Hasankeyf

Hasankeyf (Kurdish: Heskîf, Greek: Kiphas, Turkish: Hasankeyf, Latin: Cepha, from Syriac: ܚܨܢ ܟܐܦܐ Ḥéṣn Kayfa) is an ancient town and district located along the Tigris River in the Batman Province in southeastern Turkey. It was declared a natural conservation area by Turkey in 1981. Predominantly Armenian and Arab before, a steady and significant Kurdish immigration from surrounding villages in the last 20-30 years - combined with the effects of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide - has shifted the ethnic balance. Kurdish people form the majority of the city centre today.