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143-675: Most of the territory is controlled by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which as part of the ongoing Rojava conflict , on 21 January 2014 declared democratic autonomy on the area of Al-Hasakah Governorate as the Jazira Region , the largest of the three original regions of AANES. During the Abbasid era, the area that makes this province used to be part of the Diyar Rabi'a administrative unit, corresponding to

286-505: A " millet ," had a representative in Istanbul and was allowed to organize its own affairs, including its people's education, social services and charities and even some of the legal standards by which they lived. The millet controlled all internal disputes such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and the distribution and collection of taxes. The residue of this community-specific system remained in modern Syria; for example, everyone knew you went to

429-658: A Kurdish-Assyrian autonomy movement emerged in Jazira. The demands of the movement were autonomous status similar to the Sanjak of Alexandretta , the protection of French troops, promotion of Kurdish language in schools and hiring of Kurdish officials. The movement was led by Michel Dome, mayor of Qamishli, Hanna Hebe, general vicar for the Syriac-Catholic Patriarch of Jazira, and the Kurdish notable Hajo Agha. Some Arab tribes supported

572-491: A brand gaining global recognition" by 2019. The territory around Jazira province of northeastern Syria is called Gozarto ( Classical Syriac : ܓܙܪܬܐ , romanized:  Gozarto ), part of the historical Assyrian homeland , by Syriac-Assyrians. The area has also been nicknamed Federal Northern Syria , and the Democratic Confederalist Autonomous Areas of Northern Syria . The first name of

715-622: A decade long history of farming. Already in 1921, the French wanted to develop the agricultural sector and over a feasibility study of the Union Economique de Syrie the region was seen profitable for the cotton production. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the agricultural expansion grew significantly. When the USA instated a control on cotton exports during the Korean War , the cotton production in

858-463: A degree of local autonomy : Under the Ottomans, the area known today as Syria hadn't been a single entity but rather a collection of " wilayats ," or provinces, that at times included areas of modern-day Lebanon and Israel. Nor was the population homogenous. The wilayats of Ottoman Syria each comprised an array of ethnicities, cultural identifications and economic structures. After 400 years of rule under

1001-470: A former diplomat like me, I found it confusing: I kept looking for a hierarchy, the singular leader, or signs of a government line, when, in fact, there was none; there were just groups. There was none of that stifling obedience to the party, or the obsequious deference to the "big man"—a form of government all too evident just across the borders, in Turkey to the north, and the Kurdish regional government of Iraq to

1144-754: A large strain on the region's economy . The autonomous region is ruled by a coalition pursuing a model of economy that blends co-operative and market enterprise, through a system of local councils in minority, cultural, and religious representation. Independent organizations providing healthcare in the region include the Kurdish Red Crescent , the Syrian American Medical Society , the Free Burma Rangers , and Doctors Without Borders . Since 2016, Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces have occupied parts of northern Syria through

1287-640: A mandatory third language. There are ongoing disagreements and negotiations over curriculums with the Syrian central government, which generally still pays the teachers in public schools. In August 2016, the Ourhi Centre was founded by the Assyrian community in the city of Qamishli, to educate teachers in order to make Syriac-Aramaic an additional language in public schools in Jazira Region, which then started in

1430-588: A minor Arab genocide in Anatolia at the same time, which meant they had affinity with one another. Aleppo's large Christian population swelled with the influx of Armenian and Assyrian Christian refugees during the early 20th-century and after the Armenian genocide and Assyrian genocide of 1915. After the arrival of the first groups of Armenian refugees coming from the death camps in Deir ez Zor and historic Armenia (1915–1922)

1573-503: A model for a federalized Syria as a whole, rather than outright independence. The region's administration has also been accused by partisan and non-partisan sources of authoritarianism , media censorship , forced disappearances , support of the Syrian government , Kurdification , and displacement. At the same time, the AANES has also been described by partisan and non-partisan sources as

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1716-494: A series of military operations against the SDF. AANES and its SDF have stated they will defend all regions of autonomous administration from any aggression. Parts of northern Syria are known as Western Kurdistan ( Kurdish : Rojavayê Kurdistanê ) or simply Rojava ( / ˌ r oʊ ʒ ə ˈ v ɑː / ROH -zhə- VAH ; Kurdish: [roʒɑˈvɑ] "the West") among Kurds, one of

1859-651: Is an important factor in maintaining Armenian language and patriotism among the Armenian community in Syria. Aleppo as the main host of the community, is a center of Armenian long-running schools and cultural institutions. Armenian students who graduate from those community schools, can immediately enter the Syrian university system, after passing the official Thanawiya 'Amma (High School baccalaureate) exams. A total of 9 schools operate in Aleppo including 4 secondary education schools (high schools): Other elementary schools in Aleppo under

2002-554: Is estimated that 25,000 Kurds fled at this time to Syria. The French official reports show the existence of at most 45 Kurdish villages in Jazira prior to 1927. A new wave of refugees arrived in 1929. The mandatory authorities continued to encourage Kurdish immigration into Syria, and by 1939, the villages numbered between 700 and 800. French authorities were not opposed to the streams of Assyrians, Armenians or Kurds who, for various reasons, had left their homes and had found refuge in Syria. The French authorities themselves generally organized

2145-535: Is offering several protection options including simplified naturalization by Armenian descent (15,000 persons acquired Armenian citizenship ), accelerated asylum procedures and facilitated short, mid and long-term residence permits. According to Hranush Hakobyan by 2016 only 15,000 Armenians were left in Syria and the rest have been settled in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh , with another 8,000 having left for Lebanon , and others going to destinations including Europe ,

2288-597: Is under joint YPG-Syrian Army control. On 6 September 2018, during a meeting of the Syrian Democratic Council in Ayn Issa , a new name for the region was adopted, the "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria", encompassing the Euphrates, Afrin, and Jazira regions as well as the local civil councils in the regions of Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, and Deir ez-Zor. During the meeting, a 70-member "General Council for

2431-662: Is working on a major extension of the fibre optic cable network in southern Jazira Region. After the establishment of the de facto autonomous region, the Center of Art and Democratic Culture, located in Jazira Region, has become a venue for aspiring artists who showcase their work. Among major cultural events in the region is the annual Festival of Theater in March/April as well as the Rojava Short Story Festival in June, both in

2574-737: The Agos Armenian newspaper, said that the Armenians under Assad felt relatively safe. The Armenians, according to The Economist , lived in a safe haven in Syria which made Armenians more sympathetic for Assad during the Syrian Civil War . According to the Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia, the estimated number of Armenians in Syria is 100,000, with more than 60,000 of them centralized in Aleppo , with other estimates by Armenian foundations in Syria putting

2717-838: The Armenian Catholic Church . The Catholic Armenian population in Syria belongs to one of the 4 following prelacies under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia : The Armenian Catholic Church has 2 Convents in Syria: Armenian Evangelicals (also known as Armenian Protestants), belong to Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East of the Armenian Evangelical Church . The education

