Hakkâri Province
Hakkâri Province
Main page
2075304

Hakkâri Province

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Hakkâri Province

Hakkâri Province (pronounced [hacːaːɾi], Turkish: Hakkâri ili; Kurdish: Parêzgeha Colemêrg), is a province in the southeast of Turkey. It borders Van Province to the north, and Şırnak Province to the west. 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 8 municipalities, 140 villages and 313 hamlets. The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority.

The province is a stronghold for Kurdish nationalism and a hotspot in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.

Hakkâri province is divided into five districts (capital district in bold):

Hakkari Province is located in Turkish Kurdistan and has an overwhelmingly Kurdish population. The province is tribal and most of the Kurds adhere to the Shafiʽi school of Sunni Islam with the Naqshbandi order having a strong presence around Şemdinli. The Kurdish tribes in the province include the Doski, Ertuşi, Gerdi, Herki, Jirki and Pinyaniş. The area had a significant Christian Assyrian population from various tribes before the Assyrian genocide in 1915. The Assyrian tribes in the region were Jilu, Dez, Baz, Tkhuma, Tal and Tyari. Relations between Assyrians and Kurds have been described as a 'tense coexistence' due to the ability to coexist despite the recurring disputes over land and life stock, and robbery of each other and of travelers. Assyrian resentment in the region was more directed towards the Ottomans than the Kurds, due to the Ottoman hostility towards the Christian minority, viewing them as a disloyal non-Muslim component.

Hakkari Sanjak, part of Van vilayet, had a population of 5,896 in 1881-1882 of which 81.9% was Muslim and 18.1% Christian.

In the 1945 census, 98.8% of the population was Muslim, while Jews constituted the largest religious minority with 0.1%. Only one Christian was enumerated in 1945, from the Protestant denomination. In the same census, Kurdish and Turkish were the first language for 87.8% and 11.4% of the population. The Jewish population left for Israel shortly after 1948. In the 1950 census, 89.5% of the population spoke Kurdish as first language, while the second largest first language was Turkish at 9%. In the subsequent census of 1955, Kurdish constituted the first language for 88.4% of the population and Turkish for 11.5%. The same census found 100% of the population to be Muslim. Kurdish and Turkish remained the two largest first languages in the 1960 census for 80.7% and 19.2% of the population, respectively. As with the previous census, Muslims constituted 100% of the population. In the last census conducted in Turkey in 1965, Kurdish remained the largest first language with 86.2%, while Turkish remained the second largest first language at 12.3%. 99.1% of the population was Muslim and 0.8% was Christian in 1965.

In 1980, the only language spoken in rural parts was Kurdish while both Kurdish and Turkish were spoken in urban areas, due to the presence of military and civil officials from other parts of Turkey.

In the 14th century, Timur devastated the urban centers of Mesopotamia. His conquest of Baghdad and especially the destruction of Tikrit affected the Syrian Orthodox Church, which sheltered near Nineveh at Mar Mattai Monastery. Following the destruction of Christians in the region, the Ismailis and Sunni and Shi'a Muslims were attacked indiscriminately by Timur during the second part of the 14th century. The few survivors sought refuge among the Assyrians of Hakkari and the surrounding region. This region also produced many bishops and patriarchs as hereditary succession was used to prevent a full ecclesiastical collapse of the church. By the 16th century, the Assyrians disappeared from many cities where they previously thrived, such as in Tabriz and Nisibis. The head of the Church of the East moved from Baghdad to Maragheh by 1553.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.