Suruç
Suruç | |
|---|---|
| Country |  Turkey |
| Province | Şanlıurfa |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Orhan Şansal (BDP) |
| • Kaymakam | Mehmet Sinan Yıldız |
| Area | |
| • District | 735.19 km2 (283.86 sq mi) |
| Population (2012)[2] | |
| • Urban | 56,963 |
| • District | 101,351 |
| • District density | 140/km2 (360/sq mi) |
| Post code | 63800 |
| Website | www.suruc.bel.tr |
Suruç (Kurdish: Pîrsûs) is a rural district of Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey, on a plain near the Syrian border 46 km south-west of the city of Urfa.
Etymology
The modern Turkish name "Suruç" is derived from Serugh (Syriac: ܣܪܘܓ, Sĕrûḡ, pronounced as if Sıruğ in Modern Turkish orthography, but present pronunciation influenced by Arabic: سروج, sarūj meaning: "saddle"), the pre-Islamic name for the area. The name literally means "woven" (Hebrew: סרוג 'sarug' meaning: "knitted") or "latticed," and either refers to weaving or saddle making, both of which are traditional in the district. Alternatively, the name is associated with Serug (Hebrew: שרוג, śərûḡ) the great-grandfather of the prophet Abraham (Genesis 11:20–23; I Chronicles 1:26; Luke 3:35).
History
In antiquity the Sumerians built a settlement in the area. The city was a centre of silk-making. They were succeeded by a number of other Mesopotamian civilisations. The Roman Emperor Constantine I brought the town under the control of the city of Edessa (modern day Şanlıurfa). One of the most famous residents of the district is its 6th century Syriac bishop and poet-theologian Jacob of Serugh. The town was surrendered to the Abbasid Arabs in 639. It was later controlled by Crusaders (in 1098), and Moslems again (in 1127). The city was then destroyed in the Mongol invasions, and in 1517 the area was brought into the Ottoman Empire by Selim I. Suruç was occupied in 1918 by British and in 1919 by French troops, but was freed by a local resistance struggle. Suruç is today inhabited mostly by ethnic Kurds.
The main town of the district is also called Suruç. However, the older name for the town is Batnan or Batnae (Syriac: ܒܛܢܢ, Baṭnān; Greek: Βάτναι, Batnai; Latin: Batnae). Today Suruç is an agricultural district famous for pomegranates.
On October 19th, Journalist Serena Shim was killed in Suruç which was considered suspicious when a couple days earlier Shim was accused of espionage connected with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and two days earlier she talked about, on air how MIT Turkish Intelegence threaded her.
At approximately 12:50 GMT, the Suruç bombing occured, killing tens of people and injuring others outside the Amara Cultural Center.
See also
- Suruç Water Tunnel, Turkey's longest water tunnel
- Suruç bombing, a 2015 bombing
References
- ^ "Area of regions (including lakes), km²". Regional Statistics Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. 2002. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
- ^ "Population of province/district centers and towns/villages by districts - 2012". Address Based Population Registration System (ABPRS) Database. Turkish Statistical Institute. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
Suruç in Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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