==Etymology==
The name Diyarbakir ({{lang-hy|Տիգրանակերտ}} ''[[Tigranocerta|Tigranakert]]'';<ref>[[Western Armenian]] pronunciation: ''Dikranagerd''; {{cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|title=Armenian Tigranakert/Diarbekir and Edessa/Urfa|year=2006|publisher=Mazda Publishers|location=Costa Mesa, California|isbn=9781568591537|page=2|authorlink=Richard G. Hovannisian|quote=The city that later generations of Armenians would call Dikranagerd was actually ancient Amid or Amida (now Diarbekir or Diyarbakir), a great walled city with seventy-two towers...}}</ref> {{lang-grc|Άμιδα, ''[[Amida (Mesopotamia)|Amida]]''}}; {{lang-ota|دیاربکر}} ''Diyâr-ı Bekr''; {{lang-syr|ܐܡܝܕ}}) is inscribed as ''Amid'' on the sheath of a sword from the [[AssyriaMesopotamia]]n period, and the same name was used in other contemporary Syriac and Arabic works.<ref name="airlines">[http://www.turkishairlines.com/fi-FI/skylife/2005/november/articles/diyarbakir.aspx Diyarbakır]. Turkish Airlines. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.</ref> The Romans and Byzantines called the city ''[[Amida (Roman city)|Amida]]''.<ref name="airlines"/> Among the [[Artukid]] and [[Akkoyunlu]] it was known as "Black Amid" (''Kara Amid'') for the dark color of its walls, while in the ''Zafername'', or eulogies in praise of military victories, it is called "Black Fortress" (''Kara Kale'').<ref name="airlines"/> In the [[Book of Dede Korkut]] and some other Turkish works it appears as ''Kara Hamid''.<ref name="airlines"/>
Following the [[Arab conquest]]s in the seventh century, the Arab [[Banu Bakr|Bakr tribe]] occupied this region,<ref name="airlines"/> which became known as the ''[[Diyar Bakr]]'' ("[[Real Estate|landholding]]s of the Bakr tribe", in Arabic: ديار بكر ''Diyar Bakr'').<ref>Abdul- Rahman Mizouri [http://web.archive.org/web/20090324201623/http://www.lalishduhok.org/lalish/27/L%2027%20E/L%2027%20E.3.pdf Taj Al- Arifeen: Udday bin Musafir Al- Kurdy Al- Hakary Is not an Umayyad. Part Two]. College of Arts/ Dohuk University (2001)</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Verity Campbell|title=Turkey|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jstw7Sxkp4gC&pg=PA621|accessdate=13 May 2012|date=1 April 2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-556-7|pages=621–}}</ref> In 1937, [[Atatürk]] visited Diyarbekir and, after expressing uncertainty on the exact etymology of the city, ordered that it be renamed "Diyarbakır", which means "land of copper" in Turkish after the abundant resources of [[copper]] around the city.<ref>See [[Uğur Ümit Üngör|Üngör, Uğur]] (2011), ''The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-1950''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 244. ISBN 0-19-960360-X.</ref>
==History==
The city of Diyarbakır has been capital for many empires in history, such as the [[Sumerians]], [[Akkadian Empire]], [[Old Assyrian Babylonian Empire]], [[Middle Assyrian Empire]], [[Neo Assyrian Chaldean Empire]] and the [[Median Empire]]. Starting from the earliest period, the city had been successively ruled by the [[Akkadians]], [[AssyriansChaldeans]], [[Hurri]]-[[Mittani]], [[Hittites]], [[Arameans]] as Bit-Zamani and then again by the [[AssyriansChaldeans]]. From 189 BCE to 384 CE, the region to the east and south of present Diyarbakır remained under the rule of the kingdom of [[Corduene]].
Later, the Romans colonized the city and named it [[Amida (Roman city)|Amida]], after the earlier Assyrian Chaldean name [[Amid]]. During the Roman rule, the first city walls were constructed (297 AD) and later, the greater walls were built as per the command of the Roman emperor [[Constantius II]]. After the Romans, the Persians came to power and were succeeded by the Muslim Arabs. It was the leader of the Arab Bekr tribe, Bekr Bin Vail, who named the city Diyar Bakr, meaning "the country of Bakr", i.e. Arabs. Much later, in the Republican era, the city got its current name Diyarbakır, which was derived from the abundance of copper ore that exists here.
