HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Afrin District ( ar, منطقة عفرين, manṭiqat Afrīn) is a
district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
of
Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( ar, محافظة حلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' / ) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of the ...
in northern
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. The
administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
is the city of Afrin. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 172,095. Also available in English:
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
's Afrin District fell under the control of the
People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democra ...
(YPG) around 2012 and an "
Afrin Canton Afrin Canton ( ku, Kantona Efrînê, ar, مقاطعة عفرين, syc, ܦܠܩܐ ܕܥܦܪܝܢ, translit=Pelqā dha-ʻAfrin) was one of the cantons of Rojava. Syria's Afrin District fell under the control of the People's Protection Units (YPG) aro ...
" was declared in 2014, followed by an "
Afrin Region Afrin Region ( ku, Herêma Efrînê, ar, إقليم عفرين, syc, ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܥܦܪܝܢ, translit=Ponyotho d'Afrin) is the westernmost of the three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The region p ...
" in 2017. During
Operation Olive Branch Operation Olive Branch ( tr, Zeytin Dalı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army (SNA) in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria, against the People's Pro ...
, the entire district was captured by
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and its allies.


History

The area around Afrin developed as the center of a distinctive
Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
tradition. In modern post-independence Syria, the Kurdish society of the district was subject to heavy-handed
Arabization Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...
policies by the Damascus government.


Syrian civil war

In the course of the Syrian civil war, Damascus government forces pulled back from the district in spring 2012 to give way to the
People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democra ...
(YPG) and autonomous self-government under the
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 the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, M ...
, which was formally declared on 29 January 2014. Until 2018, violence in Afrin was minor, involving artillery shelling by
Jabhat al-Nusra Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...
as well as by
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. Afrin was captured by the
Turkish Land Forces The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...
and
Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA) ( ar, الجيش الوطني السوري, al-Jayš al-Waṭanī as-Sūrī), previously the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian oppo ...
(SNA) as a result of the 2018
Afrin offensive Afrin may refer to: Places * Afrin Canton, one of the cantons of the de facto autonomous Democratic Federation of Northern Syria * Afrin District, a district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Afrin ...
. Tens of thousands of Kurdish refugees fled from Afrin City before its capture by the SNA in March 2018, and the YPG vowed to retake it. The YPG subsequently announced its intention to start a
guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...
in Afrin, leading to the
SDF insurgency in Northern Aleppo The SDF insurgency in Northern Aleppo refers to a campaign of armed attacks carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), following the expansion of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria after the early 2018 Operation Olive Branch carried ...
. The region has seen
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
abuses, including
kidnappings In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/ asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the ...
ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
,
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
, forced evictions and killings since the start of Turkish occupation in Afrin.


Demographics

In the 1930s, Kurdish Alevis who fled the persecution of the
Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...
during the Dersim Massacre, settled in
Maabatli Maabatli ( ar, معبطلي, Maabatli or ''Mobetan''), also known as Mabeta, is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Aleppo Governorate, located northwest of Aleppo in the center of Afrin District. Nearby localities include Af ...
in the Afrin District. Prior to the Syrian Civil War, the population of the Afrin District area was overwhelmingly ethnic
Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...
, to the degree that the district had been described as "homogeneously Kurdish". The overall population of Afrin Canton, based on the 2004 Syrian census, was about 200,000. Cities and towns with more than 10.000 inhabitants according to the 2004 Syrian census are Afrin (36,562) and Jandairis (13,661). Throughout the course of the Syrian Civil War, the Afrin District served as a safe haven for inbound refugees of all ethnicities. According to a June 2016 estimate from the International Middle East Peace Research Center, about 316,000 displaced Syrians of Kurdish,
Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...
,
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
and Turkmen ethnicity lived in Afrin Canton at the time. After the Turkish-led forces had captured Afrin in early 2018, they began to implement a resettlement policy by moving their mostly Arab fighters and refugees from southern Syria into the empty homes that belonged to displaced locals. The previous owners, most of them Kurds or
Yazidis Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking Endogamy, endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran ...
, were often prevented from returning to Afrin. Refugees from Eastern
Ghouta Ghouta ( ar, غُوطَةُ دِمَشْقَ / ALA-LC: ''Ḡūṭat Dimašq'') is a countryside and suburban area in southwestern Syria that surrounds the city of Damascus along its eastern and southern rim. Name Ghouta is the Arabic term (''gh ...
,
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
, told
Patrick Cockburn Patrick Oliver Cockburn ( ; born 5 March 1950) is a journalist who has been a Middle East correspondent for the ''Financial Times'' since 1979 and, from 1990, ''The Independent''. He has also worked as a correspondent in Moscow and Washington ...
of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' that they were part of "an organised demographic change" which was said to replace the Kurdish population of Afrin with an Arab majority.


Economy

A diverse agricultural industry is at the heart of the Afrin District's economy, traditionally olives in particular, and more recently there has been a focus on increasing wheat production. A well-known product from the area is Aleppo soap, a hard soap made from olive oil and lye, distinguished by the inclusion of laurel oil. While the Afrin District has been the source of olive oil for Aleppo soap since antiquity, the destruction caused by the Syrian Civil War to other parts of
Aleppo governorate Aleppo Governorate ( ar, محافظة حلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' / ) is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of the ...
increasingly made the entire production chains locate in Afrin District. At the height of the fighting for Aleppo, up to 50 percent of the city's industrial production was moved to the Afrin District. As of early 2016, two million pairs of jeans were produced per month and exported across Syria. In January 2017, 400 textile industry workshops counted 17,000 employees, supplying the whole of Syria. In 2015 there were 32 tons of Aleppo soap produced and exported to other parts of Syria, but also to international markets.


Tourism

Afrin District also served as a center for domestic tourism due to its beautiful landscapes. The tourism was however somewhat constricted due to the YPG's tight control of the borders, and the war; local tourism mostly collapsed during the Turkish invasion of 2018.


Subdistricts

The district of Afrin is divided into seven subdistricts or nawāḥī (population as of 2004):


References


External links

{{Aleppo Governorate, afrin Districts of Aleppo Governorate