De facto region in Aleppo
De facto region in Aleppo, Syria
Afrin Region
(
Kurdish
:
Herema Efrine
,
Arabic
:
????? ?????
,
Classical Syriac
:
????? ??????
,
romanized:
Ponyotho d'Afrin
) is the westernmost of the
three original regions
of the
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
.
The region previously had two subordinate cantons, the
Afrin Canton
, consisting of the
Afrin city
area (with the ?erewa, Mobata, ?era and Maydankah districts subordinate to it), the
Jindires
area (with the ?iye district subordinate to it),
Rajo
area (with the
Bulbul
, Maydana and Bahdina districts subordinate to it), as well as the
Shahba Canton
consisting of the
Tell Rifaat
area (with the Ahraz,
Fafin
and
Kafr Naya
districts subordinate to it).
[5]
The status of
Manbij
was unclear; while some reports described it as part of the Shabha Canton and Afrin Region, communal and regional elections weren't held there, and official documents that clarified the new regional framework didn't refer to Manbij.
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Afrin Region was first declared autonomous under the name of Afrin Canton in January 2014.
[10]
[11]
The subdivision of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was renamed to Afrin Region during subdivision-congresses held in July and August 2017, while the name 'Afrin Canton' was then given to one of its two subdivisions as the canton or province became the name for second-level subdivisions in the Federation. Most of the Region's territory (including Afrin Canton) is under the
Turkish occupation of northern Syria
since early 2018. The last elected prime minister of Afrin Region was
Hevi Ibrahim
. The administrative centre of the region was the city of Afrin (now Tell Rifaat).
[12]
Demographics
[
edit
]
The western, mountainous part of Afrin Region area is overwhelmingly ethnic
Kurdish
, to the degree that this area has been described as "homogeneously Kurdish".
[13]
The central and eastern parts of Afrin region have a mixed ethnicity are ethnically highly diverse
[14]
population of area consists of
Arab Syrians
and
Arabized Kurds
found throughout the area, as well as a considerable
Circassian
and
Chechen
population in the city of
Manbij
and a considerable
Syrian Turkmen
and Arabized Turkmen population toward the north of this area. A smaller minority are
Armenians
. Toponymy and maps published by the French colonial authorities indicate that a significant percentage of inhabitants of this area who are officially classified as Arabs actually have Kurdish origins.
[15]
Manbij and Tell Rifaat are the largest cities administered by
de facto
autonomous civil administrations operating under the umbrella of the
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
. According to the 2004 Syrian census
Manbij
had 99,497
[16]
inhabitants, and
Tell Rifaat
had 20,514.
[17]
History
[
edit
]
The Afrin region area has seen human settlement since the early neolithic.
[18]
[19]
According to
Rene Dussaud
, the region of Kurd-Dagh and the plain near
Antioch
were settled by Kurds since antiquity.
[20]
[21]
Stefan Sperl says that there is a reason to believe that Kurdish settlements in the
Kurd Mountains
go back to the
Seleucid
era, since those regions stood in the path to
Antioch
; Kurds in the early periods served as mercenaries and mounted archers.
[22]
In any case, the Kurd Mountains were already Kurdish-inhabited when the
Crusades
broke out at the end of the 11th century.
[23]
In Classical Antiquity, the region was part of Chalybonitis (with its center at Chalybon or Aleppo), Chalcidice (with its center at
Qinnasr?n
?????), and
Cyrrhestica
(with its center at
Cyrrhus
????? ????). This area was one of the most fertile and populated of the region. Under the Romans the region was made in 193 CE part of the province of
Coele Syria
or Magna Syria, which was ruled from
Antioch
. The province of Euphratensis was established in the 4th century CE in the east, its center was Hierapolis Bambyce (
Manbij
) which is still the main city of the region.
Under the
Rashidun
and
Umayyad
Muslim dynasties, the region was part of the Jund Qinnasr?n. In the
Abbasid
period the region was under the independent rule of the
Hamdanids
. The
Mamluks
and later the
Ottomans
governed the area until 1918. During the
Ottoman Empire
(1299?1922), the region was part of the
Vilayet of Aleppo
. The largest of the
Kurdish-speaking
tribal groups in northern Syria 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 the second half of the 18th century. The Kurdish dynasty of
Janbulad
ruled the region of
Aleppo
as Ottoman governors in 1591?1607.
[24]
At the beginning of the 17th century, districts of
Jarabulus
and Seruj on the left bank of the
Euphrates
had been settled by Kurds.
[25]
During the
French Mandate
the region was part of the brief
State of Aleppo
. In modern post-independence Syria, the Kurdish society of the region was subject to heavy-handed
Arabization
policies by the Damascus government.
[26]
In the course of the
Syrian Civil War
, Damascus government forces pulled back from the region in spring 2012 to give way to autonomous self-administration within the
Rojava
framework, which was formally declared on 29 January 2014, and the territory of Afrin Region virtually never saw civil war combat.
[27]
It was however at various times the target of artillery shelling by
Islamist
rebel groups
[28]
as well as by
Turkey
.
