ünal Erkan and Şırnak province governor Mustafa Mala, to immediately initiate an independent and impartial inquiry into the events, to ensure no-one was mistreated in police custody and to make their results public.

2015–2016 Clashes

The 2015–16 Şırnak clashes took place in Şırnak City, Cizre, Idil and Silopi. On 14 March 2016 a curfew was declared in Şırnak province. This marked the start of an 80 day long operation against Kurdish PKK militants in the province. The curfew remained in place for 9 months. 2,044 buildings were destroyed during the military operation.

Population

Historic population figures of the province:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirnak Province Provinces of Turkey Turkish Kurdistan