History of Diyarbakır

Diyarbakır, located in the central part of the Southeastern Anatolia Region, has held a geopolitically significant position throughout history; since ancient times it has occupied a route linking the Mediterranean with the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea with Mesopotamia. Diyarbakır's natural location as a transit route has increased its appeal throughout the ages, making it a city where civilisations have left their mark. It is a city where countless cultures from the depths of history have come together.

Throughout history, the city has been known by various names, including Amida, Amidi, Amid, Kara-Amid Diyar-Bekr, Diyarbekir, and Diyarbakır. It is located in the heart of the Fertile Crescent, in the region known as El-Cezire, in the central part of the Southeastern Anatolia Region.

Diyarbakır's deep-rooted history dates back 12,000 years. Recent archaeological investigations in the Bismil district have revealed that a settled way of life existed at Körtik Tepe between 10.400 and 9.250 BC. Çayönü Hill, near Ergani, provides one of the best examples of Anatolia's earliest farming village communities, and its history, dating back 10,000 years, sheds light not only on our regional history but also on the history of world civilization. Evidence of life has also been found in caves in and around Diyarbakır during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods. Remains from this era have been identified in the Hassuni Caves near Silvan and the Hilar Caves near Ergani.

In the 3000s BC, traces of the Hurrians were found in the centre of the city, and with their domination of the region, efforts to make Diyarbakır their homeland began. followed by the Mitanni, the Abbasids, the Marwanids, the Great Seljuks, the Inaloğulları, the Nisanoğulları, the Artuqids, the Ayyubids, the Anatolian Seljuks, the Akkoyunlu and, finally, the Ottomans. Diyarbakır carries a rare cultural and historical heritage with the spatial and architectural features of these civilisations.

The UNESCO World Heritage Diyarbakır City Walls stand foremost among the city’s countless monuments. Resembling a turbot when viewed from above, the walls encircle the entire city and consist of two sections: the Inner Castle and the Outer Castle. The Diyarbakır Walls rank first among the world's castles in terms of age and height. The Diyarbakır Castle, which has survived to the present day with nearly its entire structure intact and bears the traces of many civilisations, has defied time and stood for approximately five thousand years. With a thickness of 3-5 metres and a height of 11-12 metres, it possesses a magnificent grandeur that is well worth seeing. The 5,500-metre long Diyarbakır Walls are crowned with 82 bastions, encircling the city like a necklace. They preserve traces from both before and after the Common Era, with 63 separate inscriptions and countless figures, making them a museum of inscriptions and reliefs.

With its cultural identity, it is considered one of the most important cities not only in Turkey but also in the whole world. With its historical potential, the city is like an open-air museum. The city, which has been the cradle of many civilisations, has witnessed the history of its era and bears the traces of every civilisation that has come to it.

History of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality

The first municipal organizations in the Ottoman Empire were established in 1853 after the Crimean War under the name “Şehremaneti.” The Diyarbakır Şehremaneti was established in 1865. For a considerable period, towns and settlements were governed through these municipal administrations.

According to the 1882 Diyarbekir Salname (provincial yearbook), the Mayor (Şehremini) of Diyarbakır at the time was Abdüllatif Efendi, and his deputy was Osib Efendi, an Armenian.

According to various historical sources, during the 1880s the eastern and western quarters of the old walled city of Diyarbakır (Suriçi) were governed separately by two different municipal heads (Şehremini). It is noted that the deputy of the Muslim municipal head was Christian, while the deputy of the Christian municipal head was Muslim.

In 1922, the Government in Ankara enacted Law No. 278, entitled "The Law on the Procedure for the Election of Municipal Administrators". Within the framework of this law, republican-era municipalities were established across all settlements, including Diyarbekir.

The first metropolitan municipalities in Türkiye were established in 1984, starting with Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The Metropolitan Municipality of Diyarbakır was founded later, in 1993.

Following the transformation of Diyarbekir’s local administration from Şehremanet (Ottoman municipal office) to a modern municipality after 1922, the city’s mayors are listed as follows.
(As is known, the name Diyarbekir was officially changed to Diyarbakır in 1937 by order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and a decision of the Municipal Council.)

•Müftüzade Mantinci Hüseyin Efendi 1922-25

•Şeref Uluğ (Vekil)

•Nazım Önen (İki dönem)

•Adil Tigrel 1935-40

•Abdülkadir Cizrelioğlu 1940

•Vehbi Dabakoğlu (Vekil)

•M. Nuri Onur 1950-57

•Sezayi Demiray (Vekil)

•İhsan Koçak

•Namık Kemal Şentürk (Vali ve Başkan)

•Felat Cemiloğlu (Vekil)

•Nejat Cemiloğlu 1963-1973

• Okay Kalfagil 1973-77

•Mehdi Zana 1977-80

•Albay Feyyaz Üzümcü (Vekil-12 Eylül 1980) 1980-81

•Vali Yardımcısı Muhsin Akar (Vekil) 1981-84

•Nurettin Dilek 1984-87

•Mehmet Baydur (Önce vekil sonra atanarak asil) 1987-89

•Turgut Atalay 1989-94

•Ahmet Bilgin 1994-99

•Feridun Çelik 1999-2004

•Osman Baydemir 2004-2014

• Gultan Kışanak - Fırat Anlı 2014-2016

• Cumali Atilla (Vekil) 2016 - 2019

• Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı 2019

• Hasan Basri Güzeloğlu (Vekil) 2019-2020

• Münir Karaloğlu (Vekil) 2020-05.2022

• Ali İhsan Su (Vekil) 05.2022-08.04.2024

• Serra BUCAK - Doğan HATUN 08.04.2024-...

Diyarbakır Municipality was granted metropolitan municipality status on 28 December 1993 by Decree Law No. 504, published in the Official Gazette. Between 1994 and 2004, the municipal area covered approximately 26,000 hectares. This territorial scope was expanded with the enactment of Law No. 5216 in 2004. With the enactment of Law No. 6360 on 12 November 2012, the service area of the metropolitan municipality was redefined to cover the entire provincial territory