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{{Infobox Turkey place
| type                 = metro district
| name                 = Suruç
| image_skyline        = Suruç town hall.jpg
| image_caption        = The town hall of Suruç
| image_map            = Şanlıurfa location Suruç.PNG
| map_caption          = Map showing Suruç District in Şanlıurfa Province
| coordinates          = {{coord|36|58|35|N|38|25|37|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| province             = Şanlıurfa
| leader_party         =
| leader_name          =
| leader_name1         =
| area_total_km2       = 744
| elevation_m          =
| population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/>
| population_total     = 100961
| population_as_of     = 2022
| postal_code          = 63800
| area_code            = 0414
| website              = {{URL|http://www.suruc.bel.tr/}}
}}
'''Suruç''' ({{IPA|tr|ˈsuɾutʃ|pron}}; {{langx|ku-Latn|Pirsûs}};<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tirsik.net/danegeh/pirtuk/ismail%20bulbul/anamneza%20bi%20kurmancî.pdf|title=Kürtçe Anamnez, Anamneza bi Kurmancî|editor-last=Avcýkýran|editor-first=Dr. Adem|website=Tirsik|page=57|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref> {{Langx|syr|ܣܪܘܓ}} ''Sruḡ''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Serugh - Syriaca.org|url=http://syriaca.org/place/48.html}}</ref>) is a municipality and [[Districts of Turkey|district]] of [[Şanlıurfa Province]], [[Turkey]].<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.</ref> Its area is 744&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=19 September 2023}}</ref> and its population is 100,961 (2022).<ref name=tuik>{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=19 September 2023|publisher=[[TÜİK]]|language=en|format=XLS}}</ref> It is on a plain near the [[Syria–Turkey border|Syrian border]] {{convert|46|km|mi}} southwest of the city of [[Urfa]].
==History==
Suruç is situated in a fertile district that is well-suited to growing fruits and grapevines.<ref name="Plessner 1997">{{cite book |last1=Plessner |first1=M. |last2=Bosworth |first2=C.E. |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C.E. |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W.P. |editor4-last=Lecomte |editor4-first=G. |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IX (SAN-SZE) |date=1997 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-10422-4 |pages=68–9 |url=https://ia600603.us.archive.org/14/items/EncyclopaediaDictionaryIslamMuslimWorldEtcGibbKramerScholars.13/09.EncycIslam.NewEdPrepNumLeadOrient.EdEdComCon.BosDonHeinLec.etc.UndPatIUA.v9.San-Sze.Leid.EJBrill.1997..pdf |access-date=27 January 2023 |chapter=SARŪDJ}}</ref> It is centrally located between the [[Euphrates]] on the west and Urfa and [[Harran]] on the east; it is about a day's journey from both cities (using pre-industrial transportation).<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> This traffic brought it some degree of commercial prosperity as well.<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> This was also helped by its historical status as a [[stage station|post station]] between [[Raqqa]] and [[Sumaysat]].<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> The town itself was primarily agricultural, and [[Ibn Jubayr]] in the 12th century described seeing orchards and irrigation channels within the area of the town itself.<ref name="Plessner 1997"/>
In antiquity the [[Sumer]]ians built a settlement in the area. The city was a centre of silk-making. They were succeeded by a number of other Mesopotamian civilisations.
[[Constantine the Great]], [[Roman emperor]] who reigned from 306 to 337, brought the town under the control of the city of [[Edessa]]. One of the most famous residents of the district is its 6th-century [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] [[bishop]] and poet-[[theology|theologian]] [[Jacob of Serugh]].<ref name="Watkins2015">{{cite book | author = Basil Watkins | date = 19 November 2015 | title = The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary | edition = 8 | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | pages = | isbn = 978-0-567-66415-0 | oclc = 1167590790 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yzqOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT561}}</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] hold the [[bishopric]] as a [[titular see]] of that church,<ref>[http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0285.htm Titular Episcopal See of Batnæ] at GCatholic.org.</ref> though they had little presence in the area, while the Syriac church holds a separate Bishopric in the town.
