Country Turkey Subregion Mardin Capital Şırnak | Region Southeast Anatolia Vehicle registration 73 Area code 486 | |
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Colleges and Universities Şırnak Üniversitesi, Şırnak University | ||
The Şırnak Province (Turkish: Şırnak ili, Kurdish: Parêzgeha Şirnex) is a Turkish province in Southeastern Anatolia Region. Şırnak borders Iraq and Syria. Şırnak was legally separated from Siirt province on May 16, 1990. This law also attached several districts from neighboring provinces of Siirt and Mardin, making them part of Şırnak, including Cizre and Silopi.
Contents
- Map of C59EC4B1rnak Turkey
- Geography
- Districts
- Background
- Turkish Forces operation 1992
- 2016 Clashes
- References
Map of %C5%9E%C4%B1rnak, Turkey
As of 2013, the province had an estimated population of 475,255 people. The majority of the province's population is Kurdish.
The 2015–16 Şırnak clashes are ongoing in Şırnak City, and its districts Cizre, Idil and Silopi.
Geography
The province borders Siirt Province to the north, Van Province to the northeast, Mardin Province to the west, Batman Province to the northwest, Syria to the southwest, and Iraq to the southeast. 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, and its tributaries Hezil and Kızılsu, and also Çağlayan. The most important mountains are the Cudi (2089 m), the Gabar, the Namaz and the Altın. Şırnak is the poorest province of Turkey with an average of 508 TL per capita.
Districts
Şırnak province is divided into 7 districts (capital district in bold):
Background
Şırnak has been a focal point in Turkey's struggle against Kurdish separatist organization PKK.
Turkey's anti-terror operations against PKK began in 1984. In 2013, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan announced a ceasefire from the Turkish prison of Imrali, where he has been serving a life sentence since 1999.
The peace process collapsed in 2015. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said,
"It is not possible for us to continue the peace process with those who threaten our national unity and brotherhood."
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, people were brutally killed. 20,000 out of 25,000 residents fled the city, Amnesty International 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, Interior Minister Ismet Sezgin, 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 findings public.
2016 Clashes
On March 14th, 2016 a curfew was declared in Şırnak province. This marked the start of an 80 day long operation against Kurdish militant separatists in the province. The curfew remained in place for 9 months. 2,044 buildings were destroyed during the military operation.