Siirt
Siirt
Siirt (Arabic: سِعِرْد Siʿred, Armenian: Սղերդ Sġerd, Kurdish: Sêrt, Syriac: ܣܥܪܬ siʿreth, Ottoman Turkish: سعرد) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the seat of Siirt Province. Siirt urban center has a mixed population of Kurds, Assyrians and Arabs. The population of the city according to the 2009 census was 129,188.
Although still one of the poorer cities in Turkey, whole neighborhoods that have fine and modern housing, stores, banks and hotels have been recently built, making Siirt more worthwhile to visit.
The city's landmark is the Great Mosque (Ulu Cami) built in 1129 by the Great Seljuk Sultan Mahmut II who belonged to the main branch of the dynasty that ruled from Baghdad after this Turkish Empire had split into several branches. The mosque has been restored in 1965.
Siirt is famous around Turkey for its hand-made blankets (Siirt battaniyesi). Many visitors find themselves departing with one offered as a present. The traditional kilims produced by the Jirikan clan (aşiret) and revived since 1996 through joint efforts involving official instances and citizens are also much prized. Another product of interest is the Bıttım soaps proper to the region. Siirt also has an extremely rich culinary and spa culture. Depending district centers of Aydınlar (former Assyrian-rooted name was Tillo) with its historical medrese is renowned as a religious center and Pervari for its honey based on the particularly rich flora.
Siirt was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's constituency. His wife, Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, is from Siirt and the PM had been elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in a by-election held in Siirt in 2003.
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Climate
Siirt has a semi-arid climate with very hot and dry summers and cold and wet winters. In winter night time frost is regular but snowfall is occasional.
| Climate data for Siirt | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.7 (44.1) |
8.9 (48) |
13.7 (56.7) |
19.4 (66.9) |
25.3 (77.5) |
32.3 (90.1) |
37.2 (99) |
37.0 (98.6) |
32.3 (90.1) |
24.4 (75.9) |
15.4 (59.7) |
8.8 (47.8) |
21.78 (71.21) |
| Average low °C (°F) | -0.2 (31.6) |
0.8 (33.4) |
4.4 (39.9) |
9.3 (48.7) |
13.8 (56.8) |
19.3 (66.7) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.3 (73.9) |
18.9 (66) |
12.9 (55.2) |
6.3 (43.3) |
1.9 (35.4) |
11.19 (52.15) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 79.1 (3.114) |
99.0 (3.898) |
106.5 (4.193) |
101.2 (3.984) |
60.9 (2.398) |
11.6 (0.457) |
4.2 (0.165) |
3.3 (0.13) |
5.7 (0.224) |
50.9 (2.004) |
85.9 (3.382) |
92.0 (3.622) |
700.3 (27.571) |
| % Humidity | 70 | 70 | 59 | 56 | 52 | 33 | 25 | 23 | 28 | 46 | 61 | 69 | 49.3 |
| Avg. rainy days | 11.5 | 12.0 | 13.8 | 13.5 | 10.3 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 8.1 | 9.1 | 11.7 | 96.5 |
| Sunshine hours | 111.6 | 123.2 | 173.6 | 201 | 285.2 | 354 | 384.4 | 359.6 | 306 | 226.3 | 156 | 108.5 | 2,789.4 |
| Source no. 1: Devlet Meteoroloji İşleri Genel Müdürlüğü | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Weatherbase | |||||||||||||
Christian history
Previously known as Saird, in pre-Islamic times Siirt was an episcopacy of the Byzantine Church. An illuminated manuscript known as the Syriac Bible of Paris may have originated from the Bishop of Siirt's library, Siirt's Christians would have worshiped in Syriac, a liturgical language related to Arabic still in use by the Chaldean Rite, other Eastern Christians in India, and the Nestorians along the Silk Road as far as China. The Chronicle of Seert was preserved in the city; it describes the ecclesiastical history of the Persian realm through the middle of the seventh century. From 1858 to 1915 the city was the seat of a bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Image Gallery
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A bridge in Siirt.
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Ebul Vefa mosque.
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Eruh municipality
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A residential building in Siirt.
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Ibrahim hakkı shrine in Siirt Tillo.
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The city hall
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Siirt Tillo
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Zorova river
- ^ Şehir, belde ve köy nüfusları – 2009, Tuskish Institute of Statistics
- ^ Siirt in South East Turkey Photo Gallery by Dick Osseman at. Pbase.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.
- ^ İl ve İlçelerimize Ait İstatistiki Veriler- Meteoroloji Genel Müdürlüğü. Dmi.gov.tr. Retrieved on 2011-04-16.
- ^ http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=1271&refer=&units=us&cityname=Siirt-Turkey
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Siirt in 
Coordinates: 37°56′N 41°57′E / 37.933°N 41.95°E