Mardin

Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arab-style architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.

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Early settlers in Mardin were Syriac Orthodox Christians, arriving in the third century. It remained a heavily Christian area during occupations by Muslim Arabs between the seventh and twelfth centuries, and even during its use as a capital by the Artukid Turcoman tribe between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. This tribe fell to the Mongols in 1394, but the Mongols never governed the area closely.

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Mardin became a part of the Ottoman Empire under Selim I in 1517, and remained a part of the Empire until its fall during World War I. The city was the site of a Kurdish rebellion in 1832. Many of Mardin's Christian inhabitants, descended from the early settlers, were killed or forced to leave during the Turkish War of Independence, and Christians now form a tiny minority in the city.

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Turkey: The Republic of Turkey or Turkey (Turkish: T?rkiye), is a bicontinental country that is located mainly in the Middle East (Southwest Asia) and partly in Southeast Europe; The Anatolian peninsula comprises most(97%) of its territory, and is situated between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediter...

Mardin Province: Mardin Province is a province of Turkey with a population of 835,173 (2000)?. The capital of the Mardin Province is Mardin. Located near the traditional boundary of Anatolia and Mesopotamia, it has a diverse population with a Kurdish majority and significant minorities of Arabs, Syriac Christians a...

Arab: The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are an originally Arabian ethnicity widespread in the Middle East and North Africa....