Tell Abyad: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 36°41′51″N 38°57′24″E / 36.69750°N 38.95667°E / 36.69750; 38.95667
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===Syrian Civil War===
===Syrian Civil War===


After the [[Syrian Civil War]] started in 2011, diverse [[Islamism|Islamist]] opposition groups controlled the town, some under the flag of the [[Free Syrian Army]]. On June 30, 2014, Tell Abyad was [[Battle of Tell Abyad (2013)|captured]] by the [[al-Nusra Front]] and the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL), who raised their flag at the border crossing with Turkey.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/daloglu-isis-syria-iraq-mosul-caliphate-flag-border.html |title=ISIS ''[sic]'' raises flag at Turkish border |author=Tulin Daloglu |date=2014-06-30 |accessdate=2015-09-10 |newspaper=Al-Monitor}}</ref> After ISIL defeated the Kurdish forces, the YPG and [[Kurdish Front]], ISIL fighters announced from the [[minaret]]s of the local [[mosque]]s that all [[Kurd]]s had to leave Tell Abyad or else be killed. Thousands of [[civilian]]s, including Turkmen and Arab families, fled on 21 July.<ref>{{cite web|title=Selected testimonies from victims of the Syrian conflict: Twenty-seventh session|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session27/Documents/A-HRC-27-CRP1.pdf|website=UN Human Rights Council}}</ref><ref name="iici">{{cite web|title=Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: Twenty-seventh session|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/HRC_CRP_ISIS_14Nov2014.doc|website=UN Human Rights Council}}</ref> ISIL fighters systematically looted and destroyed the property of Kurds and resettled displaced Arab Sunni families from the Qalamoun area (Rif Damascus), [[Deir ez-Zor]], and Raqqa in abandoned Kurdish homes.<ref name="iici"/>
After the [[Syrian Civil War]] started in 2011, diverse [[Islamism|Islamist]] opposition groups controlled the town, some under the flag of the [[Free Syrian Army]]. On June 30, 2014, Tell Abyad was [[Battle of Tell Abyad (2013)|captured]] by the [[al-Nusra Front]] and the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL), who raised their flag at the border crossing with Turkey.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/daloglu-isis-syria-iraq-mosul-caliphate-flag-border.html |title=ISIS ''[sic]'' raises flag at Turkish border |author=Tulin Daloglu |date=2014-06-30 |accessdate=2015-09-10 |newspaper=Al-Monitor}}</ref> After ISIL defeated the Kurdish forces, the [[YPG]] and the [[Kurdish Front]], ISIL fighters announced from the [[minaret]]s of the local [[mosque]]s that all [[Kurd]]s had to leave Tell Abyad or be killed. Thousands of [[civilian]]s, including Turkmen and Arab families, fled on 21 July.<ref>{{cite web|title=Selected testimonies from victims of the Syrian conflict: Twenty-seventh session|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session27/Documents/A-HRC-27-CRP1.pdf|website=UN Human Rights Council}}</ref><ref name="iici">{{cite web|title=Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: Twenty-seventh session|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/HRC_CRP_ISIS_14Nov2014.doc|website=UN Human Rights Council}}</ref> ISIL fighters systematically looted and destroyed the property of Kurds and resettled displaced Arab Sunni families from the [[Qalamoun]] area, [[Deir ez-Zor]], and [[Raqqa]] in abandoned Kurdish homes.<ref name="iici"/>


