According to medieval and most of modern scholars, Hakkâri is named after a local Kurdish tribe called Hakkâri. The name Hakâriyye was used to refer to the surrounding region as early as 639, during the Muslim conquests. Çölemerik is the older name of the city, while Hakkâri referred to the larger mountainous region in which the city is located. In the republican period, Çölemerik came to be replaced by Hakkâri for both the province and the city. The older name appears as Gûlârmak in Syriac sources. The Armenian Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories identifies the city with the ancient fortress of Jlmar.
Neighborhoods
The city is divided into the neighborhoods of Bağlar, Berçelan, Biçer, Bulak, Dağgöl, Gazi, Halife Derviş, Karşıyaka, Keklikpınar, Kıran, Medrese, Merzan, Pehlivan, Sümbül and Yeni.
History
Hakkari kurgan stelae
A Hakkari kurgan stele
Thirteen Kurgan stelae, never before seen in Anatolia or the Near East, were found in 1998 in their original location at the centre of Hakkari. The stelae were carved on upright flagstone-like slabs measuring between 0.7m to 3.10m in height. The stones contain only one cut surface, upon which human figures are chiseled. The theme of each stele reveals the foreview of an upper human body. The legs are not represented. Eleven of the stelae depict naked warriors with daggers, spears, and axes—masculine symbols of war. They always hold a drinking vessel made of skin in both hands. Two stelae contain female figures without arms. The stelae may have been carved by different craftsmen using different techniques. Stylistic differences shift from bas relief to a more systematic linearity. The earliest stelae are in the style of bas relief while the latest ones are in a linear style. They were made during a period from the fifteenth century BC to the eleventh century BC in Hakkâri. Stelae with this type of relief are not common in the ancient Near East however there are many close parallels between these and those produced by a variety of peoples from the Eurasian steppes between the third millennium BC and the eleventh century AD. They are now on display in the Van Museum.
In October 1914, the Ottoman government ordered the deportation of Christians from the Hakkâri region. After the outbreak of war, Turkish troops, helped by Kurdish irregulars, systematically destroyed Christian villages in the region, killing many Assyrian civilians. Assyrians in Çölemerik were arrested or killed. The remaining Assyrians of Hakkâri took refuge in the mountains and then fled towards Iranian territory. 25,000 had reportedly reached Salmas, north of Urmia, by September 1915. An estimated total of 40,000 Assyrians from Hakkâri eventually reached Urmia.
Çölemerik was briefly occupied by Russian troops in December 1914 and for a longer period after May 1915. It was retaken by Turkish forces on 22 April 1918. The town had been reduced to a ruin over the course of the war. Its population was only 801 in 1927, whereas in the late 19th century it had hosted a population of about 3,000.
Republican period
Hakkâri was rebuilt in 1935 and later became the administrative center of the province of Hakkâri. The population of the town grew more significantly after 1975, when it surpassed 10,000, thanks to migration from the surrounding area.
Pervin Buldan (born 1967), Turkish politician of Kurdish origin
Population
Population history of the municipality from 1997 to 2023:
Population
Year
Pop.
±%
1997
57,077
—
2007
57,954
+1.5%
2012
58,584
+1.1%
2017
56,800
−3.0%
2022
60,098
+5.8%
2023
58,470
−2.7%
Climate
Hakkâri has a warm-summer, Mediterranean-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dsa, Trewartha climate classification: Dca). Hakkari city is at an elevation of around 1720 meters (5640 feet) and is surrounded by higher elevations nearby. The winters are cold and snowy with an average of −4°C (23°F). Summers are warm and dry with an average of 25°C (76°F).
Highest recorded temperature:38.8°C (101.8°F) on 27 July 1966 Lowest recorded temperature:−23.4°C (−10.1°F) on 3 January 2009
Climate data for Hakkâri (1991–2020, extremes 1961–2022)
↑Hakobyan, T. Kh.; Melik-Bakhshyan, S. T.; Barseghyan, H. Kh. (1998). Hayastani ev harakitsʻ shrjanneri teghanunneri baṛaran Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան [Dictionary of Toponymy of Armenia and Adjacent Territories] (in Armenian). Vol.4. Yerevan University Publishing House. pp.412, 424.
↑ibn Shaddad, Baha ad-Din (2014). The Life of Saladin. Minnesota: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. p. 420. ISBN978-1-4021-9246-3. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
