Difference between revisions of "Cizre"

Latest revision as of 18:23, 11 May 2015

Cizre (pronounced [dʒizˈɾe]; Kurdish: Cizîr or Cizîra Botan, Arabic: جزيرة ابن عمر‎ Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar, Classical Syriac: ܓܙܝܪܐ Gzirā or Gziro) is a town and district of Şırnak Province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, located at the border to Syria, just to the north-west of the Turkish-Syrian-Iraqi tripoint. It is populated by a majority of Kurds in addition to Assyrian/Syriac people and other minorities. It is surrounded by the Tigris from the North, East and South, which has given it its name, which means "island" in Arabic (جزيرة, jazīra).

History

Cizre is historical Gazarta and Jazīrat Ibn ʿUmar (Arabic: جزيرة ابن عمر‎), an important town during the Abbasid period and the Crusades as a gateway connecting Upper Mesopotamia to Armenia.

During the Early Iron Age, Cizre was in the kingdom of Kumme, north of Assyria. In classical antiquity, it was located in Corduene (Kardu). In 19th century scholarship, it was often named as the location of Alexander's crossing of the Tigris in 331 BC, further identified with the Roman stronghold of Bethzabde (Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܙܒܕܝ, Bēṯ Zaḇdai), although Stein (1942) is sceptical of this.

Bethzabde was part of the Roman province of Mesopotamia. The chronicler Msiha Zkha speaks of three bishops of Beth Zabdai in the 2nd and 3rd centuries: Merza, Soubha-liso e Sabtha.^[1] In 360 Bishop Theodorus was deported by the Persians, along with the general population, and died as a result of the forced march. Another bishop, Maras, was one of the Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and in 458 was one of the signatories of the letter of the bishops of Mesopotamia to Emperor Leo I the Thracian after the death of Proterius of Alexandria.^[2][3]

In the late 4th or early 5th century Beth Zabdai or Jezira became a Nestorian bishopric, known as Beth Zabdai (later Gazarta d'Beth Zabdai). On entering into communion with Rome, it became the eparchy of Gazarta of the Chaldean Catholic Church. In 639 it became the seat also of the Syriac Orthodox Church and in 1863 the eparchy Gazarta of the Syriac Catholic Church. These Christians were severely reduced in the 1915 Seyfo massacres and the structures were allowed to lapse or were incorporated into other jurisdictions. Bethzabda is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see,^[4] but has not been assigned to any bishop.

In medieval Islamic tradition, Cizre is the location of Thamanin, the town founded by Noah at the foot of Mount Judi where Noah's Ark came to rest, and a "tomb of Noah" as well as a "tomb of Mem and Zin" can be visited in Cizre. Al-Masudi (d. 956) reports that the spot where the ark landed could still be seen in his time. Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century adds that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb had made the remnants of the ark into a mosque.

In the 19th century, it was the site of a Kurdish rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.^[5]

Cizre today

Cizre is located on the River Tigris, which forms the border line with Syria at this area. The state roads Template:TUR-D (via Midyat) and Template:TUR-D (European route Template:Highway E (Europe)) (via Nusaybin) that connect Mardin with Şırnak, as well as the route Template:TUR-D to Silopi run through the town.

The border checkpoint in Cizre, the gate to Malikiye in Syria, was in use between 1940-1972.^[6]

Cizre, with +48.9 °C (119.5 °F) on July 30, 2000, holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Turkey.

Government

The mayor of Cizre, Aydin Budak, was arrested in December 2009 as part of the KCK investigation.Template:What? In October 2011 he was removed from office by the Ministry of the Interior before his trial had concluded. ^[7]

The current mayor of Cizre is Leyla Imret. As a 27 year-old woman, she is currently the youngest mayor in Turkey. ^[8]

Population

Template:Turkey districts' population / Sirnak / Cizre

Riots

In October 2014 least 35 people were killed when Riots broke out in the city over Turkey’s response to neighbouring Syria, blocking Kurdish fighters from crossing the border into Syria.^[9] It has lost 17 of its citizens who fought with fellow Kurds in Syria during the Siege of Kobanî.^[10]

See also

• Tomb of Noah

References

• J. Obermeyer, Die Landschaft Babylonien (1929)
• A. Ben-Jacob, Kehillot Yehudei Kurdistan (1961), 22, 24–25, 30.
• Encyclopaedia Judaica (2008)
• Aurel Stein, Notes on Alexander's Crossing of the Tigris and the Battle of Arbela, 1942, The Royal Geographical Society.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Noah's Mausoleum.

v t e Cizre in Şırnak Province of Turkey
Districts	Beytüşşebap Cizre Güçlükonak İdil Silopi Uludere Şırnak	Districts of Şırnak
List of Provinces by Region Istanbul Istanbul West Marmara Balıkesir Çanakkale Edirne Kırklareli Tekirdağ Aegean Afyonkarahisar Aydın Denizli İzmir Kütahya Manisa Muğla Uşak East Marmara Bilecik Bolu Bursa Düzce Eskişehir Kocaeli Sakarya Yalova West Anatolia Ankara Karaman Konya Mediterranean Adana Antalya Burdur Hatay Isparta Kahramanmaraş Mersin Osmaniye Central Anatolia Aksaray Kayseri Kırıkkale Kırşehir Nevşehir Niğde Sivas Yozgat West Black Sea Amasya Bartın Çankırı Çorum Karabük Kastamonu Samsun Sinop Tokat Zonguldak East Black Sea Artvin Giresun Gümüşhane Ordu Rize Trabzon Northeast Anatolia Ağrı Ardahan Bayburt Erzincan Erzurum Iğdır Kars Central East Anatolia Bingöl Bitlis Elazığ Hakkâri Malatya Muş Tunceli Van Southeast Anatolia Adıyaman Batman Diyarbakır Gaziantep Kilis Mardin Siirt Şanlıurfa Şırnak
Metropolitan municipalities are bolded.

Template:Tigris

1. ↑ G. Levenq, v. Béth Zabdai in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. VIII, Paris 1935, coll. 1241-1244
2. ↑ Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 1003-1004
3. ↑ Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 437
4. ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 849
5. ↑ "Turkey and its Kurds: Dreams of self-rule". The Economist. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015. 
6. ↑ "Letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs" (in Turkish). Cizre Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası. November 29, 2005. Retrieved March 15, 2009. 
7. ↑ "Ministry of Interior, the PKK's hidden structure of the city of KCK / TM to begin operations on September 21, was arrested in Sirnak". Haber Monitor. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
8. ↑ "Leyla İmret, Cizre'de rekor oyla seçildi". Hurriyet. 2014-03-31. Retrieved 2014-03-31. 
9. ↑ http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/how-turkey-misread-kurds-201511910421859659.html
10. ↑ "Turkey and its Kurds: Dreams of self-rule". The Economist. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.