In the June 2015 [[Tell Abyad Campaign (2015)|Tell Abyad Campaign]], the town was besieged and in June 2015 taken over by forces of the [[Euphrates Volcano]], the [[People's Protection Units|YPG]] and [[Free Syrian Army]] allies.<ref name=AP61415>{{cite news|author1=Lefteris Pitarakis And Bassem Mrque|title=Thousands of Syrians flee into Turkey amid intense fighting|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7f62663318e94589bf6097825914a088/kurds-nearing-key-islamic-state-held-syrian-border-town|accessdate=June 15, 2015|work=AP The Big Story|agency=Associated Press|date=June 14, 2014}}</ref>
In the June 2015 [[Tell Abyad Campaign (2015)|Tell Abyad Campaign]], the town was besieged and taken over by forces of the [[Euphrates Volcano]] (the YPG and its [[Free Syrian Army]] allies).<ref name=AP61415>{{cite news|author1=Lefteris Pitarakis And Bassem Mrque|title=Thousands of Syrians flee into Turkey amid intense fighting|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7f62663318e94589bf6097825914a088/kurds-nearing-key-islamic-state-held-syrian-border-town|accessdate=June 15, 2015|work=AP The Big Story|agency=Associated Press|date=June 14, 2014}}</ref>


After the capture of Tell Abyad district, Kurdish YPG fighters have been accused{{by whom|date=December 2016}} of deliberately displacing thousands of Arabs and Turkmens from the areas they captured from ISIL forces in northern Syria, including Tell Abyad district<ref>{{cite web|title=Kurds accused of "ethnic cleansing" by Syria rebels|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kurds-accused-ethnic-cleansing-syria-rebels-isis/|accessdate=June 22, 2015|website=cbsnews}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian rebels accuse Kurdish forces of 'ethnic cleansing' of Sunni Arabs|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11676808/Syrian-rebels-accuse-Kurdish-forces-of-ethnic-cleansing-of-Sunni-Arabs.html/|accessdate=June 22, 2015|website=The Telegraph}}</ref> — a charge strongly denied by the Kurds.<ref name="seize large">{{cite web|title=Kurdish Fighters Seize Large Parts of IS Border Stronghold|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/15/world/middleeast/ap-islamic-state.html?_r=0|website=The New York Times}}</ref> The accusation was not backed by any evidence of ethnic or sectarian killings.<ref name="seize large"/>
After the capture of Tell Abyad district, Kurdish YPG fighters were accused in international media of deliberately displacing thousands of Arabs and Turkmens from the areas they captured from ISIL forces in northern Syria, including Tell Abyad district.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kurds accused of "ethnic cleansing" by Syria rebels|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kurds-accused-ethnic-cleansing-syria-rebels-isis/|accessdate=June 22, 2015|website=cbsnews}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian rebels accuse Kurdish forces of 'ethnic cleansing' of Sunni Arabs|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11676808/Syrian-rebels-accuse-Kurdish-forces-of-ethnic-cleansing-of-Sunni-Arabs.html/|accessdate=June 22, 2015|website=The Telegraph}}</ref><ref name="seize large">{{cite web|title=Kurdish Fighters Seize Large Parts of IS Border Stronghold|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/15/world/middleeast/ap-islamic-state.html?_r=0|website=The New York Times}}</ref> The accusations were not backed by any evidence.<ref name="seize large"/> Reports of fighters forcibly removing the local Arab population were rejected by the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{cite web|title=
The head of [[Syrian Observatory for Human Rights]] said the people who had fled into Turkey were escaping fighting and there was no systematic effort to force people out.<ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian Kurds battle Islamic State for town at Turkish border|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/14/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN0OU0LI20150614|website=Reuters}}</ref> A report published by Kurdwatch, a Germany based internet portal, also claimed the accusations of displacements against PYD<ref>{{cite web|title=New Report: Ethnic Cleansing in Tall Abyad? Characteristics of YPG and PYD rule in the areas captured from the IS|url=http://www.kurdwatch.org/?e3775|website=KurdWatch}}</ref> but stated the following:
UN says no ethnic cleansing by Kurds in northern Syria|url=http://aranews.net/2017/03/un-says-no-ethnic-cleansing-by-kurds-in-northern-syria/|website=ARA News}}</ref> The head of [[Syrian Observatory for Human Rights]] said the people who had fled into Turkey were escaping fighting and there was no systematic effort to force people out.<ref>{{cite web|title=Syrian Kurds battle Islamic State for town at Turkish border|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/14/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN0OU0LI20150614|website=Reuters}}</ref>