2860-559: The Armenian genocide . Nowadays, there are 11 compatriotic organizations operating in Aleppo: Dikranagerd , Daron - Duruperan , Marash , Urfa women's, Urfa youth, Palu , Zeitun , Kilis , Berejik , Musa Ler and Garmouj compatriotic unions. Other notable community structures in Aleppo include: Original Armenians of Syria, known as al-arman al-qidam ( lit.   ' the old Armenians ' ) traditionally spoke Arabic . With

3003-561: The Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party and the Assyrian Democratic Party attempted to work within the system, hoping to bring about changes through soft pressure. In general, parties that openly represented certain ethnic and religious minorities were not allowed to participate in elections, but their politicians were occasionally allowed to run as Independents. Some Kurdish politicians won seats during

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3146-599: The Ottoman Empire , large Kurdish-speaking tribal groups both settled in and were deported to areas of northern Syria from Anatolia . The largest of these tribal groups was the Reshwan confederation, which was initially based in Adıyaman Province but eventually also settled throughout Anatolia. The Milli confederation, mentioned in 1518 onward, was the most powerful group and dominated the entire northern Syrian steppe in

3289-677: The Sanjak of Alexandretta who arrived in Aleppo later on after the annexation of the Sanjak in 1939 by Turkey. In 1944, Aleppo's population was around 325,000, with 112,110 (34.5%) Christians among which Armenians counted 60,200. Armenians formed more than half of the Christian community in Aleppo until 1947, when many groups of them left for Soviet Armenia to take advantage of the Armenian Repatriation Process (1946–1967) . In an interview with Radikal , Rober Koptaş , editor-in-chief of

3432-752: The Siege of Kobanî , and in the YPG's Tell Abyad offensive of summer of 2015, the regions of Jazira and Kobanî were connected. After the YPG victory over ISIL in Kobanî in March 2015, an alliance between YPG and the United States was formed, which greatly worried Turkey, because Turkey stated the YPG was a clone of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which Turkey (and the U.S. and the E.U.) designate as terrorists . In December 2015,

3575-491: The Syrian Democratic Council has adopted a new name for the region, naming it the "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria" (NES) ( Kurdish : Rêveberiya Xweser a Bakur û Rojhilatê Sûriyeyê ; Arabic : الإدارة الذاتية لشمال وشرق سوريا ; Classical Syriac : ܡܕܰܒܪܳܢܘܬ݂ܳܐ ܝܳܬ݂ܰܝܬܳܐ ܠܓܰܪܒܝܳܐ ܘܡܰܕܢܚܳܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܰܐ , romanized:  Mdabronuṯo Yoṯayto l-Garbyo w-Madnḥyo d-Suriya ; Turkish : Kuzey ve Doğu Suriye Özerk Yönetimi ) also sometimes translated into English as

3718-702: The Syrian Democratic Council was created. On 17 March 2016, at a TEV-DEM-organized conference in Rmelan the establishment the Democratic Federation of Rojava – Northern Syria was declared in the areas they controlled in Northern Syria. The declaration was quickly denounced by both the Syrian government and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces . In March 2016, Hediya Yousef and Mansur Selum were elected co-chairpersons for

3861-539: The Syrian elections in 1990 . The government also recruited Kurdish officials, in particular as mayors, to ease ethnic relations. Regardless, northern Syrian ethnic groups remained deliberately underrepresented in the bureaucracy, and many Kurdish majority areas were run by Arab officials from other parts of the country. Security and intelligence agencies worked hard to suppress dissidents, and most Kurdish parties remained underground movements. The government monitored, though generally allowed this "sub-state activity" because

4004-844: The Umayyad Caliphate including their capital Damascus in the Muslim-controlled Syria . During the 2nd half of the 11th century, Armenia -being under the Byzantine rule- was conquered by the Seljuq Turks . Waves of Armenians left their homeland in order to settle in more stable countries. Most Armenians established themselves in Cilicia where they founded the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia . Many other Armenians have preferred to settle in northern Syria. Armenian quarters were formed during

4147-454: The United States and Canada . However, Armenian foundations in Syria estimate around 35,000 are left based on rough estimates, including a method which multiplies the number of students enrolled in Armenian minority schools by 3 or 4, since minors would only take up around 25–30% of an age pyramid . The Syrian border villages of Kessab and Yakubiyah had Armenian majorities prior to

4290-485: The al-Nusra Front and Jabhat Ghuraba al-Sham . It also eclipsed rival Kurdish militias, and absorbed some government loyalist groups. According to researcher Charles R. Lister, the government's withdrawal and concurrent rise of the PYD "raised many eyebrows", as the relationship between the two entities was "highly contentious" at the time. The PYD was known to oppose certain government policies, but had also strongly criticised

4433-567: The "Self-Administration of North and East Syria", encompassing the Euphrates, Afrin, and Jazira regions as well as the local civil councils in the regions of Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, and Deir ez-Zor. Northern Syria is part of the Fertile Crescent , and includes archaeological sites dating to the Neolithic, such as Tell Halaf . In antiquity, the area was part of the Mitanni kingdom, its centre being

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4576-629: The 11th century in Antioch , Aleppo , Ayntab , Marash , Kilis , etc. Prior to the Siege of Antioch , most Armenians were expelled from Antioch by the Turkish governor of the city Yaghi-Siyan , a move that prompted the Armenians of Antioch, and the rulers of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia to establish close relations with the European Crusades rather than the mostly-Turkish rulers of Syria. Thus,

4719-532: The 17th century. Another wave of migrants from Karin arrived in Aleppo in 1737. There were also families from Yerevan . Armenian population increased in Aleppo. By the end of the 19th century, the Mazloumian family established the "Ararat hotel" that became a renowned international establishment and renamed Baron Hotel . Under the Ottomans, Syrians and many other ethnic groups lived in a religious and culturally pluralist society, with each community exercising

4862-594: The 18th century, five Kurdish tribes existed in northeastern Syria. The demographics of this area underwent a huge shift in the early part of the 20th century. Some Circassian, Kurdish and Chechen tribes cooperated with the Ottoman ( Turkish ) authorities in the massacres of Armenian and Assyrian Christians in Upper Mesopotamia , between 1914 and 1920, with further attacks on unarmed fleeing civilians conducted by local Arab militias. Many Assyrians fled to Syria during

5005-428: The 1920s was estimated at 20,000 people, out of 100,000 inhabitants, with the remainder of the population being Christians (Syriac, Armenian, Assyrian) and Arabs. Following Syria's independence , policies of Arab nationalism and attempts at forced Arabization became widespread in the country's north, to a large part directed against the Kurdish population. The region received little investment or development from

5148-525: The 1920s was estimated at 20,000 people. Starting in 1926, the region witnessed another huge immigration wave of Kurds following the failure of the Sheikh Said rebellion against the Turkish authorities . Tens of thousands of Kurds fled their homes in Turkey and settled in Syria, and as usual, were granted citizenship by the French mandate authorities. This large influx of Kurds moved to Syria 's Jazira province. It

5291-582: The 1950s. The threatening of the closure of schools not complying with this resulted in protests erupting in Qamishli. A deal was later reached in September 2018 between the region's authorities and the local Syriac Orthodox archbishopric, where the two first grades in these schools would learn the region's Syriac curriculum and grades three to six would continue to learn the Damascus approved curriculum. While there

5434-611: The 2014 Constitution of North and East Syria guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press . As a result, a diverse media landscape has developed in the region, in each of the Kurdish , Arabic , Syriac-Aramaic and Turkish languages of the land, as well as in English, and media outlets frequently use more than one language. Among the most prominent media in the region are Hawar News Agency and ARA News agencies and websites as well as TV outlets Rojava Kurdistan TV, Ronahî TV , and

5577-574: The 2016/17 academic year. According to the region's Education Committee, in 2016/2017 "three curriculums have replaced the old one, to include teaching in three languages: Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac." In August 2017 Galenos Yousef Issa of the Ourhi Centre announced that the Syriac curriculum would be expanded to grade 6, which earlier had been limited to grade 3, with teachers being assigned to Syriac schools in Al-Hasakah , Al-Qahtaniyah and Al-Malikiyah . At

5720-454: The Arabs and Kurds in the region are Sunni Muslim. Between 20 and 30% of the people of Al-Hasakeh city are Christians of various churches and denominations (majority Syriac Orthodox ). Until the beginning of the 20th century, al-Hasakah Governorate (then called Jazira province) was a “no man’s land” primarily reserved for the grazing land of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. During the late days of

5863-745: The Armenian Apostolic (also known as Oriental Orthodox Armenian) faith are under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Cilicia (based in Antelias , Lebanon ) of the Armenian Apostolic Church . However, the Diocese of Damascus pledges allegiance to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin . The Apostolic Armenian population in Syria belongs to one of the 3 following prelacies: Catholic Armenians are members of

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6006-399: The Armenian community of 10,000 in Aleppo came together to aid the deportees, with the Armenian Apostolic Church in Aleppo initially providing improvised support for the newcomers. They did not hesitate to shelter and support persecuted Armenians. Arabs and Armenians have traditionally had good relations, especially after they sheltered the Armenians during the Armenian genocide. There was also

6149-407: The Armenian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem . Yet, not considered an organized community in the city, Armenian presence was notably enlarged in Aleppo, during the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (12th century), when a considerable number of Armenian families and merchants settled in the city creating their own businesses, residencies, and gradually schools, churches and prelacy. The Armenian church of

6292-464: The Armenian quarter to get your silver. Although the Armenians have had a long history in Syria, most arrived there during the Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire . The main killing fields of Armenians were located in the Syrian desert surrounding Deir ez-Zor (Euphrates Valley). During the genocide, more than a million Armenians were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced from historic Armenia . The native Arabs in addition to

6435-503: The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria" was formed. In December 2015, during a meeting of the region's representatives in Al-Malikiyah , the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) was established to serve as the political representative of the Syrian Democratic Forces . The co-leaders selected to lead the SDC at its founding were prominent human rights activist Haytham Manna and TEV-DEM Executive Board member Îlham Ehmed. The SDC appoints an Executive Council which deal with

6578-508: The Christian movement in many towns and villages. Local Kurdish tribes who were allies of Shammar tribe sacked and burned the Assyrian (Syriac) town of Amuda. In 1941, the Assyrian (Syriac) community of al-Malikiyah was subjected to a vicious assault. Even though the assault failed, Assyrians (Syriacs) felt threatened and left in large numbers, and the immigration of Kurds from Turkey to the area converted al-Malikiya, al-Darbasiyah and Amuda to Kurdish-majority cities. Between 1932 and 1939,

6721-414: The Cilician and other towns of northern Syria arrived in Aleppo. They have gradually developed their own schools and churches to become a well-organized community during the 15th century with the establishment of the Armenian Diocese of Beroea in Aleppo. During the early years of the Ottoman rule over Syria , there was relatively smaller Armenian presence in northern Syria due to the military conflicts in

6864-409: The Forty Martyrs in Aleppo was mentioned for the first time in 1476. In 1624, as a result of the growing number of Armenian residents and pilgrims, the Armenian prelacy started to build a quarter near the church which kept its original name Hokedoun (Spiritual House), up to now. It was designated to serve as a settlement for the Armenian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. The majority of Armenians of

7007-524: The Iranian Parthians and Sasanians , then by the Byzantines and successive Arab Islamic caliphates. In course of these regimes, different groups settled in northern Syria, often contributing to population shifts. Arabic tribes have been present in the area for millennia. Under the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire (312–63 BC), different tribal groups and mercenaries were settled in northern Syria as military colonists; these included Arabs and possibly Kurds. Jan Retso argued that Abai, an Arab settlement where

7150-449: The KCK, as differences emerged between the PKK and PYD leadership. The PYD was determined to maintain the regional autonomy and hoped for a continued alliance with the United States. In contrast, the PKK central command was now willing to restart negotiations with Turkey, distrusted the United States, and emphasized the international success of its leftist ideology over the survival of Rojava as administrative entity. The political system of

7293-426: The KNC, who have different ideological aspirations than the TEV-DEM coalition. On 28 December 2016, after a meeting of the 151-member Syrian Democratic Council in Rmelan , a new constitution was resolved; despite objections by 12 Kurdish parties, the region was renamed the "Democratic Federation of Northern Syria", removing the name "Rojava". Since 2012, when the first YPG pockets appeared, Turkey had been alarmed by

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7436-416: The Khabur river valley in modern-day Jazira Region. It was then part of Assyria , with the last surviving Assyrian imperial records, from between 604 BC and 599 BC, were found in and around the Assyrian city of Dūr-Katlimmu . Later it was ruled by different dynasties and empires – the Achaemenids of Iran , the Hellenistic empires who succeeded Alexander the Great , the Artaxiads of Armenia , Rome ,

7579-401: The Kurdish Supreme Committee established a joint leadership council to administer the towns. Soon YPG also gained control of the cities of Al-Malikiyah , Ras al-Ayn , al-Darbasiyah , and al-Muabbada and parts of Hasakah and Qamishli . Doing so, the YPG and its female wing, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), mostly battled factions of the Free Syrian Army , and Islamist militias like

7722-411: The Ottomans, certain particularities of the political system became ingrained. In modern-day Syria before the civil war, cities were divided into culturally distinct quarters: one where you would find the Armenians, another populated by Assyrians. I especially remember the Kurdish markets, where vendors would come dressed in their bright colors to sell fruits and vegetables from the countryside. In fact,

7865-401: The PKK maintained a clandestine presence in the region. In 2002, the PKK and allied groups organized the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) to implement Öcalan's ideas in various Middle Eastern countries. A KCK branch was also set up in Syria, led by Sofi Nureddin and known as "KCK-Rojava". In an attempt to outwardly distance the Syrian branch from the PKK, the Democratic Union Party (PYD)

