The Queiq (

Modern Standard Arabic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Modern Written Arabic (MWA), terms used mostly by linguists, is the variety of standardized, literary Arabic that developed in the Arab world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; occasionally, it also ref ...

: , ''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 River is a river and valley of the

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 t ...

, Syria and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. It is a -long river that flows through the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. It arises from the southern Aintab plateau in southeastern

. The Akpınar River in the Kilis plain is one of the headwaters of the Queiq. The former town of

Qinnasrin Qinnasrin ( ar, قنسرين; syr, ܩܢܫܪܝܢ, ''Qinnašrīn'', lit=Nest of Eagles), also known by numerous other romanizations and originally known as ( la, Chalcis ad Belum; grc-gre, Χαλκὶς, ''Khalkìs''), was a historical town in ...

lay on its banks. It partly flows along the western rim of the Matah Depression. The valley has been occupied for thousands of years and in ancient times the Queiq valley was noted for its flint industries and pottery. The river dried up completely in the late 1960s, due to irrigation projects on the Turkish side of the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

. Recently, water from the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

has been diverted to revive the dead river, and thus revive agriculture in the plains south of Aleppo, but many Syrians remain bitter towards the Turks over their handling of the river. To revive the river and build irrigation, the Tal Hasel Water Pumping Station was opened in 2008 in rural Aleppo. The station was restored after its damage in 2012 and put into operation again in July 2022.

Gallery

File:Quweik flood Aleppo.jpg, The flood of Queiq River in February 1922 File:Aleppo 1950s.JPG, The river crossing the

Aleppo Public Park Aleppo Public Park (Arabic: الحديقة العامة بحلب) is a 17 hectare urban park located in Aleppo, Syria. With its hexagonal shape the park is located in Gare de Baghdad district covering an area between Jamiliyeh and Aziziyeh distric ...

in the 1950s File:Downtown Aleppo, Queik river at night.jpg, The river in 2010, downtown Aleppo File:Quweik river Aleppo.jpg, Queiq river in 2011

References

{{Rivers of Syria Aleppo Aleppo Governorate Rivers of Syria Rivers of Turkey International rivers of Asia Landforms of Adıyaman Province Massacres of men Violence against men in Asia