⚫
Many people who took part in the expulsion of the local Kurdish population in 2013<ref name=france24>{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20161108-raqqa-offensive-kurds-sdf-ypg-turkey-islamic-state-group|title=In Raqqa offensive, Kurds seek 'insurance' against Turkish attack|publisher=France24|date=8 November 2016}}</ref> and then fled the advancing Kurdish force have not returned, for fear of retribution from the YPG.<ref name="The Washington Post">{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-challenges-of-governing-after-the-islamic-state/2015/10/30/8985938c-7673-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_story.html|title= They freed a Syrian town from ISIS. Now they have to govern it|publisher=The [[Washington Post]]|date=2015 |accessdate= 30 October 2015 }}</ref>
{{Quote|text="None of KurdWatch’s Arab or Turkmen interview partners reported of ethnically motivated mass expulsions from Tall Abyad and the surrounding areas. In fact, we can assume that there have been no large-scale ethnically motivated expulsions in the region. For demographic reasons alone a »Kurdification« of the area is out of the question. The proportion of around ten percent Kurds is simply too low. At the same time, regulations such as only Kurds from ʿAyn al-ʿArab or Tall Abyad can act as a guarantor for refugees so that they can return to Tall Abyad from Turkey clearly discriminate on the basis of ethnicity."}}
According to the group, repressive measures have been taken out in first line against persons with ties to the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] or other political opponents.<ref name= "Kurdwatch"/>


A report published by [[Kurdwatch]], a German-based internet portal, claimed that returning refugees had to have a Kurd as guarantor of their good conduct.<ref>{{cite web|title=New Report: Ethnic Cleansing in Tall Abyad? Characteristics of YPG and PYD rule in the areas captured from the IS|url=http://www.kurdwatch.org/?e3775|website=KurdWatch}}</ref> According to the group, repressive measures have been aimed at people with ties to the Islamic State or other political opponents.<ref name= "Kurdwatch"/> According to the ''[[Washington Post]]'', expressions of Kurdish identity on an official basis (which were illegal under the [[Syrian government]]) resulted in rising tensions.<ref name="The Washington Post"/>
⚫
However, many of the tens of thousands of Arab residents — namely those tribes that allegedly took part in the expulsion of the local Kurdish population in 2013<ref name=france24>{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20161108-raqqa-offensive-kurds-sdf-ypg-turkey-islamic-state-group|title=In Raqqa offensive, Kurds seek 'insurance' against Turkish attack|publisher=France24|date=8 November 2016}}</ref> — who fled the advancing Kurdish force have not returned, for fear of retribution from the YPG.<ref name="The Washington Post">{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the-challenges-of-governing-after-the-islamic-state/2015/10/30/8985938c-7673-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_story.html|title= They freed a Syrian town from ISIS. Now they have to govern it|publisher=The [[Washington Post]]|date=2015 |accessdate= 30 October 2015 }}</ref>
According to the [[Washington Post]], Kurds were kurdifying the city after capturing it from ISIL, which resulted in tensions.<ref name="The Washington Post"/> The journal states:
{{Quote|text=The Kurds formally renamed Tal Abyad with a Kurdish name, "Gire Spi", and proclaim its new identity in signs throughout the town — written in the Latin script used by Turkish Kurds but not readily understood by Syrian Kurds or Arabs. They have also unilaterally detached it from the existing Syrian province of Raqqa and made it a part of their newly formed autonomous enclave, carved from areas traditionally inhabited by Kurds but steadily encroaching also on territories that were historically Arab.}}

Reports of fighters forcibly removing the local Arab population were rejected by the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{cite web|title=
UN says no ethnic cleansing by Kurds in northern Syria|url=http://aranews.net/2017/03/un-says-no-ethnic-cleansing-by-kurds-in-northern-syria/|website=ARA News}}</ref>


