Sur is a municipality and

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Diyarbakır Province,

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 ...

. Its area is 1,227 km², and its population is 100,613 (2022). It covers the eastern part of the city of

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 ...

and the adjacent countryside. The historical

Diyarbakır Fortress Diyarbakır is the largest Kurds, 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 ...

lies in this district, which takes its name from the castle walls ().

Background

Sur district was created in 2008 from part of the central district (''Merkez'') of Diyarbakır. It is situated at 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 ...

bank, on the felsic lava of the

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

Karaca Dağ at an elevation of

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Many historic buildings and structures in the district are witness of several civilizations and rich cultures, which were hosted in the location in the history. The background of Sur goes back to 7500 BC. Archaeological excavations showed that world's oldest settlement was located in the region. Civilizations ruled here are

Hurrians The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeaste ...

(

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Mitanni Mitanni (–1260 BC), earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, ; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat in Assyrian records, or in Ancient Egypt, Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian language, Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria (region), Syria an ...

(c. 1500 BC–c. 1300 BC),

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

(c. 1600 BC–c. 1178 BC), Assur (early Bronze Age), Persians (early 10th century BC),

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

(356 BC – 323 BC),

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, Marwanids, Ayyubid Empire and

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Politics

The current mayor is Feyme Filiz Buluttekin. As Kaymakan was appointed Abdullah Çiftçi.

Composition

There are 100

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Sur District: * Abdaldede * Ağaçlıdere * Alabal * Alcık * Alibardak * Alipaşa * Arpaderesi * Bağıvar * Bağpınar * Bahçecik * Baroğlu * Beybulak * Bostanpınar * Bozdemir * Büyükakören * Büyükkadı * Cami Kebir * Cami Nebi * Çarıklı * Çataksu * Çelikli * Cemal Yılmaz * Cevatpaşa * Çubuklu * Dabanoğlu * Dervişhasan * Doğanlı * Doğuçanakçı * Dumrul * Erimli * Eryolu * Esenbağ * Fatihpaşa * Fetih * Fidanlar * Gencan * Gölpınar * Gültepe * Hacıosmanköy * Harmanlar * Hasırlı * Havacılar * Hızırilyas * İskenderpaşa * Kabasakal * Kapaklıpınar * Karabaş * Karaçalı * Karacaören * Karaçimen * Kardeşler * Karpuzlu * Karpuztepe * Kartaltepe * Kavaklıbağ * Kayayolu * Kengerli * Kervanpınar * Kırmasırt * Konacık * Köprübaşı * Köşk * Koyungüden * Kozan * Küçükakören * Küçükkadı * Kumluçat * Kumrucak * Kuşburnu * Kuşlukbağı * Lalebey * Melikahmet * Mermer * Mermeri * Nefirtaş * Özekli * Pınardüzü * Sağdıçlı * Sapanca * Sarıkamış * Sarılar * Sarıyazma * Sati * Savaş * Sayarlar * Soğanlı * Süleyman Nazif * Süngüler * Tanoğlu * Tezgeçer * Yarımca * Yenice * Yenidoğan * Yenievler * Yeşilköy * Yeşilli * Yiğitçavuş * Yukarıkılıçtaşı * Ziya Gökalp * Ziyaret

Visitor attractions

Sur is a historic and cultural center. It features historic Diyarbakır houses, Diyarbakır Archaeological Museum, Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Museum,

East Syriac Rite The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite (also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite), is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Liturgy of Ad ...

St. Mary's Cathedral,

Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...

St. Mary Church, St. Giragos Armenian Church, Dicle Bridge, Deliler Inn, Hasan Pasha Inn, Hazreti Süleyman Mosque containing graves of 27 companions of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, Nebi Mosque, Sheikh Matar Mosque and its Four-legged Minaret, Great Mosque of Diyarbakır and

as well as

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s, shadirvans and inscriptions of various historic periods.

2015 conflict and rebuilding of the district

In 2015, militants linked to the banned

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 Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK) entered Sur district, erected barricades and dug ditches in the streets. The local authority banned public gatherings and imposed a 24-hour curfew in Sur on the 11 December 2015, and the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

deployed about 200 troops of the Special Forces Command to conduct house-to-house searches. The conflict resulted in most residents abandoning their homes. Abandoned houses in various neighborhoods of Sur district were occupied by militants, and clashes between the PKK and Turkish Army and Special Forces continued until early 2016.

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 ...

has estimated that 300,000 people were displaced by the conflict, and branded the government's response 'collective punishment'.

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

has estimated that around 1,700 people have been killed in the resulting conflict and estimates the number of displaced people at 350,000.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

criticized the Turkish government for 'blocking access for independent investigations into alleged mass abuses against civilians across southeast Turkey'. Many houses were destroyed and registered historic buildings were seriously damaged. In March 2016, the government launched a project for the restoration of all the damaged historic structures and the rebuilding of destroyed houses in accordance of their original style. However, the project was criticized by the Turkish Union of Architects and Engineers Chambers, who claimed that the project would take “a defense-centered approach”, which would require the destruction of some historic structures.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Diyarbakır Province 2008 establishments in Turkey States and territories established in 2008 Districts of Diyarbakır Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey