Diyarbakır is the largest city in southeastern Anatolia. Its situation at a given time is also one of the most prominent indicators of the way the modern Turkish state interacts with ethnic minorities within its borders.

Being a Kurdish-majority urban center, and as a result the headquarters of the Fourth Inspectorate-General, it felt the first direct effects of Turkification as that Inspectorate-General did its work. New rail lines, roads, economic investment, and construction of schools, hospitals, and other services at a scale unheard of in Diyarbakır's history were joined by laws attempting to erase the local culture in favour of national unity—and a heavy military presence to enforce those laws.