=== Rule of the northeastern administration ===
=== Rule of the northeastern administration ===
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On 15 September 2016, the [[flag of the United States]] was raised over several public institutional buildings in Tell Abyad.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/0a1ecbb5-7db6-4a75-a6a5-c5313e8002e9/US-flags-raised-in-Syrian-Kurdish-held-town-of-Tal-Abyad|title=US flags raised in Syrian Kurdish-held town of Tal Abyad|work=Kurdistan24|date=16 September 2016}}</ref> The [[United States Department of Defense]] confirmed that U.S. Special Operation Forces were flying U.S. flags in the town of Tell Abyad in [[Kobanî Canton]] to deter Turkish harassment shelling or attacks against [[Syrian Democratic Forces]] there.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-flags-northern-syria_us_57e138efe4b08cb14097dfa0|publisher=Huffington Post|title=Mysterious American Flags In Northern Syria Were Planted By U.S. Troops, Pentagon Says|date=20 September 2016|accessdate=20 September 2016}}</ref> Notwithstanding, the Turkish military shelled the area on 22 September.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aranews.net/2016/09/turkey-bombs-kurdish-positions-near-syrias-tel-abyad |title= Turkey bombs Kurdish positions near Syria's Tel-Abyad |work= AraNews |date= 22 September 2016}}</ref>
On 15 September 2016, the [[flag of the United States]] was raised over several public institutional buildings in Tell Abyad.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/0a1ecbb5-7db6-4a75-a6a5-c5313e8002e9/US-flags-raised-in-Syrian-Kurdish-held-town-of-Tal-Abyad|title=US flags raised in Syrian Kurdish-held town of Tal Abyad|work=Kurdistan24|date=16 September 2016}}</ref> The [[United States Department of Defense]] confirmed that U.S. Special Operation Forces were flying U.S. flags in the town of Tell Abyad in [[Kobanî Canton]] to deter Turkish harassment shelling or attacks against [[Syrian Democratic Forces]] there.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-flags-northern-syria_us_57e138efe4b08cb14097dfa0|publisher=Huffington Post|title=Mysterious American Flags In Northern Syria Were Planted By U.S. Troops, Pentagon Says|date=20 September 2016|accessdate=20 September 2016}}</ref> Notwithstanding, the Turkish military shelled the area on 22 September.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aranews.net/2016/09/turkey-bombs-kurdish-positions-near-syrias-tel-abyad |title= Turkey bombs Kurdish positions near Syria's Tel-Abyad |work= AraNews |date= 22 September 2016}}</ref>

⚫
During their control of the city, the Kurdish YPG forces were accused of several serious human rights violations. <ref>Barakat et al., 2019. [https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/ypg-pkk-s-human-rights-violations-in-syrias-tal-abyad/1616038 YPG/PKK’s human rights violations in Syria's Tal Abyad]. Accessed on 18 June 2020.</ref> Many thousands of the city's Arab residents were forced to leave the city and its area. Surrounding villages such as Bir Ashiq were destroyed and their residents prohibited by YPG from coming back. Many of the displaced Arab residents of Tel Abyad have been protesting at the Turkish border near the city to demand the expulsion of YPG forces. Many of them have been trained in Turkey to participate in the advance on the town.<ref name= "Fabrice Balanche">{{cite web|title=Tal Abyad: Achilles Heel of the Syrian Kurdish Belt |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/tal-abyad-achilles-heel-of-the-syrian-kurdish-belt |website=The Washington Institute|accessdate=14 October 2019|date=December 2018}}</ref>