8008-435: The PKK remained much less popular among Kurds in al-Hasakah Governorate , where other Kurdish parties maintained more influence. Many Syrian Kurds developed a long-lasting sympathy for the PKK, and a large number, possibly more than 10,000, joined its insurgency in Turkey. A rapprochement between Syria and Turkey brought an end to this phase in 1998, when Öcalan and the PKK were formally expelled from northern Syria. Regardless,

8151-432: The PKK's shift toward anarchism , but also includes various "tribal, ethno-sectarian, capitalist and patriarchal structures." The region has a "co-governance" policy in which each position at each level of government in the region includes a "female equivalent of equal authority" to a male. Similarly, there are aspirations for equal political representation of all ethno-religious components – Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians being

8294-404: The PYD announced that it had written a constitution for an "autonomous Syrian Kurdish region", and planned to hold referendum to approve the constitution in October 2013. Qamishli served as first de facto capital of the PYD-led governing body, which was official called the "Interim Transitional Administration". The announcement was widely denounced by both moderate as well as Islamist factions of

8437-486: The Rodî û Perwîn Library in Kobani (May 2016). For Assyrian private confessional schools there had at first been no changes. However, in August 2018 it was reported that the region's authorities was trying to implement its own Syriac curriculum in private Christian schools that have been continuing to use an Arabic curriculum with limited Syriac classes approved by the Assad regime and originally developed by Syrian Education Ministry in cooperation with Christian clergy in

8580-406: The SDF as reasons. The protests resulted in deaths and injuries. It has been stated that the new political structures created in the region have been based on top-down structures, which have placed obstacles for the return of refugees, created dissent as well as a lack of trust between the SDF and the local population. Qamishli initially served as the de facto capital of the administration, but

8723-418: The SDF. On 9 October, the Turkish Air Force launched airstrikes on border towns. On 6 October President of the United States Donald Trump had ordered United States troops to withdraw from northeastern Syria where they had been providing support to the SDF. Journalists called the withdrawal "a serious betrayal to the Kurds" and "a catastrophic blow to US credibility as an ally and Washington's standing on

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8866-412: The Seleucid king Antiochus VI Dionysus was raised, was located in northern Syria. By the 3rd century, the Arab tribe of the Fahmids lived in northern Syria. By the 9th century, northern Syria was inhabited by a mixed population of Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds, Turkic groups, and others. Kurdish tribes in the area often operated as soldiers for hire, and were still placed in specific military settlements in

9009-443: The Syrian Jazira. The Kurdish tribes gradually settled in villages and cities and are still present in the modern governorate). The demographics of northern Syria saw a huge shift in the early part of the 20th century when the Ottoman Empire ( Turks ) conducted ethnic cleansing of its Armenian and Assyrian Christian populations and some Kurdish tribes joined in the atrocities committed against them. Many Assyrians fled to Syria during

9152-426: The Syrian government arbitrarily deprived ethnic Kurdish citizens of their citizenship. The largest such instance was a consequence of a census in 1962, which was conducted for exactly this purpose. 120,000 ethnic Kurdish citizens saw their citizenship arbitrarily taken away and became stateless . This status was passed to the children of a "stateless" Kurdish father. In 2010, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimated

9295-405: The Syrian opposition. Following a deadly PYD repression of opposition demonstrations in Amuda, the Kurdish National Council withdrew from the Kurdish Supreme Committee. Unopposed, the PYD's political coalition, Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), controlled the Kurdish Supreme Committee until the latter was dissolved by the cantonal Democratic Autonomous Administration. On 19 July 2013,

9438-429: The Syrian opposition. In January 2014, three areas declared their autonomy as cantons (now Afrin Region, Jazira Region and Euphrates Region) and an interim constitution (also known as social contract ) was approved. The Syrian opposition and the Kurdish parties belonging to the KNC condemned this move, regarding the canton system as illegal, authoritarian, and supportive of the Syrian government. The PYD countered that

9581-622: The Syrian police and the supporters of the movement. As a result, the governor and a significant portion of the police force fled the region and the rebels established local autonomous administration in Jazira. In August 1937 a number of Assyrians in Amuda were killed by a pro-Damascus Kurdish chief. In September 1938, Hajo Agha chaired a general conference in Jazira and appealed to France for self-government. The new French High Commissioner, Gabriel Puaux, dissolved parliament and created autonomous administrations for Jabal Druze, Latakia and Jazira on 8 July 1939 which lasted until 1943. The Governorate has

9724-441: The Turkish pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah, the YPG's parent organisation, the PYD, provided the PKK with militants, explosives, arms and ammunition. In August 2016, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield to prevent the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from linking Afrin Canton (now Afrin Region) with the rest of Rojava and to capture Manbij from the SDF. Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces prevented

9867-414: The administration of the region stated that "none of our projects are financed by the regime". Armenians in Syria The Armenians in Syria are Syrian citizens of either full or partial Armenian descent. Syria and the surrounding areas have often served as a refuge for Armenians who fled from wars and persecutions such as the Armenian genocide . However, there has been an Armenian presence in

10010-504: The aforementioned ethnicities. Today, Arabs comprise the largest demographic group and mostly live in the city of al-Hasaka and its south and east countryside, with smaller presence in the north and west countryside. Kurds are the second largest group, with thousands living in villages and towns in the north, northeast, and northwest countryside. Assyrians live mostly in the north and northeast regions of al-Hasaka, especially in Tell Tamer but also in Qamishli and al-Malikiyah . In 2013 there

10153-522: The area's governing body later relocated to Ayn Issa . Article 8 of the 2014 constitution stipulates that "All Cantons in the autonomous regions are founded on the principle of local self-government. Cantons may freely elect their representatives and representative bodies, and may pursue their rights insofar as it does not contravene the articles of the Charter." The cantons were later reorganized into regions with subordinate cantons/provinces, areas, districts and communes. The first communal elections in

10296-492: The areas of Afrin , Jazira , Euphrates , Raqqa , Tabqa , Manbij , and Deir Ez-Zor . The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian civil war , in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part. While entertaining some foreign relations , the region is neither officially recognized as autonomous by

10439-731: The arrival of more Armenians following the genocide, the linguistic composition of Syrian Armenians became more diverse, as one could hear the Armenian dialect of Zeytun and the Turkish dialects of Marash and Aintab in the courtyard of a church at the same time. Following the Armenian Genocide, many of the Armenians that arrived in Syria did not speak Western Armenian. Many spoke Turkish, or would speak their own dialects of Western Armenia from Eastern Anatolia. This would gradually change as Armenians established themselves throughout Syria (and by extension Lebanon). Schools and churches were built in areas of Armenian settlement, and because of that

10582-622: The attack "no surprise" because Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had for months warned that the presence of the YPG on the Turkish-Syrian border despite the Northern Syria Buffer Zone was unacceptable. An unintended consequence of the attack was that it raised the worldwide popularity and legitimacy of the northeastern Syrian administration, and several PYD and YPG representatives became internationally known to an unprecedented degree. However, these events caused tensions within

10725-472: The autonomists while others sided with the central government. In the legislative elections of 1936, autonomist candidates won all the parliamentary seats in Jazira and Jarabulus, while the nationalist Arab movement known as the National Bloc won the elections in the rest of Syria. After victory, the National Bloc pursued an aggressive policy toward the autonomists. In July 1937, armed conflict broke out between

10868-503: The bimonthly magazine Nudem . A landscape of local newspapers and radio stations has developed. However, media agencies often face economic pressure, as was demonstrated by the closure of news website Welati in May 2016. In addition, the autonomous regions have imposed some limits on press freedom, for example forcing the press to get work permits. These can be cancelled, thereby curtailing the ability of certain press agencies to operate. However,

11011-502: The birth of some of the earliest civilizations in the world, including those of Akkad , Assyria , Aram , the Hurrians and Amorites . The most prominent archaeological sites are: Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria ( AANES ), also known as Rojava , is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria . It consists of self-governing sub-regions in

11154-420: The border areas in al-Hasakah Governorate started to have a Kurdish majority, while Arabs remained the majority in river plains and elsewhere. In 1939, French mandate authorities reported the following population numbers for the different ethnic and religious groups in al-Hasakah governorate. The population of the governorate reached 155,643 in 1949, including about 60,000 Kurds. These continuous waves swelled

11297-772: The central government and laws discriminated against Kurds owning property, driving cars, working in certain professions and forming political parties. Property was routinely confiscated by government loansharks. After the Ba'ath Party seized power in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état , non-Arab languages were forbidden at Syrian public schools. This compromised the education of students belonging to minorities like Kurds, Turkmen, and Assyrians. Some groups like Armenians, Circassians, and Assyrians were able to compensate by establishing private schools, but Kurdish private schools were also banned. Northern Syrian hospitals lacked equipment for advanced treatment and instead patients had to be transferred outside

11440-774: The city of Aleppo , acting in the form of cultural, sport, youth or charitable associations: Cultural associations based in Aleppo: Charitable associations based in Aleppo: Sports associations based in Aleppo: Students associations based in Aleppo: Most associations have their branches in many other Syrian cities: Qamishli , Damascus , Latakia , Kessab , etc. The Armenians of Aleppo have also formed compatriotic unions based on their roots, named after towns and villages where their ancestors have migrated from, during

11583-654: The city of Qamishli, and the Afrin Short Film Festival in April. The Jazira Region is a major wheat and cotton producer and has a considerable oil industry. The Euphrates Region suffered most destruction of the three regions and has huge challenges in reconstruction, and has recently seen some greenhouse agriculture construction. The Afrin Region has had a traditional specialization on olive oil including Aleppo soap made from it, and had drawn much industrial production from

11726-655: The civil war, and are located near the contested border region of Hatay Province . Kessab was attacked and looted in an ambush by Syrian Rebels who were given passage through Hatay province by Turkey, (although they deny this claim) and Yacubiyah had their Armenian population expelled by Al Nusra . Excluding those villages, Armenians are primarily urban. Most Armenians of Syria live in Aleppo , with other cities including Latakia , Damascus , Qamishli , Raqqa , Tell Abyad , Al-Hasakah , Deir ez Zor , Al-Malikiyah and Ras al-Ayn , although some of which have had their populations expelled such as Raqqa and Deir ez Zor . In 2015,

11869-480: The civil war. Kessab was attacked and looted by Islamist Syrian rebels who were given safe passage by Turkey through Turkish land, though they were later expelled by the Syrian Army. Yacubiyah had its Armenian population expelled by Jabhat al-Nusra . In 2018 Professor John Shoup said that the Armenian population in Syria formed about 2% of the country's total population, making them the fifth largest ethnic group in

12012-608: The constitution was open to review and amendment, and that the KNC had been consulted on its drafting beforehand. From September 2014 to spring 2015, the YPG forces in Kobanî Canton, supported by some Free Syrian Army militias and leftist international and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) volunteers, fought and finally repelled an assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during

12155-521: The country. During ancient times , there was a small Armenian presence in northern Syria. Under Tigranes the Great , Armenians invaded Syria and the city of Antioch was chosen as one of the four capitals of the short-lived Armenian Empire . In 301, Christianity became the official religion of Armenia through the efforts of Saint Gregory the Illuminator . Armenian merchants and pilgrims started to visit

12298-690: The creation of the Armenian Social Council in April 2020. Under the Social Council, teaching the Armenian language has resumed after over a decade of it being denied by the Syrian government. On April 24, 2019, the "Martyr Nubar Ozanyan Brigade" was formed as an Armenian brigade of the Syrian Democratic Forces on the anniversary of the Armenian genocide in the Marziya Church in Tell Goran . The majority of Armenian organizations are based in

12441-546: The earliest Christian centres of the region of Syria including Antioch , Edessa , Nisibis and Jerusalem . Close relations were established between the Armenians and the Christian congregations of Syria after the apostolic era . During the first half of the 7th century, Armenia was conquered by the Arab Islamic Caliphate . Thousands of Armenians were carried into slavery by the Arab invaders to serve in other regions of

12584-538: The economy, agriculture, natural resources, and foreign affairs. General elections were planned for 2014 and 2018, but this was postponed due to fighting. Under the rule of the Ba'ath Party , school education consisted of only Arabic language public schools, supplemented by Assyrian private confessional schools. In 2015, the region's administration introduced primary education in the native language (either Kurdish or Arabic) and mandatory bilingual education (Kurdish and Arabic) for public schools, with English as

12727-545: The establishment of a federal system of government as the Democratic Federation of Rojava – Northern Syria ( Kurdish : Federaliya Demokratîk a Rojava – Bakurê Sûriyê ; Arabic : الفدرالية الديمقراطية لروج آفا – شمال سوريا , romanized :  al-Fidirāliyya al-Dīmuqrāṭiyya li-Rūj ʾĀvā – Šamāl Suriyā ; Classical Syriac : ܦܕܪܐܠܝܘܬ݂ܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܐܛܝܬܐ ܠܓܙܪܬܐ ܒܓܪܒܝܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܐ , romanized:  Federaloyotho Demoqraṭoyto l'Gozarto b'Garbyo d'Suriya ; sometimes abbreviated as NSR). The updated December 2016 constitution of

12870-432: The executive committee to organise a constitution for the region, to replace the 2014 constitution. Yousef said the decision to set up a federal government was in large part driven by the expansion of territories captured from Islamic State: "Now, after the liberation of many areas, it requires us to go to a wider and more comprehensive system that can embrace all the developments in the area, that will also give rights to all