After a few centuries, Diyarbakır came under the Ottoman Empire and earned the status of the capital of [[Diyarbekir Eyalet|a large province]]. The city became the base of army troops who guarded the region against Persian invasion. Diyarbakır faced turbulence in the 20th century, particularly with the onset of [[World War I]]. The majority of the city's Syriac and Armenian population were massacred and deported during the Armenian Genocide in 1915. In 1925, the Kurdish population rose in a rebellion against the newly established government of the Republic of Turkey, which was crushed by Turkish forces. Thousands of Kurds were killed in this attempt.
The area around Diyarbakır has been inhabited by humans from the stone age with tools from that period having been discovered in the nearby Hilar cave complex. The pre-pottery neolothic B settlement of Çayönü dates to over 10,000 years ago and its excavated remains are on display at the Diyarbakır Museum. Another important site is Girikihaciyan Tumulus in Egil.<ref>Charles Gates, ''Ancient Cities'', 2011, [http://books.google.lk/books?id=nT70dCn-I9kC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=diyarbakir+cayonu&source=bl&ots=bSRRdQkTj7&sig=tpAo91Wgdstn6gflJMR3ZJdp49Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kW4bUOTrE8Op0QXoz4CYDQ&redir_esc=y p. 19.]</ref>
The first major civilization to establish themselves in what is now Diyarbakır were the [[Hurrians|Hurrian]] kingdom of the Mitanni who made it their military and trade capital. The city was then ruled by a succession of nearly every polity that controlled Upper Mesopotamia such as the [[Assyrian Chaldean Empire|AssyriansChaldeans]], [[Urartu]], [[Armenians]], [[Medes]], [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]], and [[Parthians]].<ref>Trevor Bryce, ''The Kingdom of the Hittites'', 1999 p. 137</ref> The Roman Republic gained control of the city in 66 BC by when it was named "Amida".<ref>[http://italian.classic-literature.co.uk/history-of-rome/05-the-establishment-of-the-military-monarchy/ebook-page-24.asp Theodor Mommsen History of Rome, The Establishment of the Military Monarchy]. Italian.classic-literature.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-05-13.</ref>
In 359, [[Shapur II of Persia]] [[Siege of Amida|captured Amida]] after a siege of 73 days which is vividly described by the Roman historian [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] .<ref name="Command, Kimberly Kagan p23">The Eye of Command, Kimberly Kagan, p23</ref><ref name="Command, Kimberly Kagan p23"/>
===Chaldean Christian bishopric===[[Syriac Chaldean Christianity]] took hold in the region between the 1st and 4th centuries AD, particularly amongst the Semitic [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyriansChaldeans]] of the city. The earliest documented bishop of Amida was Simeon of the [[Church of the East]], who took part in the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, on behalf of the city's [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyrianChaldean]] and [[Aramean]] Christians. Maras was at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381. In the next century, Saint [[Acacius of Amida]] (who died in 425, and is included in the [[Roman Martyrology]]<ref>''Martyrologium Romanum'' (Vatican Press 2001 ISBN 978-88-209-7210-3), under 9 April</ref> was noted for having sold the church's gold and silver vessels to ransom and assist Persian prisoners of war.
[[Byzantine Emperor]] [[Theodosius II]] (408–450) divided the [[Roman province]] of [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)|Mesopotamia]] into two, and made Amida the capital of Mesopotamia Prima, and thereby also the [[metropolitan see]] for all the province's [[bishopric]]s. A 6th-century ''[[Notitia Episcopatuum]]'' indicates as [[suffragan]]s of Amida the sees of [[Silvan, Diyarbakır|Martyropolis]], [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees|Ingila]], [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees|Belabitene]], [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees|Arsamosata]], [[Sophene]], Kitharis, [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees|Cefa]], and [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees|Zeugma]].<ref>[http://www.archive.org/stream/echosdorient10pariuoft#page/n101/mode/2up ''Echos d'Orient'' X, 1907], pp. 96 and 145.</ref> The ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]'' adds [[Cizre|Bethzabda]] and [[Mesopotamia (Roman province)#Episcopal sees|Dadima]].