Tell-Batnan was visited [[Julian (emperor)|Emperor Julian]] on his march from [[Antioch]] to the [[Euphrates]] in 363.<ref name="DodgeonLieu2002">{{cite book | editor1 = Michael H. Dodgeon | editor2 = Samuel N. C. Lieu | date = 1 November 2002 | title = The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History | publisher = Routledge | pages = 362 | isbn = 978-1-134-96113-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tgCKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA362}}</ref>
The town surrendered in 639 to [[Iyad ibn Ghanm]] during the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]].<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> In the 900s it came under the [[Hamdanid dynasty]].<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> Later, it was captured by the Byzantines during a period when they were relatively strong in the region.<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> In the late 1090s, a civil war between the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk]] princes of [[Damascus]] and [[Aleppo]] enabled the early [[Artuqids|Artuqid]] prince [[Sökmen (Artuqid)|Sökmen]] to establish a principality based at Suruç.<ref name="Yücel-Sevim">{{cite book | last1=Yücel | first1=Yaşar | last2=Sevim | first2=Ali | title=Türkiye Tarihi Cilt I| publisher=AKDTYK Yayınları | location=Ankara | year=1990 |page=164}}</ref> This only lasted briefly, though — in 1101, the crusader [[Baldwin I of Jerusalem]] captured Suruç.<ref name="Güray">{{cite web |url=   http://www.gefad.gazi.edu.tr/window/dosyapdf/2009/4/15.pdf |title= Artuklu Haçlı Münasebetleri (1098-1124)|last= Güray Kırpık |publisher= [[Gazi University]]|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref> For almost half a century, Suruç then formed part of the crusader [[County of Edessa]].<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> This is alluded to in the works of the contemporary poet [[al-Hariri of Basra|al-Hariri]]: the hero of his ''[[al-Hariri of Basra#al-Hariri's Maqamat|maqāmāt]]'', Abū Zayd al-Sarūjī, is a native of Suruç who was driven out by the Christians.<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> Crusader rule in Suruç came to an end in January 1145, when the town was captured by [[Imad ad-Din Zangi]].<ref name="Plessner 1997"/>
In the 1300s, [[Abu'l-Fida]] described the town as lying in ruins.<ref name="Plessner 1997"/> In 1517 the area was brought into the [[Ottoman Empire]] by [[Selim I]].
In late Ottoman times, Suruç was the seat of a [[kaymakam]].<ref name="Plessner 1997"/>
=== 21st century ===
[[File:Campo de refugiados em Suruç.jpg|thumb|Refugee camp in Suruç in 2016]]
On 19 October 2014, journalist [[Serena Shim]] was killed in Suruç.
On 20 July 2015, at approximately 12:50 GMT, a [[Suruç bombing|suicide bombing]] occurred. It killed 34 people and injured over 100 others outside the Amara Cultural Center.<ref name="dailystar1">{{cite journal | url=https://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jul-20/307427-explosion-hits-southeastern-turkish-town-of-suruc-near-syria-border-some-dead-and-wounded-security.ashx | title=Suspected ISIS bombing kills 27 in Turkish border town | journal=The Daily Star | date=20 July 2015 | access-date=21 July 2015 | archive-date=22 July 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722212342/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jul-20/307427-explosion-hits-southeastern-turkish-town-of-suruc-near-syria-border-some-dead-and-wounded-security.ashx | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Ahead of the [[June 24]]th [[2018 Turkish general election|anticipated 2018 Turkish elections]], four people were killed in Suruç while an [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AKP]] candidate toured the city's market.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-06-14 |title=Turkey election: Four dead in clash as pre-poll tension rises |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44486003 |access-date=2023-03-06}}</ref> According to pro-Kurdish sources, AKP representative Ibrahim Halil Yıldız went to local shopkeeper Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar where a brawl started.<ref name="ajansfirat">What happened in Suruç? http://english.ajansfirat.com/anf-news-features/what-happened-in-suruc-2/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618152308/http://english.ajansfirat.com/anf-news-features/what-happened-in-suruc-2/ |date=2018-06-18 }}</ref>
* Celal Şenyaşar, son of Haci Esvet Şenyaşar, during the initial brawl at the shop, was shot and killed there.<ref name="ajansfirat" />
