Lice, Turkey

Lice
District and municipality
Lice under the snow
Lice under the snow
Map showing Lice District in Diyarbakır Province
Map showing Lice District in Diyarbakır Province
Lice is located in Turkey
Lice
Lice
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 38°27′0″N 40°39′0″E / 38.45000°N 40.65000°E / 38.45000; 40.65000
CountryTurkey
ProvinceDiyarbakır
Government
 • MayorDilek Diyar Özer (DEM)
Area
982 km2 (379 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)[1]
24,364
 • Density25/km2 (64/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code
21700
Area code0412
Websitewww.lice.bel.tr

Lice (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈlidʒe]; Kurmanji Kurdish: Lîcê;[2] Armenian: Լճե, romanized: Ltche)[3] is a district and town of Diyarbakır Province, Turkey.[4] Its area is 982 km2 and population is 24,364 (2022).[5][1] It is located 90 km from the capital, Diyarbakır. Its population is mainly Kurds.[6]

In the local elections held in March 2024, Dilek Diyar Özer was elected mayor from the DEM Party.[7] The current governor of the town is Kerem Yenigün.[8]

The Baybaşin family, known for its popularity in the criminal world, is from Lice.[9] The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was founded in the village of Fîs in Lice.[10]

History

Lice was the headquarters of the 5th Army Corps of the Turkish army during the Sheikh Said rebellion in 1925[11] and it was a focal point at the beginning of the rebellion. The town was captured on the 20 February by the troops loyal to Sheikh Said.[12] The Kurdish Zirki tribe in the Lice district also supported the Sheik Said rebellion and as a reprisal, the tribes villages Çaylarbaşı, Kurlu, Alataş, Mat-bur and Çağlayan have been demolished and the residing population was killed by troops of the Turkish army.[13] It was reported that the troops of the Turkish Major Ali Haydar have wiped out the majority of the Sheikhs.[14]

On 6 September 1975, Lice was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of Ms 6.7. Around 1.500 people were killed in Lice according to the mayor.[15]

The PKK, was founded in the village of Fîs, in Lice district on November 27, 1978.[16]

The Lice massacre, during which the Turkish army demolished large parts of the town in reprisal of the death of an Jandarma officer, took place from October 20–23, 1993.[17]

Between 2018 and 2019 localities in the Lice district have often been targeted with curfews declared by the Turkish authorities, which wanted to execute security operations in the district.[18][19][20]

The Kurdish castle of Ataq used to exist near the modern Lice.

Demographics

In 1914, 5,980 Armenians and 4,100 Assyro-Chaldeans lived in the kaza. Armenians had 24 churches, one monastery and five schools. Lice proper had 12,000 inhabitants, including 7,000 Christians (Armenians and Assyrians).[21] During the Armenian genocide, all males were massacred, women and children were deported and their fate is unknown.[21]

Composition

There are 70 neighbourhoods in Lice District:[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports" (XLS). TÜİK. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  2. ^ Malmîsanij, Mehemed (1989). Pîro; Baran; Şêxbizinî (eds.). "Bazı yörelerde Dımıli ve Kurmanci lehçelerinin köylere göre dağılımı - III -". Berhem (in Turkish). 4: 54. ISSN 1100-0910.
  3. ^ Tahir Sezen, Osmanlı Yer Adları (Alfabetik Sırayla), T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü, Yayın Nu 21, Ankara, p. 340.
  4. ^ Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  5. ^ "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  6. ^ Lokman I. Meho, Kelly L. Maglaughlin (2001). Kurdish Culture and Society: An Annotated Bibliography. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 248. ISBN 9780313016806.
  7. ^ "Lice Belediye Başkanlığı Seçim Sonuçları". Sabah. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  8. ^ "Kaymakam Muhammed Evlice". Lice Kaymakamlığı. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Baybaşinler" [The Baybaşins]. Anadolu Türk İnterneti. 10 June 2002. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  10. ^ Jongerden, Joost (2007). The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatial Policies, Modernity and War. Brill. p. 55. ISBN 978-9047420118.
  11. ^ Olson, Robert (1989). The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880–1925. University of Texas Press. p. 42. ISBN 0292776195.
  12. ^ Olson, Robert (1989). p.102
  13. ^ Üngör, Uğur Ümit (2012). Jorngerden, Joost; Verheij, Jelle (eds.). Social Relations in Ottoman Diyarbekir, 1870-1915. Brill. p. 289. ISBN 9789004225183.
  14. ^ Üngör, Umut. "Young Turk social engineering : mass violence and the nation state in eastern Turkey, 1913- 1950" (PDF). University of Amsterdam. p. 238. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Partial recovery and reconstruction after disaster: the Lice case" (PDF). 1977. pp. 235–236. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27.
  16. ^ Turkey-PKK peace process unravels in Lice by Cengiz Çandar in Al Monitor (9 June 2014)
  17. ^ Ron, James (1995). Weapons Transfers and Violations of the Laws of War in Turkey. Human Rights Watch. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9781564321619.
  18. ^ "Curfew in Lice". Bianet. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Curfew in Lice". Bianet. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Curfew in Lice in Diyarbakır". Bianet. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Kaza Lice / ܠܓܗ - Leggeh (mlaḥso: lago) / lige". Virtual Genocide Memorial. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
  22. ^ Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.