Province of Turkey
Province and metropolitan municipality in Turkey
Mardin Province
(
Turkish
:
Mardin ili
;
Kurdish
:
Parezgeha Merdin
;
Arabic
:
?????? ??????
) is a
province
and
metropolitan municipality
in
Turkey
. Its area is 8,780 km
2
,
[2]
and its population is 870,374 (2022).
[1]
The largest city in the province is
Kızıltepe
, while the capital
Mardin
is the second largest city.
Districts
[
edit
]
Mardin district locations
Mardin Province is divided into 10
districts
:
Demographics
[
edit
]
Mardin Province is a linguistically, ethnically and religiously diverse province.
[3]
The dominant ethnic groups are
Arabs
,
Assyrians
and
Kurds
of which Kurds constitute a majority.
[4]
Other minor groups include
Armenians
,
Chechens
and
Turks
, while
Jews
lived in the area before migrating to
Israel
around 1948.
[5]
The Chechens settled in the region during the
Russo-Turkish War
in 1877/1878.
[4]
The distinctive
Mhallami
community also reside in the district.
[6]
The province is considered part of
Turkish Kurdistan
.
[7]
In 1990, it was estimated that
Kurds
constituted 75% of the population.
[8]
Social relations
[
edit
]
Social relations between Arabs and Kurds have historically been difficult with hostility, prejudice and stereotypes but have in recent years improved.
[9]
Arabs with Assyrians did not take part in the
Kurdish?Turkish conflict
and the position of the two groups have been described as being 'submissive' to the Turkish state, creating distrust between them and the Kurds. Kurds perceived Arabs as spies for the state and local Arabs in Mardin city tended to exclude and dominate local politics in the city.
[10]
Arabs started losing their grip on Mardin city in the 2010s and the Kurdish
BDP
won the city in the
local elections
in 2014. Mardin city had previously been governed by pro-state parties supported by local Arabs.
[11]
Despite the difficult relations, Arab families have since the 1980s joined the
Kurdish cause
,
[9]
and Arab and Assyrian politicians from Mardin are found in
Peoples' Democratic Party
including
Mithat Sancar
and
Februniye Akyol
.
Language
[
edit
]
In the first Turkish census in 1927,
Kurdish
and
Arabic
were the
first language
for
60.9% and
28.7% of the population, respectively.
Turkish
stood as the third largest language at
6.6%. In the 1935 census, Kurdish and Arabic remained the two most spoken languages for
63.8% and
24.9% of the population, respectively. Turkish remained as the third largest language at
6.9%.
In the 1945 census, Kurdish stood at
66.4%, Arabic at
24.1% and Turkish at
5.6%.
In 1950, the numbers were
66.3%,
23.1% and
7.5% for Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish, respectively.
The same numbers were
65.8%,
16.5% and
12.9% in 1955, and
66.4%,
20.9% and
8.6% in 1960.
In the last Turkish census in 1965, Kurdish remained the largest language spoken by
71% of the population, while Arabic remained the second largest language at
20% and Turkish stood at
8.9%.
A 2018 estimate put the Kurdish language at 70%, Arabic at 30% and
Syriac
at 1%.
[4]
Religion
[
edit
]
In the Ottoman yearbook of 1894?1895,
Mardin Sanjak
had a population of 34,361 and
75.8% adhered to Islam. The largest religious minority was
Syriac Orthodox
Assyrians who comprised
9.9% of the population, followed by Catholic
Armenians
at
8.3%, Catholic Assyrians at
3.4%,
Protestants
at
1.6% and
Chaldeans
at
0.9%.
[18]
Muslims comprised
90.5% of the population in 1927, while Christians of various denominations stood at
3.1% and Jews at
0.3%.
In 1935, Muslims comprised
91.2% of the population, while Christians remained the second largest minority at
5.3%. The Jewish population declined to 72 individuals from 490 in 1927.
In 1945,
92.1% of the population was Muslim, while Christians were
3.8% of the population.
The same numbers were
93.2% and
6.8% in 1955.
In 1960, Muslims constituted
93.7% and Christians remained at
6.3%.
Same numbers were
91.9% and
5.7% in 1965.
It was estimated that 25,000 Assyrian members of the
Syriac Orthodox Church
still lived in the province in 1979.
[26]
Only 4,000 Assyrians remained in the province in 2020, most having migrated to Europe or
Istanbul
since the 1980s.
