Koy Sanjaq, also called Koye ( ku, کۆیە, Koye, ar, كويسنجق, he, כוי סנג’ק,
syr, ܟܘܝܐ)
is a town and district in
Erbil Governorate
ku, پارێزگای ھەولێر
, other_name =
, image_skyline = Collage_of_Hawler_-_Erbil_Governorate.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Clockwise, from top: ...
in
Kurdistan Region,
Iraq.
In the town, there is a
Chaldean Catholic
, native_name_lang = syc
, image = Assyrian Church.png
, imagewidth = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq
, abbreviation =
, type ...
church of
Mar
Mar, mar or MAR may refer to:
Culture
* Mar or Mor, an honorific in Syriac
* Earl of Mar, an earldom in Scotland
* MAA (singer) (born 1986), Japanese
* Marathi language, by ISO 639-2 language code
* March, as an abbreviation for the third month ...
Yousif, constructed in 1923.
Etymology
The name of the town is derived from "
köy Köy is the word for "village" in Western Oghuz languages that are geographically western, such as Turkish, Ottoman Turkish and Crimean Tatar. It is a loanword from Persian ''gūy'' (or probably more likely ''kūy''), which originally means "path ...
" ("village" in Turkish) and "
sanjaq
Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ)
* Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province")
* Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region")
* el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province") ...
" ("flag" in Turkish), and thus Koy Sanjaq translates to "village of the flag".
History
According to local tradition, Koy Sanjaq was founded by the son of an
Ottoman sultan who planted his flag and established a garrison at the site of a seasonal bazaar after having defeated a rebellion at
Baghdad, and developed into a town as locals moved to the settlement to provide services to the soldiers. A Jewish community at Koy Sanjaq is first mentioned in the late 18th century, by which time it was already well established. The community had its own graveyard,
and spoke both
Jewish Neo-Aramaic and
Sorani Kurdish. A small Chaldean Catholic community was established in the town in the 19th century. In 1913, 200 Chaldean Catholics populated Koy Sanjaq, and were served by two priests and one functioning church as part of the
archdiocese of Kirkuk.
The Iraqi census of 1947 recorded a total population of 8198 people, with 7746 Muslims, 268 Jews, and 184 Christians. 80-100 Jews from the village of Betwata took refuge in the town for several months in 1950, increasing the size of the local community to 350-400 people, so to accompany the Jews of Koy Sanjaq when they
emigrated
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to
Israel in the following year. Koy Sanjaq had a population of 10,379 in 1965.
The town was struck by Iranian airstrikes targeting the
Kurdistan Democratic Party
The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Gov ...
(KDP) base on 10 November 1994, resulting in the death of a civilian, and wounded three KDP militants. In 1999, Assyrians from the nearby village of
Armota
Armota ( ar, أرموطا, , syr, ܐܪܡܘܬܐ) is a village in Erbil Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located in the district of Koy Sanjaq.
There are several churches in the village; the church of Mart Mariam was constructed in ...
protested the construction of a mosque in their village at Koy Sanjaq.
Koya University was established in 2003.
35 displaced Assyrian families from
Mosul were housed in a converted church building in the town in November 2014, and had not been rehoused as of April 2015. As of March 2018, 60 Assyrian families inhabit Koy Sanjaq.
The Assyrian population largely speak Kurdish, but some continue to speak
Syriac. An Iranian missile
attack
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...
on the
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI; ku, حیزبی دێموکراتی کوردستانی ئێران, Hîzbî Dêmukratî Kurdistanî Êran, HDKA; fa, حزب دموکرات کردستان ایران, Ḥezb-e Demokrāt-e Kordest ...
headquarters in the town on 8 September 2018 killed 14 people.
Notable people
*
Haji Qadir Koyi (1817-1897), Kurdish poet
*
Dildar (1918-1948), Kurdish poet
*
Tahir Tewfiq
Tahir Tewfiq ( ku, تایەر تۆفیق, ar, طاهر توفیق, also Tayer Tofiq) (1922–1987) was a popular Kurdish musician and singer.
He was born in the city of Koya around Arbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern ...
(1922–1987), Kurdish musician
*
Fuad Masum (b. 1938), Kurdish politician and President of Iraq (2014-2018)
* Rounak Abdulwahid Mustafa (b. 1942) First Lady of Iraq (2014-2018), wife of Fuad Masum
*
Aras Koyi (b. 1972), Kurdish musician
See also
*
Şêxbizin (tribe)
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
Cities in Iraqi Kurdistan
Populated places in Erbil Governorate
Kurdish settlements in Iraq
Assyrian communities in Iraq
Historic Jewish communities in Iraq
{{Iraq-geo-stub