Bakur — Northern Kurdistan

Bakur is the northern part of Kurdistan, inside the borders of Turkey. This page covers its geography, history, main cities and cultural landmarks.

Major Cities

  • Amed (Diyarbakır) · Amed · Diyarbakır — Bakur's cultural capital, ringed by kilometres of black basalt walls. Cradle of modern Kurdish literature, journalism and music. · History · Culture · Walls
  • Van · Wan · Van — City of the blue lake and the Urartian citadel. A captivating blend of ancient history, mountain nature and famed local cuisine. · Lake · History · Nature
  • Mardin · Mêrdîn · Mardin — The golden-stone city overlooking the Jazira plains. Churches, mosques and ancient madrasas coexist on a single slope. · Architecture · Heritage · Pluralism
  • Şırnak · Şirnex · Şırnak — A city of towering mountains and the legendary Mount Cudi refuge. Land of mountain resistance and deep Kurdish memory. · Mountains · Memory · Legend
  • Bitlis · Bedlîs · Bitlis — A historic Kurdish emirate famed for Prince Sharaf Khan's Sharafnameh. A city of valleys, fortresses and ancient stone mosques. · Emirate · History · Architecture
  • Dersim · Dêrsim · Tunceli — A high-mountain land carrying the memory of 1937–38. A unique Kurdish Alevi culture and pristine nature laced by the Munzur rivers. · Memory · Nature · Identity

Nature & Places

  • Walls of Amed — The longest basalt walls in the world after the Great Wall of China — on the UNESCO list.
  • Lake Van — Turkey's largest lake, alkaline-blue, with the historic Akdamar island at its heart.
  • Mount Cudi — The mountain ancient texts name as the ark's landing place — Şırnak's eternal symbol.
  • Munzur Valley — A nature reserve in Dersim — clear rivers and green peaks all year round.
  • Hevsel Gardens — Amed's green lung along the Tigris, an agricultural heritage going back centuries.
  • Akdamar Church — A 10th-century Armenian architectural gem in the middle of Lake Van.
  • Hasankeyf Villages — The cave city on the Tigris — two thousand years of successive civilisations.
  • Qandil & Zagros — The ranges that link Bakur and Bashur — a natural fortress of Kurdish identity.

Culture & Heritage

  • Music — Dengbêj, the bilûr, and the deep mountain voices of Şivan Perwer, Ayşe Şan and Mehmed Arif Cizrawi.
  • Traditional Dress — Shal û şepik for men, long colourful dresses for women, and scarves in the three Kurdish colours.
  • Cuisine — Kibbeh harissa, Van biryani, kavurma, and strong black tea brewed over a wood fire.
  • Customs — Communal circle weddings, zikr circles, and the genuine mountain hospitality.
  • Newroz — In Bakur, Newroz is not just a holiday — it is an annual declaration of identity, fires ablaze on every peak.
  • Folk Heritage — Dengbêj (sung storytelling), fireside tales, and the long govend chain dance.

History & Identity

  • Historical Glimpse — An ancient Hurrian, Mitanni and Urartian land, then the heart of Kurdish emirates like Bitlis, Hakkari and Botan. Its cultural capital Amed stayed for a century the centre of the Kurdish renaissance.
  • The Importance of Amed (Diyarbakır) — Capital of modern Kurdish literature, journalism and music. Its black walls witness millennia of life along the Tigris.
  • Bakur's Role in Culture & Language — Here Jaladet Bedirxan created the Kurdish Latin alphabet, and the first modern Kurdish newspapers, theatres and radios began.
  • Memory & Modern Identity — From the Sharafnameh of Bidlisi to contemporary cultural renaissance movements, Bakur is the living memory of Kurdish identity and its mother Kurmanji tongue.