Cizre
Cizre (جَزِيْرَة ٱبْن عُمَر, or Madinat al-Jazira, גזירא, Cizîr, Cizîra Botan, or Cizîre,, ) is a city in the Cizre District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located on the river Tigris by the Syria–Turkey border and close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Cizre is in the historical region of Upper Mesopotamia and the cultural region of Turkish Kurdistan.
The city had a population of 130,916 in 2021.
Cizre was founded as Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar in the 9th century by al-Hasan ibn Umar, Emir of Mosul, on a manmade island in the Tigris. The city benefited from its situation as a river crossing and port in addition to its position at the end of an old Roman road which connected it to the Mediterranean Sea, and thus became an important commercial and strategic centre in Upper Mesopotamia. By the 12th century, it had adopted an intellectual and religious role, and sizeable Christian and Jewish communities are attested. Cizre suffered in the 15th century from multiple sackings and ultimately came under the control of the Ottoman Empire after 1515.
Under Ottoman control, Cizre stagnated and was left as a small district centre dominated by ruins by the end of the 19th century. The city's decline continued, exacerbated by the state-orchestrated destruction of its Christian population in the Armenian and Assyrian genocides in 1915, and exodus of its Jewish population to Israel in 1951. It began to recover in the second half of the 20th century through urban redevelopment, and its population saw a massive increase as a place of refuge from 1984 onwards as many fled the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. At the close of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, Cizre has emerged as a battleground between Kurdish militants and the Turkish state, which inflicted significant devastation on the city to retain control.
The various names for the city of Cizre descend from the original Arabic name Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar, which is derived from 'jazira' (island), "ibn" (son of), and the name Umar, thus Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar translates to 'island of Umar'. The city's alternative Arabic name Madinat al-Jazira is composed of "madinat" ('city') and 'al-Jazira' (the island), and therefore translates to 'the island city'. Cizre was known in Syriac as Gāzartā d'Beṯ Zabdaï (island of Zabdicene), from 'gazarta' (island) and 'Beṯ Zabdaï' (Zabdicene).
The city had a population of 130,916 in 2021.
Cizre was founded as Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar in the 9th century by al-Hasan ibn Umar, Emir of Mosul, on a manmade island in the Tigris. The city benefited from its situation as a river crossing and port in addition to its position at the end of an old Roman road which connected it to the Mediterranean Sea, and thus became an important commercial and strategic centre in Upper Mesopotamia. By the 12th century, it had adopted an intellectual and religious role, and sizeable Christian and Jewish communities are attested. Cizre suffered in the 15th century from multiple sackings and ultimately came under the control of the Ottoman Empire after 1515.
Under Ottoman control, Cizre stagnated and was left as a small district centre dominated by ruins by the end of the 19th century. The city's decline continued, exacerbated by the state-orchestrated destruction of its Christian population in the Armenian and Assyrian genocides in 1915, and exodus of its Jewish population to Israel in 1951. It began to recover in the second half of the 20th century through urban redevelopment, and its population saw a massive increase as a place of refuge from 1984 onwards as many fled the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. At the close of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, Cizre has emerged as a battleground between Kurdish militants and the Turkish state, which inflicted significant devastation on the city to retain control.
The various names for the city of Cizre descend from the original Arabic name Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar, which is derived from 'jazira' (island), "ibn" (son of), and the name Umar, thus Jazirat Ibn ʿUmar translates to 'island of Umar'. The city's alternative Arabic name Madinat al-Jazira is composed of "madinat" ('city') and 'al-Jazira' (the island), and therefore translates to 'the island city'. Cizre was known in Syriac as Gāzartā d'Beṯ Zabdaï (island of Zabdicene), from 'gazarta' (island) and 'Beṯ Zabdaï' (Zabdicene).
Map - Cizre
Map
Country - Turkey
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| Flag of Turkey | |
One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaean Greeks, Persians and others. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great which started the Hellenistic period, most of the ancient regions in modern Turkey were culturally Hellenised, which continued during the Byzantine era. The Seljuk Turks began migrating in the 11th century, and the Sultanate of Rum ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish principalities. Beginning in the late 13th century, the Ottomans united the principalities and conquered the Balkans, and the Turkification of Anatolia increased during the Ottoman period. After Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, Ottoman expansion continued under Selim I. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire became a global power. From the late 18th century onwards, the empire's power declined with a gradual loss of territories. Mahmud II started a period of modernisation in the early 19th century. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 restricted the authority of the Sultan and restored the Ottoman Parliament after a 30-year suspension, ushering the empire into a multi-party period. The 1913 coup d'état put the country under the control of the Three Pashas, who facilitated the Empire's entry into World War I as part of the Central Powers in 1914. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Greek and Assyrian subjects. After its defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was partitioned.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRY | Turkish lira | ₺ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AV | Avar language |
| AZ | Azerbaijani language |
| KU | Kurdish language |
| TR | Turkish language |