* Mehmet Şenyaşar, son of Haci Esvet Şenyaşar, visiting the hospital following the brawl, was attacked and hit on the head repeatedly with an oxygen tank and killed.<ref name="ajansfirat" />
* Haci Esvet Şenyaşar, the shop keeper, was lynched at the Suruç hospital.<ref name="ajansfirat" />
* Mehmet Ali Yıldız, brother of MP Yıldız, died at the Mehmet Akif Inan Hospital in [[Urfa]].<ref name="ajansfirat" />
* One of his bodyguards of Mehmet Ali Yıldız, died at the Mehmet Akif Inan Hospital in [[Urfa]].<ref name="ajansfirat" />
The Suruç hospital camera were damaged.<ref name="ajansfirat" /> This events happened days after Erdogan was filmed encouraging identification and intimidation of opposition voters on sites.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44486003|title = Turkey election: Four dead in clash as pre-poll tension rises|work = BBC News|date = 15 June 2018}}</ref>
==== Politics ====
In the [[2019 Turkish local elections|local elections]] on 31 March 2019 Hatice Çevik was elected as Mayor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/yerel-secim-2019/sanliurfa-suruc-ilcesi-secim-sonuclari|title=Şanlıurfa Suruç Seçim Sonuçları – Suruç Yerel Seçim Sonuçları|last=Şafak|first=Yeni|date=2019-07-11|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR|access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> Kenan Aktaş was appointed [[Kaymakam]], as representative of the state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.suruc.gov.tr/|title=Suruç Kaymakamlığı|website=www.suruc.gov.tr|access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> On the 15 November 2019 Çevik was detained, and the next day she was dismissed and Kenan Aktaş appointed as a trustee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2019/11/16/4-hdp-mayors-in-southeastern-turkey-dismissed-on-terror-charges|title=4 HDP mayors in southeastern Turkey dismissed on terror charges|website=DailySabah|date=16 November 2019|access-date=16 November 2019}}</ref>
==Composition==
There are 95 [[mahalle|neighbourhoods]] in Suruç District:<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 19 September 2023.</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=12em}}
* Ağırtaş
* Akören
* Alanyurt
* Aligör
* Aşağı Karıncalı
* Aşağı Oylum
* Aybastı
* Aydın
* Ayhan
* Balaban
* Barış
* Bellik
* Bilge
* Binatlı
* Boztepe
* Bozyokuş
* Büyük Sergen
* Büyük Ziyaret
* Büyükağacı
* Çanakçı
* Çaykara
* Çengelli
* Çomak
* Cumhuriyet
* Demokrasi
* Dikili
* Dinlence
* Dumlukuyu
* Ekili
* Eskice
* Eskiören
* Ezgil
* Fıstıklı
* Göleç
* Gölen
* Günebakan
* Hacılı
* Harmanalan
* Hürriyet
* Hüyükyanı
* İzci
* Kalkanlı
* Kapıcı
* Karaca
* Karadut
* Karahüyük
* Karaköy
* Karakuyu
* Karataş
* Keberli
* Kesmecik
* Kırmıt
* Kızılhüyük
* Köseler
* Köseveli
* Küçük Sergen
* Küçük Ziyaret
* Küçükköprü
* Küçükova
* Kurutepe
* Mertismail
* Mollahamza
* [[Mürşitpınar]]
* Ölçektepe
* Örgütlü
* Ortabostancı
* Oymaklı
* Özlüce
* Sarayaltı
* Saygın
* Taşlıkuyu
* Tavşanköy
* Tokçalı
* Topçular
* Üçpınar
* Uludüz
* Üveçli
* Uysallı
* Uzgören
* Yağışlı
* Yalınca
* Yalpı
* Yanaloba
* Yatırtepe
* Yaylatepe
* Yazıköy
* Yeğen
* Yenişehir(Şaryanı)
* Yıldırım
* Yıldız
* Yönlü
* Yukarı Bostancı
* Yumurtalık
* Yurtçiçeği
* Zeyrek
{{div col end}}
==Demographics==
In his [[seyahatname]], [[Evliya Çelebi]] mentioned that the plain of Suruj was initially inhabited by Arabs and Turkomans in mid-medieval era, while upon his visit in the 17th century, he observed that the plain was mainly inhabited by Kurds from the Dinayi, Barazi, Kuhbinik, and Jum tribes and Turkomans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Çelebi |first1=Evliya |title=Evliyâ Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: III |pages=153–154 |url=https://archive.org/details/EvliyelebiSeyahatnmesiIII/page/n153/mode/2up |access-date=3 January 2023}}</ref>
According to [[Agha Petros]], before the [[Assyrian genocide]], Suruç (Serudj) had close to 2,000 [[Syriacs|Syriac]] residents.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kaza of Urfa / ܐܘܪܗܝ - Urhoy / Ուռհա - Urha / Ἔδεσσα - Edessa |url=https://virtual-genocide-memorial.de/region/ort-3/ort-33/mutesarrifat-sancak-of-urfa-%DC%90%DC%98%DC%AA%DC%97%DC%9D-urhoy-%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%BC%D5%B0%D5%A1-urha-%E1%BC%94%CE%B4%CE%B5%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B1-edessa/kaza-of-urfa-%DC%90%DC%98%DC%AA%DC%97%DC%9D-urhoy-%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%BC%D5%B0%D5%A1-urha-%E1%BC%94%CE%B4%CE%B5%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B1-edessa/ |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=Virtual Genocide Memorial |language=en-US}}</ref>
Today, Suruç is inhabited mostly by ethnic [[Kurds]].