[29]
[27]
[30]
In response, Russian military troops reportedly stationed themselves in Afrin as part of an agreement to protect the YPG from further Turkish attacks.
[31]
In early 2018 Afrin and surrounding areas were occupied by Turkish backed forces.
[32]
[33]
Since, the forces supported by Turkey have been accused of human rights violations by the
human rights commissioner to the United Nations
,
Michelle Bachelet
.
[34]
Politics and administration
[
edit
]
According to the
Constitution of Rojava
, Afrin Region's Legislative Assembly on its 29 January 2014 session declared autonomy.
[35]
The assembly elected
Hevi Ibrahim Mustefa
prime minister, who appointed Remzi ?exmus and Ebdil Hemid Mistefa her deputies.
The remaining Executive Council was appointed as follows:
[36]
Name
|
Party
|
Office
|
Elected
|
Notes
|
Hevi Ibrahim Mustefa
|
|
PYD
|
Prime Minister
|
2014
|
|
Remzi ?exmus
|
|
PYD
|
Deputy Prime Minister
|
2014
|
|
Ebdil Hemid Mistefa
|
|
PYD
|
Deputy Prime Minister
|
2014
|
|
Sileman Ceefer
|
|
N/A
|
Foreign Minister
|
2014
|
|
Ebdo Ibrahim
|
|
PB-ASD
|
Defense Minister
|
2014
|
|
Hesen Beyrem
|
|
N/A
|
Interior Minister
|
2014
|
|
Nur?an Hisen
|
|
PADKS
|
Regional Commissions,
Councils and Planning Minister
|
2014
|
|
Remezan Eli
|
|
N/A
|
Finance Minister
|
2014
|
|
Erife Bekir
|
|
N/A
|
Labour and Social Security Minister
|
2014
|
|
Riyaz Menle Mehemed
|
|
N/A
|
Education Minister
|
2014
|
|
Eyub Mihemed
|
|
N/A
|
Minister of Agriculture
|
2014
|
|
Xelil ?ex Hesen
|
|
N/A
|
Health Minister
|
2014
|
|
Ehmed Yusif
|
|
N/A
|
Economy and Trade Minister
|
2014
|
|
Riyaz Ebdilhenan ?exo
|
|
N/A
|
Minister of Martyrs' Families
|
2014
|
|
Hevin ?exo
|
|
N/A
|
Culture Minister
|
2014
|
|
Welid Selame
|
|
N/A
|
Transport Minister
|
2014
|
|
Fazil Robci
|
|
N/A
|
Youth and Sports Minister
|
2014
|
|
Re?id Ehmed
|
|
N/A
|
History and Tourism Minister
|
2014
|
|
Mihemed Hemid Qasim
|
|
N/A
|
Religious Affairs Minister
|
2014
|
|
Fatme Lekto
|
|
N/A
|
Women and Family Minister
|
2014
|
|
Xelil Sino
|
|
N/A
|
Human Rights Minister
|
2014
|
|
Etuf Ebdo
|
|
N/A
|
Supervision Minister
|
2014
|
|
Ebdil Rehman Selman
|
|
N/A
|
Information Minister
|
2014
|
|
Seid Esmet Xubari
|
|
N/A
|
Justice Minister
|
2014
|
|
Kamiran Ehmed ?efii Bilal
|
|
N/A
|
Energy Minister
|
2014
|
|
Economy
[
edit
]
Afrin is well known for its olive groves.
[37]
The areas governed by the SDC are under a blockade imposed by neighbouring Turkey,
[38]
[
better source needed
]
which places high burdens on international import and export. For example, transportation of Aleppo soap to international markets, as far as possible at all, has at least four times the transportation cost as compared to pre-war years.
[39]
In 2015 there were 32 tons of Aleppo soap produced and exported to other parts of Syria, but also to international markets.
[40]
Education
[
edit
]
Like in the other Rojava regions, primary education in the public schools is initially by mother tongue instruction either Kurdish or Arabic, with the aim of
bilingualism
in Kurdish and Arabic in secondary schooling.
[41]
[42]
Curricula are a topic of continuous debate between the regions' Boards of Education and the Syrian central government in Damascus, which partly pays the teachers.
[43]
[44]
[45]
[46]
The federal, regional and local administrations in Rojava put much emphasis on promoting libraries and educational centers, to facilitate learning and social and artistic activities.
[47]
Afrin Region has institution of higher education. Most notably previously the
University of Afrin
, founded in 2015. After teaching three programs (Electromechanical Engineering, Kurdish Literature and Economy) in the first academic year, the second academic year with an increased 22 professors and 250 students has three additional programs (Human Medicine, Journalism and Agricultural Engineering).
[48]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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- ^
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- ^
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(eds.),
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,
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- ^
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- ^
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ISBN
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- ^
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. Routledge. p. 116.
ISBN
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.
- ^
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ISBN
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- ^
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. SOHR. 9 July 2016
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. Al-Monitor. 2015-11-06
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. Kurdishquestion. 2014-01-12. Archived from
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.
Works cited
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]