Roman-Byzantine frontier city. The oldest name layer, predating Islam, Arab settlement and Kurdish political dominance. Appears across Greek, Latin, Syriac and Armenian sources.

Arab-Islamic regional name for the wider territory of the Bakr tribe — not initially a city name. Amid and Diyar Bakr coexist, referring to different geographical scales.

Kurdish historian Sharaf Khan Bidlisi uses Diyarbekir for the region, Amad for the city — both names in active use by a Kurdish elite historian, neither politically contested.

The first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan (1898), uses Diyarbekir as the standard city name. Kurdish intellectuals use it without experiencing it as Turkish-national erasure — because that binary does not yet exist.

Atatürk standardizes the spelling Diyarbakır during his city visit, imposing a Turkish copper etymology. Older forms and non-Turkish names pushed from official use. The modern political binary begins here.

Armed conflict, mass displacement and Kurdish urban mobilization give Amed a new political charge. Observers note that by 1992, locals are asserting Amed as the city's Kurdish name against the official designation.

Pro-Kurdish municipal politics brings Amed into civic space for the first time — bilingual signs, Kurdish-language programming, institutional public use of the name. A legal foothold for recognition.

Diyarbakır Büyükşehir Belediyespor votes to become Amed Sportif Faaliyetler Kulübü. The federation fines the club within months. Amed enters Turkish football bureaucracy and national sports media for the first time.

After elected co-mayors are removed, the state-appointed trustee removes Amed from municipal signage and reportedly conditions club support on dropping the name. Police investigate social media posts for use of the word.

MHP leader Bahceli responds to Davutoglu's use of Amed: "You will say Diyarbakır, not Amed." The name is now a national test of political loyalty — deployed in parliament and public speech.

Amed appears in national broadcasts every matchday. Fenerbahce and Galatasaray quote the club's Kurdish-language promotion announcement. The name is now present in Turkey's top-flight football — weekly, in front of millions.