[27]
Economy
[
edit
]
In Mardin agriculture is an important branch accounting for 70% of the province's income.
[28]
Bulgur
,
lentils
or
wheat
and other grains are produced.
[28]
In the capital, there are many civil servants, mostly Turks.
[28]
Close markets for foreign trade are Syria and Iraq.
[28]
History
[
edit
]
The first known civilization were the
Subarian-Hurrians
who were then succeeded in 3000 BCE by the
Hurrians
. The
Akkadian Empire
gained control around 2230 BCE and were followed by the
Assyrians
,
Babylonians
,
Hittites
,
Assyrians
again,
Romans
and
Byzantines
.
[29]
The local
Assyrians/Syriacs
, while reduced due to the
Assyrian genocide
and
Kurdish-Turkish conflict
, hold on to two of the oldest monasteries in the world,
Dayro d-Mor Hananyo
(Turkish
Deyrulzafaran
, English
Saffron Monastery
) and
Deyrulumur Monastery
. The Christian community is concentrated on the
Tur Abdin
plateau and in the town of
Midyat
, with a smaller community (approximately 200) in the provincial capital. After the foundation of Turkey, the province has been a target of a
Turkification
policy, removing most traces of a non-Turkish heritage.
[30]
Inspectorate General
[
edit
]
In 1927 the office of the
Inspector general
was created, which governed with martial law.
[31]
The province was included in the
First Inspectorate-General
(
Turkish
:
Birinci Umumi Mufetti?lik
) over which the Inspector General ruled. The Inspectorate-General span over the provinces of
Hakkari
,
Siirt
,
Van
, Mardin,
Bitlis
,
Sanlıurfa
,
Elazi?
and
Diyarbakır
.
[32]
The Inspectorate General were dissolved in 1952 during the Government of the
Democrat Party
.
[33]
The Mardin province was also included in a wider military zone in 1928, in which the entrance to the zone was forbidden for foreigners until 1965.
[34]
State of Emergency
[
edit
]
In 1987 the province was included in the
OHAL
region governed in a state of emergency.
[35]
In November 1996 the state of emergency regulation was removed.
[36]
Largest cities
[
edit
]
Largest cities or towns in Mardin Province (2021)
|
Rank
|
|
Municipal pop.
|
1
|
Kızıltepe
|
184,124
|
2
|
Mardin
|
129,864
|
3
|
Nusaybin
|
84,445
|
4
|
Midyat
|
83,148
|
5
|
Derik
|
20,566
|
6
|
Dargecit
|
14,976
|
7
|
Mazıda?ı
|
13,117
|
8
|
Ye?illi
|
10,846
|
9
|
Gokce
|
10,190
|
10
|
Ortakoy
|
10,096
|
Gallery
[
edit
]
- Islamic monuments in Mardin Province
-
Minaret of the
Grand Mosque of Mardin
(12th century) and the view of the Mesopotamian plains.
-
-
-
View of
Savur
and the grand mosque in the center
-
- Christian monuments in Mardin Province
-
-
-
-
-
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Dundar, Fuat (2000),
Turkiye nufus sayımlarında azınlıklar
(in Turkish),
ISBN
9789758086771
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports"
(XLS)
.
TU?K
. Retrieved
19 September
2023
.
- ^
"?l ve ?lce Yuz olcumleri"
. General Directorate of Mapping
. Retrieved
19 September
2023
.
- ^
Tan, Altan (2018).
Turabidin'den Berriye'ye. A?iretler - Dinler - Diller - Kulturler
(in Turkish). p. 344.
ISBN
9789944360944
.
- ^
a
b
c
Tan, Altan (2018).
Turabidin'den Berriye'ye. A?iretler - Dinler - Diller - Kulturler
(in Turkish). p. 346.
ISBN
9789944360944
.
- ^
Tan, Altan (2018).
Turabidin'den Berriye'ye. A?iretler - Dinler - Diller - Kulturler
(in Turkish). p. 345.
ISBN
9789944360944
.
- ^
Tan, Altan (2018).
Turabidin'den Berriye'ye. A?iretler - Dinler - Diller - Kulturler
(in Turkish). p. 249.
ISBN
9789944360944
.
- ^
"Kurds, Kurdist?n"
.
Encyclopaedia of Islam
(2 ed.).
BRILL
. 2002.
ISBN
9789004161214
.