== Ecclesiastical history of Batnae ==
Batnae was important enough in the [[Roman province]] of [[Osroene]] to become a [[suffragan]] bishopric of its capital Edessa's Metropolitan, yet was to fade. The most famous Bishop of the city was [[Jacob of Serugh]], the great Syriac Christian [[hymn]]ographer born around 451 at [[Kurtam]] on the [[Euphrates]] and educated at [[Edessa]] becoming a priest at Hawra in the Serugh district, as a wandering pastor of several villages. At the age of 67 he was made bishop of Batnan, where he died around 521. Jacob avoided the theological controversies of his age, and is claimed with equal eagerness by [[Chalcedonian]] and [[non-Chalcedonian Christianity|non-Chalcedonian Christians]] as one of their own. He wrote several Hymns, 760 homilies and the Syriac translation of Evagrius.<ref>[http://www.voskrese.info/spl/Xjas-serugh.html St. Jacobus of Sarug, Bishop of Batnæ ].</ref>
Another Bishop was [[Abraham of Batnae]],<ref name="CCEL">{{cite book | title = NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works | date = 1968 | publisher = CCEL | pages = | isbn = 978-1-61025-069-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Cx1LhznlIQgC&pg=PT24}}</ref> a contemporary of [[Basil of Caesarea]].
The bishopric would be nominally restored in two different [[titular bishop]]rics, for different Catholic rite-specific particular churches.
=== Syriac titular see ===
Established in the early 20th century, under repeatedly changed names: Bathna(-Jarug), Bathnan(Sarugh), Bathnae. Suppressed in 1933, restored under its present name in 1965.
It has had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank :
* [[Teofilo Gabriele Tappouni]] (Dionisio) (1913.01.19 – 1921.02.24), as [[Auxiliary Eparch]] of Mardin and Amida of the Syriacs (Turkey) (1912.09.14 – 1921.02.24); previously titular bishop of [[Danaba-orum]] (1912.09.14 – 1913.01.19); later Archeparch of [[Aleppo of the Syriacs]] (Syria) (1921.02.24 – 1929.06.24), Eparch of Mardin and Amida of the Syriacs (1929.06.24 – 1962), [[Patriarch of Antioch of the Syriacs]] (Lebanon) ([1929.06.24] 1929.07.15 – 1968.01.29), created [[Cardinal-Priest]] of [[Ss. XII Apostoli]] (1935.12.19 – 1965.02.11), promoted [[Cardinal-Patriarch]] (1965.02.11 – 1968.01.29)
* Atanasio Behnam Kalian (1921.02.26 – 1929.08.06) as Auxiliary Bishop of [[Antioch of the Syriacs]] (Lebanon) (1921.02.26 – 1929.08.06), Auxiliary Bishop of Mardin and Amida of the Syriacs (Turkey) (1921.02.26 – 1929.08.06), later Archeparch of [[Baghdad of the Syriacs]] (Iraq) (1929.08.06 – death 1949.02.17)
*'' Bishop-elect'' Basile Pierre Habra (1963.05.01 – 1963.07.06)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t2032.htm|title=Titular See of Batnæ, Turkey (Syriac Rite)|website=GCatholic|access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref>
* Gregorios Elias Tabé (1995.06.24 – 1996.05.25) as Auxiliary Bishop of Antioch of the Syriacs (Lebanon) (1995.06.24 – 1997), later titular bishop of [[Mardin of the Syriacs]] (1996.05.25 – 1999.05.08), Bishop of [[Curia of the Syriacs]] (1997 – 1999.05.08), [[Coadjutor Archeparch]] of [[Damascus of the Syriacs]] (Syria) (1999.05.08 – 2001.06.24), succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Damascus of the Syriacs (2001.06.24 – ...)
* [[Grégoire Pierre Abdel-Ahad]] (1996.06.29 – 2001.02.16) while [[Patriarchal Vicar]] of [[Jerusalem of the Syriacs]] (Palestine and Jordan) (1978–1991 and 1991–2000), later [[Patriarch]] of [[Antioch of the Syriacs]] (Lebanon) ([2001.02.16] 2001.02.24 – 2008.01.25), President of Synod of the Syriac Catholic Church (2001.02.24 – 2008.01.25)
* Grégoire Pierre Melki (2002.02.25 – ...) of the [[Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem]] (Palestine and Jordan, see in the Holy Land)
== Notable people ==
* [[Abdülkadir Aygan]] (1958–) former PKK Member
* [[Ayşe Gökkan]] (1965–) Kurdish Journalist
*[[İbrahim Halil Baran]] (1981–) Kurdish [[Poet]]
== See also ==
* [[Suruç Water Tunnel]], Turkey's longest water tunnel
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==Sources and external links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0285.htm GigaCatholic - Latin titular see with incumbent biography links]
* [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t2032.htm GigaCatholic - Syriac titular see with incumbent biography links]
{{Districts of Turkey|provname=Şanlıurfa}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suruc}}
[[Category:Suruç District| ]]
[[Category:Districts of Şanlıurfa Province]]
[[Category:Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Populated places in Şanlıurfa Province]]
[[Category:Divided cities on the Syria–Turkey border]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Kurdish settlements in Turkey]]