13013-532: The extent of these restrictions differed greatly from area to area. By 2016, Kobani Canton was the least restrictive, followed by Jazira Canton which closely monitored and occasionally regulated press activity. Afrin Canton was the most restrictive, and many local reporters operated anonymously. Political extremism in the context of the Syrian Civil War can put media outlets under pressure; for example in April 2016

13156-597: The four parts of Greater Kurdistan . The name "Rojava" was thus associated with a Kurdish identity of the administration. As the region expanded and increasingly included areas dominated by non-Kurdish groups, mostly Arabs, "Rojava" was used less and less by the administration in hopes of deethnicising its appearance and making it more acceptable to other ethnicities. Regardless, the polity continued to be called "Rojava" by locals and international observers, with journalist Metin Gurcan noting that "the concept of Rojava [had become]

13299-668: The genocide and settled mainly in the Jazira area. Starting in 1926, the region saw another immigration of Kurds following the failure of the Sheikh Said rebellion against the Turkish authorities . While many of the Kurds in Syria have been there for centuries, waves of Kurds fled their homes in Turkey and settled in Syrian Al-Jazira Province , where they were granted citizenship by the French Mandate authorities . The number of Turkish Kurds settled in al-Jazira province during

13442-412: The genocide and settled mainly in the Jazira area. During WWI and subsequent years, thousands of Assyrians fled their homes in Anatolia after massacres. After that, massive waves of Kurds fled their homes in Turkey due to conflict with Kemalist authorities and settled in Syria, where they were granted citizenship by the French Mandate authorities . The number of Kurds settled in the Jazira province during

13585-582: The government of Syria, state or other governments institutions except for the Catalan Parliament . The AANES has widespread support for its universal democratic , sustainable , autonomous pluralist , equal , and feminist policies in dialogues with other parties and organizations. Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish , Arab , and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnic Turkmen , Armenians , Circassians , and Yazidis . The supporters of

13728-405: The groups to represent themselves and to form their own administrations". In July 2016, a draft for the new constitution was presented, based on the principles of the 2014 constitution, mentioning all ethnic groups living in Northern Syria and addressing their cultural, political and linguistic rights. The main political opposition to the constitution have been Kurdish nationalists , in particular

13871-560: The infrastructure of the region on average experienced less destruction than other parts of Syria. In May 2016, Ahmed Yousef, head of the Economic Body and chairman of Afrin University, stated that at the time, the economic output of the region (including agriculture, industry and oil) accounted for about 55% of Syria's gross domestic product. In 2014, the Syrian government was still paying some state employees, but fewer than before. However,

14014-544: The initial civil uprising and civil war. Existing underground Kurdish political parties, namely the PYD and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), joined to form the Kurdish Supreme Committee (KSC). The People's Protection Units (YPG) militia was reestablished to defend Kurdish-inhabited areas in northern Syria. In July 2012, the YPG established control in the towns of Kobanî , Amuda and Afrin , and

14157-612: The larger groups being Arabs and Kurds in addition to a significant large number of Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians . The population of the governorate, according to the country's official census, was 1,275,118, and was estimated to be 1,377,000 in 2007, and 1,512,000 in 2011. According to the National Association of Arab Youth, there are 1717 villages in Al-Hasakah province: 1161 Arab villages, 453 Kurdish villages, 98 Assyrian villages and 53 with mixed populations from

14300-492: The late 1930s a small but vigorous separatist movement emerged in Qamishli. With some support from French Mandate authorities, the movement actively lobbied for autonomy directly under French rule and its separation from Syria on the ground that the majority of the inhabitants were not Arabs. Syrian nationalists saw the movement as a profound threat to their eventual rule. The Syrian nationalists allied with local Arab Shammar tribal leader and Kurdish tribes. They together attacked

14443-580: The linking of Rojava's cantons and captured all settlements in Jarabulus previously under SDF control. The SDF handed over part of the region to the Syrian government to act as a buffer zone against Turkey. Manbij remained under SDF control. In early 2018, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch alongside Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army to capture the Kurdish-majority Afrin and oust the YPG/SDF from

14586-519: The local St. Rita Catholic Armenian church was also destroyed, according to unconfirmed reports at that time, by rebel fighters. Since the establishment of the Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria, the AANES has made efforts to restore and even help cultivate the Armenian community that resides in Rojava, mainly in Qamishli, Al-Hasakah, Deir ez Zor and Ras al-Ayn. This is demonstrated by

14729-622: The local government for the Kurdish-dominated areas in Afrin District , Ayn al-Arab District (Kobanî), and northern al-Hasakah Governorate was "Interim Transitional Administration", adopted in 2013. After the three autonomous cantons were proclaimed in 2014, PYD-governed territories were also nicknamed "the Autonomous Regions" or "Democratic Autonomous Administration". On 17 March 2016, northern Syria's administration self-declared

14872-500: The most democratic system in Syria, with direct open elections, universal equality , respecting human rights within the region, as well as defense of minority and religious rights within Syria. The region has implemented a new social justice approach which emphasizes rehabilitation , empowerment , and social care over retribution . The death penalty was abolished . Prisons house mostly people charged with terrorist activity related to ISIL and other extremist groups, and are

15015-598: The most sizeable ones. This has been compared this to the Lebanese confessionalist system, which is based on that country's major religions. The PYD-led rule has triggered protests in various areas since they first captured territory. In 2019, residents of tens of villages in the eastern Deir ez-Zor Governorate demonstrated for two weeks, regarding the new regional leadership as Kurdish-dominated and non-inclusive, citing arrests of suspected ISIL members, looting of oil, lack of infrastructure as well as forced conscription into

15158-461: The nearby city of Aleppo due to the fighting in Aleppo city from 2012 to 2016. Price controls are managed by local committees, which can set the price of basic goods such as food and medical goods. It has been theorized that the Assad government had deliberately underdeveloped parts of Northern Syria in order to Arabize the region and make secession attempts less likely. During the Syrian Civil War,

15301-624: The new rulers of Antioch became the Europeans. Armenian engineers also helped the Crusaders during the Siege of Tyre by manipulating siege engines. However, the Armenian population of Syria and its surrounding areas has greatly diminished after the invasion of the Mongols under Hulagu Khan in 1260. After the decline of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the 14th century, a new wave of Armenian migrants from

15444-579: The new system because it encouraged tolerance and allowed Kurds and other minorities to be taught in their own languages, others have criticised it as de facto compulsory indoctrination. The federal, regional and local administrations in the region put much emphasis on promoting libraries and educational centers, to facilitate learning and social and artistic activities. Examples are the Nahawand Center for Developing Children's Talents in Amuda (est. 2015) and

15587-539: The newer generations of Armenians (those who fully grew up in Syria) were taught the standardized (modern) version of Western Armenian. Armenians in Syria are mainly followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church , with a minority of Armenian Catholics and Armenian Evangelicals . The Church has a very important role in unifying Armenians in Syria. After 301 AD, when Christianity became the official state religion of Armenia and its population, Aleppo became an important centre for