=== 2019 Turkish/SNA capture of Tel Abyad ===
=== 2019 Turkish/SNA capture of Tel Abyad ===
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Germany-based internet portal Kurdwatch reports that Tell Abyad is mainly populated by Arabs, and estimates that in the environs of Tell Abyad, 15% of the population is Turkmen, 10% Kurdish and the rest being Arabs.<ref name= "Kurdwatch">{{cite web|title=Ethnic cleansing in Tall Abyad?|url=http://www.kurdwatch.org/pdf/KurdWatch_A011_en_TallAbyad.pdf||website=Kurdwatch|accessdate=14 May 2016|date=January 2016}}</ref> Other sources claim that Kurds make up between under 30%<ref>{{cite news|title=YPG's greatest challenge: Kurdish-Arab relations in Syria|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/ypgs-greatest-challenge-kurdish-arab-relations-northern-syria-1000464050|accessdate=14 May 2016|work=Middle East Eye}}</ref> up to 55%<ref name="kurds eye"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Violation Documentation Centre|url=http://www.vdc-sy.info/pdf/reports/talabyad-English.pdf|accessdate=14 May 2016|date=2013}}</ref> of the population. Turkish Şanlıurfa governor estimated that 98% of the region is made up of Arabs and Turkmens.<ref name="Şanlıurfa"/> In addition, there are many [[Syrian Turkmen|Turkmen]] families residing in the city center.<ref name="Türkmen"/>
Germany-based internet portal Kurdwatch reports that Tell Abyad is mainly populated by Arabs, and estimates that in the environs of Tell Abyad, 15% of the population is Turkmen, 10% Kurdish and the rest being Arabs.<ref name= "Kurdwatch">{{cite web|title=Ethnic cleansing in Tall Abyad?|url=http://www.kurdwatch.org/pdf/KurdWatch_A011_en_TallAbyad.pdf||website=Kurdwatch|accessdate=14 May 2016|date=January 2016}}</ref> Other sources claim that Kurds make up between under 30%<ref>{{cite news|title=YPG's greatest challenge: Kurdish-Arab relations in Syria|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/ypgs-greatest-challenge-kurdish-arab-relations-northern-syria-1000464050|accessdate=14 May 2016|work=Middle East Eye}}</ref> up to 55%<ref name="kurds eye"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Violation Documentation Centre|url=http://www.vdc-sy.info/pdf/reports/talabyad-English.pdf|accessdate=14 May 2016|date=2013}}</ref> of the population. Turkish Şanlıurfa governor estimated that 98% of the region is made up of Arabs and Turkmens.<ref name="Şanlıurfa"/> In addition, there are many [[Syrian Turkmen|Turkmen]] families residing in the city center.<ref name="Türkmen"/>

⚫
Many of the displaced Arab residents of Tel Abyad have been protesting at the Turkish border near the city to demand the expulsion of YPG forces. Many of them have been trained in Turkey to participate in the advance on the town.<ref name= "Fabrice Balanche">{{cite web|title=Tal Abyad: Achilles Heel of the Syrian Kurdish Belt |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/tal-abyad-achilles-heel-of-the-syrian-kurdish-belt |website=The Washington Institute|accessdate=14 October 2019|date=December 2018}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 01:10, 21 June 2020

Tell Abyad
تل أبيض
Town
Tell Abyad is located in Syria
Tell Abyad
Tell Abyad
Location in Syria
Coordinates: 36°41′51″N 38°57′24″E / 36.69750°N 38.95667°E / 36.69750; 38.95667
Country Syria
GovernorateRaqqa
DistrictTell Abyad
SubdistrictTell Abyad Subdistrict
Control Turkey
Syrian opposition Syrian Interim Government
Elevation
350 m (1,150 ft)
Population
 (2004 census)[1]
 • Town14,825
 • Nahiyah
44,671
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
P-Code
C5792
GeocodeSY110200

Tell Abyad (Arabic: تل أبيض, lit. 'White Hill', Kurdish: Girê Spî, Turkish: Tellebyad,[2] Armenian: Թել Աբյադ, Classical Syriac: ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ) is a town in Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it constitutes a divided city with the bordering city of Akçakale in Turkey.

Tall Abyad was captured by the Free Syrian Army in September 2012 during the Syrian Civil War,[3] later being captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in January 2014. On 16 June 2015, the town was captured by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the course of their Tell Abyad offensive.[4] On 13 October 2019, as part of the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, the Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army captured Tel Abyad and many villages in the district from the Syrian Democratic Forces.[5][5]

Tell Abyad is the administrative center of Tell Abyad Subdistrict and the Tell Abyad District.

History

In antiquity, Tell Abyad and the surrounding region were ruled by the Assyrian Empire and settled by Arameans. Tell Abyad could have been the site of the neo-Assyrian–era Aramean inhabited settlement of Baliḫu, mentioned in 814 BC.[6] Later, various empires ruled the area, such as the Romans, Byzantines, Sassanids, Umayyads, Abbasids and finally the Ottoman Empire. Tell Abyad remained Ottoman until the end of World War I, when it was incorporated in the French mandate of Syria during the partition of the Ottoman Empire.

The modern town was founded by Armenian refugees from Anatolia, survivors of the deportations conducted during the Armenian Genocide, with around 250 Armenian families living in the city prior to the Syrian civil war.[7]

Syrian Civil War

After the Syrian Civil War started in 2011, diverse Islamist opposition groups controlled the town, some under the flag of the Free Syrian Army. On June 30, 2014, Tell Abyad was captured by the al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who raised their flag at the border crossing with Turkey.[8] After ISIL defeated the Kurdish forces, the YPG and the Kurdish Front, ISIL fighters announced from the minarets of the local mosques that all Kurds had to leave Tell Abyad or be killed. Thousands of civilians, including Turkmen and Arab families, fled on 21 July.[9][10] ISIL fighters systematically looted and destroyed the property of Kurds and resettled displaced Arab Sunni families from the Qalamoun area, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa in abandoned Kurdish homes.[10]

In the June 2015 Tell Abyad Campaign, the town was besieged and taken over by forces of the Euphrates Volcano (the YPG and its Free Syrian Army allies).[11]

After the capture of Tell Abyad district, Kurdish YPG fighters were accused in international media of deliberately displacing thousands of Arabs and Turkmens from the areas they captured from ISIL forces in northern Syria, including Tell Abyad district.[12][13][14] The accusations were not backed by any evidence.[14] Reports of fighters forcibly removing the local Arab population were rejected by the United Nations.[15] The head of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the people who had fled into Turkey were escaping fighting and there was no systematic effort to force people out.[16]

Many people who took part in the expulsion of the local Kurdish population in 2013[17] and then fled the advancing Kurdish force have not returned, for fear of retribution from the YPG.[18]

A report published by Kurdwatch, a German-based internet portal, claimed that returning refugees had to have a Kurd as guarantor of their good conduct.[19] According to the group, repressive measures have been aimed at people with ties to the Islamic State or other political opponents.[20] According to the Washington Post, expressions of Kurdish identity on an official basis (which were illegal under the Syrian government) resulted in rising tensions.[18]

Rule of the northeastern administration

On 21 October 2015, a council including representatives of local Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen and Armenian communities declared Tell Abyad part of the de facto autonomous North and East Syria. As a community in Kobanê Canton, the town enjoyed self-governance in the Democratic Confederalist system of Rojava.[21] The 178-member higher council that governed Tell Abyad, elected mixed-gender co-mayors, as mandated under Rojava rules, initially ethnic Arab Mansour Seloum (later elected co-chairperson for the executive committee to organise a new constitution for Rojava, and replaced by ethnic Arab Hamdan al-Abad) and ethnic Kurd Layla Mohammed, the latter 27 years old and the first female mayor of Tell Abyad ever.[22]

