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 theTigris (and its tributaries Hezil and Kızılsu) andÇağlayan. The most important mountains areMount Cudi (2089 m),[10]Mount Gabar,Mount Namaz andMount Altın.
In order toTurkify the local population,[11] in June 1927, Law 1164 was passed,[12] which allowed the creation of Inspectorates-General (Umumi Müffetişlik, UM).[13] The province was included in theFirst Inspectorate General (Turkish:Birinci Umumi Müfettişlik), which covered the provinces ofHakkâri,Siirt,Van,Mardin, ŞırnakBitlis,Sanlıurfa,Elaziğ, andDiyarbakır.[14] The First Inspectorate General was established in January 1928 and had its headquarters inDiyarbakır.[15] The UM was governed by anInspector General, who governed with a wide-ranging authority over civilian, juridical and military matters.[13] In 1948 the policy of governing the province within the Inspectorate General was abandoned and the administration was not re-employed again,[13] but the office of the Inspector General was only dissolved in 1952 during the government of theDemocrat Party.[16]
Şırnak has been a focal point in the ongoingKurdish-Turkish conflict, which began in 1984.[17] From its creation in 1990 to 2002, Şırnak Province was part of theOHAL (state of emergency) region which was declared to counter theKurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and governed by a supergovernor, who was given additional powers than a normalTurkish provincial governor, including the power to relocate and resettle whole settlements.[18] In December 1990, the supergovernor and the provincial governors in the OHAL region receivedabsolute immunity from prosecution in connection with decisions they made under Decree No. 430.[19]
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, and people were killed. 20,000 out of 25,000 residents fled the city,Amnesty International reported.[20][21]
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.[22]
On 26 August 1992, Amnesty International sent requests to then Prime Minister,Süleyman Demirel, Interior Ministerİsmet Sezgin, Emergency Legislation GovernorÜnal 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 results public.[23]
The2015–16 Şırnak clashes took place inŞırnak City, Cizre,Idil and Silopi. On 14 March 2016 a curfew was declared in Şırnak province. This marked the start of an 80 day long operation againstKurdishPKK militants in the province. The curfew remained in place for 9 months.[24] 2,044 buildings were destroyed during the military operation.[25]
^abcBayir, Derya (22 April 2016).Minorities and Nationalism in Turkish Law. Routledge. pp. 139–141.ISBN978-1-317-09579-8.
^Jongerden, Joost (2007-01-01).The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatical Policies, Modernity and War. BRILL. p. 53.ISBN978-90-04-15557-2.
^Bozarslan, Hamit (2008-04-17). Fleet, Kate; Faroqhi, Suraiya; Kasaba, Reşat; Kunt, I. Metin (eds.).The Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 343.ISBN978-0-521-62096-3.
