Sivas is the provincial capital of Sivas Province in Turkey. According to the 2000 Turkish census, its population was 251,776. Provinces of Turkey are called iller in Turkish, singular is il (see Turkish alphabet for capitalization of i). ... The province of Sivas is located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolian region of Turkey. ...

The city contains several important buildings from the Seljuk period, with particularly fine stonework in ornate fronts.

The Sivas Congress, which laid the foundations of the modern Turkish Republic, was held in this city on 4 September 1919. September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

On 2 July 1993, a hotel with mostly left-wing Alevis intellectuals and artists attending an Alevi cultural conference was burnt down by Sunni locals. The crowd was enraged by the presence of Aziz Nesin, the well-known Turkish writer, who had a personal meeting with Salman Rushdie(the writer of Satanic Verses). 36 Alevis and a Dutch anthropologist were killed in the fire. July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003) Events Media:January January 1 - Czechoslovakia divides. ... Alevis are a branch of Islam, related to Shia Islam and practised mainly in (majority Sunni) Turkey, among both Turks and Kurds. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Categories: Stub | 1915 births | 1995 deaths | Turkish people | Turkish writers ... Salman Rushdie (born June 19, 1947, in Bombay, India) is an essayist and author of fiction, most of which is set on the Indian subcontinent. ... The Satanic Verses is also a novel by Salman Rushdie; see: The Satanic Verses (novel) The term Satanic Verses was coined by the historian Sir William Muir to refer to several verses alleged to have been part of an early version of the Quran and later expunged. ... Alevis are a branch of Islam, related to Shia Islam and practised mainly in (majority Sunni) Turkey, among both Turks and Kurds. ...

External links

• Pictures of the city, its monuments, the classroom where the congress was held (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/sivas_turkey)