On February 27, 2016, Tell Abyad came under attack from ISIL militants. YPG militias and Asayish police forces repelled the attack and eliminated all of the ISIL attackers, but more than 40 security forces and around 20 civilians were left dead. A YPG spokesman claimed that ISIL attackers had crossed from Turkey to attack the town. Turkey quickly denied this claim. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, there was not any infiltration from the Turkish border but dormant IS sleeper cells and others entered the town on the eve of the offensive dressed in YPG uniforms.[23] There have been multiple other instances of ISIL terror attacks in Tell Abyad, for example on 29 June and 8 July 2016 two bombings that each claimed ten civilian lives.[24][25]

On 15 September 2016, the flag of the United States was raised over several public institutional buildings in Tell Abyad.[26] The United States Department of Defense confirmed that U.S. Special Operation Forces were flying U.S. flags in the town of Tell Abyad in Kobanî Canton to deter Turkish harassment shelling or attacks against Syrian Democratic Forces there.[27] Notwithstanding, the Turkish military shelled the area on 22 September.[28]

2019 Turkish/SNA capture of Tel Abyad

As part of the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Turkey launched airstrikes and fired artillery at SDF position inside the town. Social media images posted displayed Syrians fleeing the town. Two civilians were killed and others were wounded as part of the offensive according to The New York Times.[29]

On 13 October 2019, as part of the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army captured Tell Abyad, and many villages in the district from the SDF.[5] On October 28, a local council was formed.[30]

Demographics

According to multiple sources, the majority of the inhabitants of Tell Abyad and Tell Abyad District are Arabs,[31] with a Kurdish,[32] Turkmen[33] and Armenian minority.[34][35][36]

The PYD formed a council of elders in Tell Abyad which has the task to administer the region and which is said to be a fair representation of the ethnic composition of the town and the Arabic majority population. It consists of 15 people, of which are ten Arabs, three Kurds and respectively one Armenian and one Turkmen.[20]

Germany-based internet portal Kurdwatch reports that Tell Abyad is mainly populated by Arabs, and estimates that in the environs of Tell Abyad, 15% of the population is Turkmen, 10% Kurdish and the rest being Arabs.[20] Other sources claim that Kurds make up between under 30%[37] up to 55%[32][38] of the population. Turkish Şanlıurfa governor estimated that 98% of the region is made up of Arabs and Turkmens.[33] In addition, there are many Turkmen families residing in the city center.[2]

Many of the displaced Arab residents of Tel Abyad have been protesting at the Turkish border near the city to demand the expulsion of YPG forces. Many of them have been trained in Turkey to participate in the advance on the town.[39]

References

  1. ^ "General Census of Population and Housing 2004: Tell Abyad nahiyah" (in Arabic). Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 15 October 2015. Also available in English: "Syria: 2004 census data". UN OCHA. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b Günümüzde Suriye Türkmenleri (in Turkish) — Suriye’de Değişimin Ortaya Çıkardığı Toplum: Suriye Türkmenleri, p. 20 ORSAM Rapor № 83. ORSAM – Ortadoğu Türkmenleri Programı Rapor № 14. Ankara — November 2011, 33 pages.
  3. ^ "The next battlefield" – via The Economist.
  4. ^ Master. "YPG and rebels take full control on Tal Abiad city". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Turkish army liberates Tel Abyad's Suluk village from terrorists". Daily Sabah. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  6. ^ Edward Lipiński (2000). The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion. Peeters Publishers. pp. 122–. ISBN 978-90-429-0859-8.
  7. ^ Taştekin, Fehim (October 29, 2015). "Is Turkey setting a Kurdish trap?". Al-Monitor.
  8. ^ Tulin Daloglu (2014-06-30). "ISIS [sic] raises flag at Turkish border". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  9. ^ "Selected testimonies from victims of the Syrian conflict: Twenty-seventh session" (PDF). UN Human Rights Council.
  10. ^ a b "Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: Twenty-seventh session". UN Human Rights Council.
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Notes

External links

Media related to Tell Abyad at Wikimedia Commons

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