- ^
Mutlu, Servet (1996).
"Ethnic Kurds in Turkey: A Demographic Study"
.
International Journal of Middle East Studies
.
28
(4): 517?541.
doi
:
10.1017/S0020743800063819
.
ISSN
0020-7438
.
JSTOR
176151
.
S2CID
154212694
.
Archived
from the original on 19 June 2021
. Retrieved
30 September
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Costa, Elisabetta (2016).
Social Media in Southeast Turkey: Love, Kinship and Politics
.
UCL Press
. pp. 14?15.
ISBN
9781910634530
.
- ^
Biner, Zerrin Ozlem (2019).
States of Dispossession: Violence and Precarious Coexistence in Southeast Turkey
.
University of Pennsylvania Press
. pp. xiv?xv.
ISBN
9780812296594
.
- ^
Costa, Elisabetta (2016).
Social Media in Southeast Turkey: Love, Kinship and Politics
.
UCL Press
. pp. 13?14.
ISBN
9781910634530
.
- ^
Nubihar, Altan Tan- (28 November 2022).
TURAB?D?N’DEN BERR?YE’YE A??RETLER, D?NLER, D?LLER, KULTURLER
(in Turkish). Pak Ajans Yayincilik Turizm Ve Di? Ticaret Limited ?irketi. p. 531.
ISBN
978-9944-360-94-4
.
- ^
Tosun, Mehtap (2018).
"Dissolution of Craft in the Context of Ethnicity, Gender and Class"
(PDF)
.
Middle East Technical University
: 118.
- ^
Aydın, Suavi (2000).
Mardin: a?iret, cemaat, devlet
(in Turkish). Turkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı. p. 371.
ISBN
978-975-7306-67-2
.
- ^
Christian Minorities of Turkey: Report Produced by the Churches Committee on Migrant Workers in Europe
. 1979. p. 12
. Retrieved
4 January
2020
.
- ^
"Turkish Assyrians worry about declining community, fragile heritage"
.
The Arab Weekly
. 6 June 2020
. Retrieved
5 January
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Costa, Elisabetta (2016).
"Introduction"
(PDF)
.
Social Media in Southeast Turkey
. Vol. 3. UCL Press. p. 18.
doi
:
10.2307/j.ctt1g69z14.5
.
ISBN
9781910634530
.
JSTOR
j.ctt1g69z14.5
.
- ^
"- Antik Tatlıdede Kona?ı ? Mardin"
.
www.tatlidede.com.tr
. Archived from
the original
on 5 January 2019
. Retrieved
19 March
2018
.
- ^
Ungor, U?ur
(2011),
The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913?1950
. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 245.
ISBN
0-19-960360-X
.
- ^
Jongerden, Joost (1 January 2007).
The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatical Policies, Modernity and War
. BRILL. p. 53.
ISBN
978-90-04-15557-2
.
- ^
Bayir, Derya (22 April 2016).
Minorities and Nationalism in Turkish Law
. Routledge. p. 139.
ISBN
978-1-317-09579-8
.
- ^
Fleet, Kate; Kunt, I. Metin; Kasaba, Re?at; Faroqhi, Suraiya (17 April 2008).
The Cambridge History of Turkey
. Cambridge University Press. p. 343.
ISBN
978-0-521-62096-3
.
- ^
Jongerden, Joost (28 May 2007).
The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatial Policies, Modernity and War
. BRILL. p. 303.
ISBN
978-90-474-2011-8
.
- ^
Biner, Zerrin Ozlem (8 November 2019).
States of Dispossession: Violence and Precarious Coexistence in Southeast Turkey
. University of Pennsylvania Press.
ISBN
978-0-8122-9659-4
.
- ^
"Turkey, Country Assessment, November 2002"
(PDF)
.
Ecoi
. Retrieved
8 April
2020
.
- ^
"31 ARALIK 2021 TAR?HL? ADRESE DAYALI NUFUS KAYIT S?STEM? (ADNKS) SONUCLARI"
(XLS)
.
TU?K
(in Turkish)
. Retrieved
16 December
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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Districts
| | ![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/NUTS_Map_of_Turkey.png/100px-NUTS_Map_of_Turkey.png) Districts of Mardin
|
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International
| |
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National
| |
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Geographic
| |
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37°21′47″N
40°54′31″E
/
37.36306°N 40.90861°E
/
37.36306; 40.90861