15730-427: The next months, the crisis in Syria escalated into a civil war . The armed Syrian opposition seized control of several regions, while security forces were overstretched. In mid-2012 the government responded to this development by withdrawing its military from three mainly Kurdish areas and leaving control to local militias. This has been described as an attempt by the Assad regime to keep the Kurdish population out of

15873-635: The northern Syrian mountains. There existed a Kurdish elite of which Saladin , the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the Emir of Masyaf in the 12th century were part of. Under Saladin's rule, northern Syria experienced a mass immigration of Turkic groups who came into conflict with Kurdish tribes, resulting in clashes that wiped out several Kurdish communities. During the Ottoman Empire (1516–1922), large Kurdish-speaking tribal groups both settled in and were deported to areas of northern Syria from Anatolia . By

16016-472: The northern minorities including the Kurds rarely caused unrest with the exception of the 2004 Qamishli riots . The situation improved after the death of Hafez al-Assad and the election of his son, Bashar al-Assad , under whom the number of Kurdish officials grew. Despite the Ba'athist internal policies which officially suppressed a Kurdish identity, the Syrian government allowed the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to set up training camps from 1980. The PKK

16159-602: The number of Armenians in Syria around 70–80,000. Since the start of the Syrian Civil War , 16,623 Syrian citizens of ethnic Armenian background have arrived in Armenia, of whom about 13,000 displaced persons remained and found protection in Armenia as of July 2015. The government is offering several protection options including simplified naturalization by Armenian descent (15,000 persons acquired Armenian citizenship ), accelerated asylum procedures and facilitated short, mid and long-term residence permits. According to Hranush Hakobyan , only 15,000 Armenians are left in Syria and

16302-611: The number of Kurds in the area who represented 30% of the Jazira population in a 1939 French authorities census. In 1953, French geographers Fevret and Gibert estimated that out of the total 146,000 inhabitants of Jazira, agriculturalist Kurds made up 60,000 (41%), semi-sedentary and nomad Arabs 50,000 (34%), and a quarter of the population were Christians. Among the Sunni Muslims, mostly Kurds and Arabs, there were about 1,500 Circassians in 1938. The inhabitants of al-Hasakah governorate are composed of different ethnic and cultural groups,

16445-661: The number of such "stateless" Kurdish people in Syria at 300,000. In 1973, the Syrian authorities confiscated 750 square kilometres (290 square miles) of fertile agricultural land in Al-Hasakah Governorate , which was owned and cultivated by tens of thousands of Kurdish citizens, and gave it to Arab families brought in from other provinces. In 2007, in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, 600 square kilometres (230 square miles) around Al-Malikiyah were granted to Arab families, while tens of thousands of Kurdish inhabitants of

16588-604: The parties represented in TEV-DEM and the KNC, several other political groups operate in northern Syria. Several of these, such as the Kurdish National Alliance in Syria , the Democratic Conservative Party , the Assyrian Democratic Party , and others actively participate in governing the region. The politics of the region has been described as having "libertarian transnational aspirations" influenced by

16731-409: The polity uses the name Democratic Federation of Northern Syria ( DFNS ) ( Kurdish : Federaliya Demokratîk a Bakûrê Sûriyê ; Arabic : الفدرالية الديمقراطية لشمال سوريا , romanized :  al-Fidirāliyya al-Dīmuqrāṭiyya li-Šamāl Suriyā ; Classical Syriac : ܦܕܪܐܠܝܘܬ݂ܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܐܛܝܬܐ ܕܓܪܒܝ ܣܘܪܝܐ , romanized:  Federaloyotho Demoqraṭoyto d'Garbay Suriya ). Since 6 September 2018,

16874-464: The population of Aleppo in 1922 counted 156,748 of whom Muslims were 97,600 (62.26%), native Christians -mostly Catholics- 22,117 (14.11%), Jews 6,580 (4.20%), Europeans 2,652 (1.70%), Armenian refugees 20,007 (12.76%) and others 7,792 (4.97%). The second period of Armenian flow towards Aleppo was marked by the withdrawal of the French troops from Cilicia in 1923. That wave brought more than 40,000 Armenian refugees to Aleppo between 1923 and 1925, and

17017-614: The population of the city skyrocketed up to 210,000 by the end of 1925, with Armenians forming more than 25% of the population. According to the historical data presented by Al-Ghazzi , the vast majority of the Aleppine Christians were Catholics until the 1920s. The growth of the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christian communities is tied in with the arrival of the Armenian and Assyrian genocide survivors from Cilicia and Southern Turkey, as well as large numbers of Orthodox Greeks from

17160-561: The premises of Arta FM ("the first, and only, independent radio station staffed and broadcast by Syrians inside Syria") in Amuda was threatened and burned down by unidentified assailants. In December 2018 the Rojava Information Center was established. During the Turkish military operation in Afrin , the KDP -affiliated Iraqi Kurdish Rudaw Media Network was also banned from reporting in

17303-574: The presence of PKK-related forces at its southern border and grew concerned when the YPG entered into an alliance with the US to oppose ISIS forces in the region. The Turkish government refused to allow aid to be sent to the YPG during the Siege of Kobanî. This led to the Kurdish riots , the breakdown of the 2013–2015 peace process in July 2015 and the renewal of armed conflict between the PKK and Turkish forces. According to

17446-551: The province increased eightfold. By 1960s, the province had the second largest amount of cultivated land in Syria per capita, but was still the lowest in terms of cultivable land per capita. Other economic branches are wheat and oil. Before the eruption of the Syrian Civil the province accounted for about half of the Syrian oil production. Al-Hasakah Governorate's ethnic groups include Kurds , Arabs , Syriac-Aramaic Christians ( Assyrians ), Armenians and Yazidis . The majority of

17589-618: The region is based on its adopted constitution, officially titled "Charter of the Social Contract". The constitution was ratified on 9 January 2014 and provides that all residents of the region shall enjoy fundamental rights such as gender equality and freedom of religion . It also provides for property rights . The region's system of community government has direct democratic aspirations. The Former diplomat Carne Ross observed in September 2015 in The New York Times : "For

17732-571: The region since the Byzantine era. According to the Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia, the estimated number of Armenians in Syria is 100,000, with more than 60,000 of them centralized in Aleppo . With other estimates by Armenian foundations in Syria putting the number around 70–80,000. However, since the start of the conflict, 16,623 Syrian citizens of ethnic Armenian background have arrived in Armenia. Of these displaced persons, 13,000 remained and found protection in Armenia as of July 2015. The government

17875-509: The region were held on 22 September 2017. 12,421 candidates competed for around 3,700 communal positions during the elections, which were organized by the region's High Electoral Commission. Elections for the councils of the Jazira Region, Euphrates Region and Afrin Region were held in December 2017 . Most of Afrin Region was occupied by Turkish-led forces in early 2018, though the administrative division continued to operate from Tell Rifaat which

