Lice, Turkey


Lice, is a Kurdish-populated town in Diyarbakır Province in Turkey. The population was 9,644 in 2010. It is located from the capital, Diyarbakır. In the local elections in March 2019 Tarık Mercan from the Peoples' Democratic Party was elected mayor. As the current District Governor was appointed Cevdet Bakkal.

History

The Kurdish Zirki tribe in Lice supported the Sheik Said rebellion in 1925. As a reprisal the tribes villages Çaylarbaşı, Kurlu, Alataş, Mat-bur and Çağlayan, have been demolished and the residing population was killed by troops of the Turkish army. It was reported that the troops of the Turkish Major Ali Haydar have wiped out the majority of the Sheikhs.
On 6 September 1975, Lice was struck by an earthquake rated 6.6 - 6.9 on the Richter scale. Around 1'500 people were killed in Lice according to the mayor.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, was founded in the village of Fis, in Lice district on November 27, 1978.
The Lice massacre took place from October 20–23, 1993.
The Kurdish castle of Ataq used to exist near the modern Lice.