Zayzafun ( ar, الزيزفون, Zayzafūn), also known as Ikadah ( ar, ايكدة, Īkidah; tr, İğde), is a village in the northern Aleppo countryside,

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 ...

, northwestern Syria. Located on the

Queiq Plain The Queiq (Modern Standard Arabic: , ''Quwayq'', ; northern Syrian Arabic: ''ʾWēʾ'', ), with many variant spellings, known in antiquity as the Belus ( grc-gre, Βήλος, ''Bēlos''), Chalos and also known in English as the Aleppo Rive ...

, between

Azaz Azaz ( ar, أَعْزَاز, ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 in the 2004 census.

and Al-Rai, the village is some north of the city of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, and just south of the border with the Turkish Province of

Kilis Kilis is a city in south-central Turkey, near the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria, and the administrative centre of Kilis Province. History Although there aren't any definite information related to its foundation, today's Kilis mainl ...

. Administratively the village belongs to Nahiya Sawran in

Azaz District Azaz District ( ar, منطقة أعزاز, manṭiqat A'zāz) is a district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Azaz. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 251,769. The district lies ...

. Nearby localities include Kafr Ghan to the south and

Hawar Kilis Hawar Kilis ( ar, حوار كلس, Ḥiwār Kalas, tr, Havar Kilis or ), alternatively spelled Hiwar Kalas, is a village in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. It is located between Azaz and Al-Rai, on the Queiq Plain, some north of ...

to the east. In the 2004 census, Zayzafun had a population of 820.

History

In the Syrian civil war, the Ikadah IDP Camp, located north of the village at the border to Turkey, offered shelter to

internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

s (IDPs), mostly from the subdistricts of

Nubl Nubl ( ar, نبل, also spelled Nubbul or Nubbol) is a small city in northern Syria, administratively part of the Aleppo Governorate, located northwest of Aleppo. Nearby localities include al-Zahraa immediately to the south, Anadan to the southe ...

Tell Rifaat Tell Rifaat ( ar, تل رفعت, Tall Rifʿat, also spelled Tel Rifaat, Tel Rif'at or Tal Rifaat) (Kurdish: Arfêd/ ئارفێد) is a city in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. Located roughly north of Aleppo, the town is the admin ...

and

Mare' Mare' ( ar, مارع ''Māriʿ'', locally pronounced ''Mēreʿ''), also spelled Marea, is a town in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Mare' nahiyah in the Azaz District. Locate ...

. In April 2016, the Ikadah camp was filled with 7,763 IDPs, when an imminent ISIL counter-offensive prompted a complete evacuation of the Ikadah camp and neighboring camps near Shamarin and Harjala. On April 14, rebels retreated from Zayzafun and the neighboring villages down to Kafr Ghan and Baraghida, leaving the remaining rebel forces around Dudyan surrounded by ISIL.

Demographics

Ikadah is a

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

village. In late 19th century, traveler

Martin Hartmann Martin Hartmann (9 December 1851, Breslau – 5 December 1918, Berlin) was a German orientalist, who specialized in Islamic studies. In 1875, he received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig as a student of Heinrich Leberecht Fleische ...

noted the village as a Turkish village of 10 houses, then located in the Ottoman

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

of Azaz-i Turkman.

References

{{Aleppo Governorate, azaz Populated places in Azaz District Turkmen settlements in Aleppo Governorate