18018-460: The region's administration state that it is an officially secular polity with direct democratic ambitions based on democratic confederalism and libertarian socialism promoting decentralization , gender equality , environmental sustainability , social ecology , and pluralistic tolerance for religious , cultural, and political diversity , and that these values are mirrored in its constitution , society, and politics, stating it to be

18161-420: The region. Afrin Canton , a subdivision of the region, was occupied and over 100,000 civilians were displaced and relocated to Afrin Region's Shahba Canton which remained under SDF, then joint SDF- Syrian Arab Army (SAA) control. The remaining SDF forces later launched an ongoing insurgency against the Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces. In 2019, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against

18304-570: The region. On 2 September 2019, the Iraqi Kurdistan -based Kurdistan 24 network had its license to work in the region withdrawn and had its offices confiscated by Rojava authorities. International media and journalists operate with few restrictions in the region, one of the only regions in Syria where they can operate with some degree of freedom. Internet connections in the region are often slow due to inadequate infrastructure. Internet lines are operated by Syrian Telecom , which as of January 2017

18447-552: The region. A larger community existed in Urfa which is considered part of the region of Syria . The Ottoman Empire had a large indigenous Armenian population in its Eastern Anatolia region, from where some Armenians moved to Aleppo in search of economic opportunity. Later on, many Armenian families moved from Western Armenia to Aleppo escaping the Turkish oppression. Thus, large numbers of Armenians from Arapgir , Sasun , Hromgla , Zeitun , Marash and New Julfa arrived in Aleppo during

18590-945: The region. Numerous place names were arabized in the 1960s and 1970s. In his report for the 12th session of the UN Human Rights Council titled Persecution and Discrimination against Kurdish Citizens in Syria , the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights held that "Successive Syrian governments continued to adopt a policy of ethnic discrimination and national persecution against Kurds, completely depriving them of their national, democratic and human rights – an integral part of human existence. The government imposed ethnically-based programs, regulations and exclusionary measures on various aspects of Kurds' lives – political, economic, social and cultural." Kurdish cultural festivals like Newroz were effectively banned. In many instances,

18733-629: The rest have been settled in Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh , with another 8,000 having left for Lebanon , and others going to destinations including Europe , the United States and Canada . However, Armenian foundations in Syria estimate around 35,000 are left based on rough estimates, including a method which multiplies the number of students enrolled in Armenian minority schools by 3 or 4, since minors would only take up around 25–30% of an age pyramid . Armenians in Syria are present in both rural and urban areas. The villages of Kessab , Yakubiyah , Ghnemiyeh and Aramo had Armenian majorities prior to

18876-409: The second half of the 18th century. Danish writer C. Niebuhr who traveled to Jazira in 1764 recorded five nomadic Kurdish tribes (Dukurie, Kikie, Schechchanie, Mullie and Aschetie) and six Arab tribes (Tay, Kaab, Baggara, Geheish, Diabat and Sherabeh). According to Niebuhr, the Kurdish tribes were settled near Mardin in Turkey, and paid the governor of that city for the right to graze their herds in

19019-556: The settlement of the refugees. One of the most important of these plans was carried out in Upper Jazira in northeastern Syria where the French built new towns and villages (such as Qamishli) were built with the intention of housing the refugees considered to be “friendly”. This has encouraged the non-Turkish minorities that were under Turkish pressure to leave their ancestral homes and property, they could find refuge and rebuild their lives in relative safety in neighboring Syria. Consequently,

19162-508: The south. The confident assertiveness of young people was striking. However, a 2016 paper from Chatham House stated that power is heavily centralized in the hands of the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Abdullah Öcalan , a Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader imprisoned in İmralı , Turkey, has become an iconic figure in the region whose ideology of democratic confederalism has shaped the region's society and politics. Besides

19305-411: The southern part of Upper Mesopotamia . Kurdistan did not include the lands of Syrian Jazira. The Treaty of Sèvres ' putative Kurdistan did not include any part of today's Syria. The French, following the Ottoman policies which encouraged the nomadic tribes to become sedentary, established several villages and towns since the beginning of their rule. Hasakah was founded in 1922, Qamishli in 1926. In

19448-443: The start of the academic year 2018–2019, the curricula in Kurdish and Arabic had been expanded to grades 1–12 and Syriac to grades 1–9. " Jineology " classes had also been introduced. In general, schools are encouraged to teach the administration's "uptopian doctrine" which promotes diversity, democracy, and the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan . Local reactions to the changes to the school system and curriculum were mixed. While many praised

19591-538: The villages concerned were evicted. These and other expropriations was part of the so-called "Arab Belt initiative" which aimed to change the demographic fabric of the resource-rich region. Accordingly, relations between the Syrian government and the Syrian Kurdish population were tense. The response of northern Syrian parties and movements to the policies of Hafez al-Assad 's Ba'athist government varied greatly. Some parties opted for resistance, whereas others such as

19734-406: The way in which Syria was governed reinforced the autonomy of these distinct ethnic and religious communities. The Ottomans enforced a policy of pluralism, intended to appease different nations and quell the rise of nationalist movements, in which Jews, Christians and Muslims were all empowered to assert their own identities and therefore had no need to vie for power. Each religious community, known as

19877-541: The world stage"; one journalist stated that "this was one of the worst US foreign policy disasters since the Iraq War ". Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces captured 68 settlements, including Ras al-Ayn , Tell Abyad , Suluk , Mabrouka and Manajir during the 9-day operation before a 120-hour ceasefire was announced. The operation was condemned by the international community, and human rights violations by Turkish forces were reported. Media outlets labelled

20020-483: Was a militant Kurdish group led by Abdullah Öcalan which was waging an insurgency against Turkey . Syria and Turkey were hostile toward each other at the time, resulting in the use of the PKK as proxy group. The party began to deeply influence the Syrian Kurdish population in the Afrin and Ayn al-Arab Districts , where it promoted Kurdish identity through music, clothing, popular culture, and social activities. In contrast,

20163-502: Was en estimated 200,000 Assyrians in Hasakah province This list includes all cities, towns and villages with more than 5,000 inhabitants. The population figures are given according to the 2004 official census: The governorate is divided into four districts ( manatiq ). The districts are further divided into 16 sub-districts ( nawahi ): The Khabur River , which flows through al-Hasakah for 440 kilometres (270 mi), witnessed

20306-456: Was established as de facto Syrian "successor" of the PKK in 2003. The " People's Protection Units " (YPG), a paramilitary wing of the PYD, was also founded during this time, but remained dormant. In 2011, a civil uprising erupted in Syria, prompting hasty government reforms. One of the issues addressed during this time was the status of Syria's stateless Kurds, as President Bashar al-Assad granted about 220,000 Kurds citizenship. In course of

20449-614: Was no institution of tertiary education on the territory of the region at the onset of the Syrian Civil War, an increasing number of such institutions have been established by the regional administrations in the region since. Incorporating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights , as well as other internationally recognized human rights conventions,

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