Between the early 16th century and mid-to late 17th century the city and the much wider Eastern Anatolia region (comprising [[Eastern Anatolia]] and [[Southeastern Anatolia]]) was being heavily competed between the Persian [[Safavids]] and the Ottoman Turks, being passed on numerous times between the two arch rivals. When it was firstly conquered by the [[Ottoman Turks]] in the 16th century by the campaigns of Bıyıklı Mehmet Paşa under the rule of Sultan Selim I, they established an [[eyelet]] with its centre in Diyarbakır. The Ottoman eyelet of Diyarbakır corresponded to Turkey's southeastern provinces today, a rectangular area between the [[Lake Urmia]] to [[Palu (District), Elazığ|Palu]] and from the southern shores of [[Lake Van]] to [[Cizre]] and the beginnings of the [[Syrian desert]], although its borders saw some changes over time. The city was an important military base for controlling this region and at the same time a thriving city noted for its craftsmen, producing glass and metalwork. For example the doors of [[Mevlana]]'s tomb in [[Konya]] were made in Diyarbakır, as were the gold and silver decorated doors of the tomb of [[Ebu Hanife|Imam-i Azam Ebu Hanife]] in [[Baghdad]].
In 1895, [[indigenous]] [[Armenian people|Armenians]] and [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyriansChaldeans]] were subject to [[Massacres of Diyarbakir (1895)|massacres]] in Diyarbakır.<ref name=gunter>{{cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael|title=The Kurdish Predicament in Iraq: A Political Analysis|pages=8|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fToRZfDdt4IC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=diyarbakir+armenians+1895&source=bl&ots=-CwIEwEty7&sig=HDNlRoFdHgyr3KTgaNTFXnK7xq4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0vRRUOPSHIj40gHQ5oCIAQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=diyarbakir%20armenians%201895&f=false}}</ref> The city had been also a site for [[Armenian genocide|ethnic cleansing]] of Armenians and AssyriansChaldeans, nearly 150,000 were deported from the city.<ref name=mdumper>{{cite book|last=Dumper|first=Michael|title=Cities of The Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|pages=130|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=diyarbakir+armenians+1895&source=bl&ots=8sXKc2Wc5p&sig=0WLIwdNhekhfZjD71t5BAy_6pkI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0vRRUOPSHIj40gHQ5oCIAQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=diyarbakir%20armenians%201895&f=false}}</ref>
===Republic of Turkey===
The 41-year-old American-Turkish [[Pirinçlik]] Air Force Base near Diyarbakır, known as NATO's frontier post for monitoring the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, closed on 30 September 1997. This closure was the result of the general drawdown of US bases in Europe and the improvement in space surveillance technology. The base housed sensitive electronic intelligence-gathering systems that monitored the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Russia.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/facility/pirinclik.htm Globalsecurity.org]</ref>
According to a November 2006 survey by the [[Sur, Turkey|Sur]] Municipality, one of Diyarbakır's metropolitan municipalities, 72% of the inhabitants of the municipality use [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] most often in their daily speech, followed by [[Turkish language|Turkish]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=205469|accessdate=2008-08-06|title=Belediye Diyarbakırlıyı tanıdı: Kürtçe konuşuyor|work=[[Radikal]]|agency=Dogan News Agency|date=2006-11-24|language=Turkish}}</ref>with small minorities of [[Assyrian Chaldean people|AssyriansChaldeans]], [[Armenian people|Armenians]] and [[Yezidi]]s still resident.
==Economy==
;Museums:
*The ''Archaeological Museum'' contains artifacts from the [[neolithic]] period, through the [[Early Bronze Age]], [[AssyriaChaldea]]n, [[Urartu]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman]], [[Byzantine]], [[Artuqids]], [[Seljuk Turk]], [[Aq Qoyunlu]], and [[Ottoman Empire]] periods.
* [[Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı]] Museum – the home of the late poet and a classic example of a traditional Diyarbakır home.
* The birthplace of poet [[Ziya Gökalp]] – preserved as a museum to his life and works.
[[Category:Cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Kurdish settlements]]
[[Category:Assyrian Chaldean settlements]]
[[Category:Populated places in Diyarbakır Province]]
[[Category:Tur Abdin]]
[[Category:Kurdistan]]
[[Category:World Digital Library related]]