Ra's Al-'Ayn
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Ras al-Ayn (, , ), also spelled Ras al-Ain, is a city in
al-Hasakah Governorate Al-Hasakah Governorate (; ; , also known as , ''Gozarto'') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is located in the far north-east corner of Syria and distinguished by its fertile lands, plentiful water ...
in northeastern
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, on the
Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey (; ) is long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some , crossing the Euphrates and ...
. One of the oldest cities in
Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the regio ...
, the area of Ras al-Ayn has been inhabited since at least the
Neolithic age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...
( 8,000 BC). Later known as the ancient
Aramean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered ce ...
city of Sikkan, the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
city of
Rhesaina Rhesaina (Rhesaena) () or Resina (Ῥέσινα) was a city in the late Roman province of Mesopotamia Secunda and a bishopric that was a suffragan of Dara. Rhesaina (Rhesaena, Resaena – numerous variations of the name appear in ancient authors ...
, and the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
city of Theodosiopolis, the town was destroyed and rebuilt several times, and in medieval times was the site of fierce battles between several Muslim
dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. Historians ...
. With the 1921
Treaty of Ankara Treaty of Ankara may refer to: * Treaty of Ankara (1921) * Treaty of Ankara (1926), also known as the Frontier Treaty of 1926 *Treaty of Ankara (1963), also known as the Ankara Agreement See also * Ankara Agreement, 1963 {{disambiguation ...
, Ras al-Ayn became a
divided city ''Divided City'' is a novel written by Theresa Breslin and published on 5 May 2005 by Doubleday. The novel is written for teenagers and adults concerning the problems of sectarianism in Glasgow and racism against asylum seekers.
when its northern part, today's
Ceylanpınar Ceylanpınar (, Ra's al 'Ayn, ''Resülayn'') is a municipality and district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,589 km2, and its population is 90,440 (2022). On the border with Syria, it is reached by a long straight road D.905 ...
, was ceded to Turkey. With a population of 29,347 (), it is the third largest city in al-Hasakah Governorate, and the administrative center of
Ras al-Ayn District Ras al-Ayn District () is a district of al-Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Ras al-Ayn. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 177,150. It is populated by Arabs, Kurds, Chechens an ...
. During the
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, the city became contested between Syrian opposition forces and
YPG The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostly consists of K ...
from November 2012 until it was finally captured by the YPG in July 2013. It was later captured by the
Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...
and the
Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA; ), also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups that participate in the Syrian civil war. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the sta ...
during the
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria On 9 October 2019, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and later it involved the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Syria. It was code-named the Op ...
.


Etymology

The first mention of the town is in Akkadian during the reign of the Assyrian king
Adad-nirari II Adad-nīrārī II (also spelled Adad-nērārī, which means "Adad (the storm god) is my help") reigned from 911 BCE to 891 BCE. He was the first King of Assyria in the Neo-Assyrian empire. He instigated the first renewed period of major expansion ...
(911-891 BC). The Arabic name ''Ras al-Ayn'' is a literal translation of the Akkadian name and has the same meaning; "head of the spring", or idiomatically, "hill of the spring", indicating a prominent mountain formation close to a well. The ancient Greek geographer
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
(d. 168) names the town ''Raisena''. The town, as part of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, was called ''Ressaina/Resaina''. Another name was ''Theodosiopolis'', after emperor
Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...
, who enlarged the town in 380. The 11th century Arab geographer
Muhammad al-Idrisi Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani as-Sabti, or simply al-Idrisi (; ; 1100–1165), was an Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer who served in the court of King Roger II at Palermo, Sicily. Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in C ...
visited the town, mentioning its name as Ras al-'Ayn, and assigning it to
Diyar Rabi'a Diyar Rabi'a () is the medieval Arabic name of the easternmost and largest of the three provinces of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), the other two being Diyar Bakr and Diyar Mudar. According to the medieval geographer al-Baladhuri, all three prov ...
(abode of the
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
tribe Rabi'a). He also described it as a big city with plenty of water, around 300 springs from which most of al-Khabur river starts. In addition to ''Ras al-Ayn'', medieval Arab Muslim sources refer to the town sometimes as ''Ain Werda''. Nineteenth-century English sources refer to the town as ''Ras Ain'', ''Ain Verdeh'' (1819), or ''Ras el Ain'' (1868). The Kurdish name also means "head of the spring" or "head of the fountain", referring to water source areas. This name is probably a modern
literal translation Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation is the translation of a text done by translating each word separately without analysing how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory, anoth ...
of the ancient Semitic name.


Geography

Ras al-Ayn is located in the Upper Khabur basin in the northern
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n region of
Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic language, Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business *Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazir ...
. The Khabur, largest tributary of the
Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
, crosses the border from Turkey near the town of
Tell Halaf Tell Halaf () is an archaeological site in Al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria, a few kilometers from the city of Ras al-Ayn near the Syria–Turkey border. The site, which dates to the sixth millennium BCE, was the first to be excavated from a N ...
, about to the southwest of the city. The overground feeders, originating on the headwaters of the Karaca volcano in
Şanlıurfa Province Şanlıurfa Province (; ), also known as Urfa Province, is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which be ...
, usually do not carry water in the summer, even though Turkey brings in water from the
Atatürk reservoir The Atatürk Reservoir () is a reservoir on the Euphrates, created by the Atatürk Dam in Turkey. It is located between Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, and Diyarbakır provinces. The reservoir has a surface area of 817 km2 and a volume of 48.5 cubic k ...
to irrigate the region of
Ceylanpınar Ceylanpınar (, Ra's al 'Ayn, ''Resülayn'') is a municipality and district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,589 km2, and its population is 90,440 (2022). On the border with Syria, it is reached by a long straight road D.905 ...
. While more than 80% of the Upper Khabur's water originates in Turkey, this mostly comes as underground flow. So rather than the overground streams, it is the giant
karstic Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. There is some eviden ...
springs of the Ras al-Ayn area that is considered the river's main perennial source.


Ras al-Ayn springs

Ras al-Ayn has more than 100 natural springs. The most famous spring is Nab'a al-Kebreet, a hot spring with a very high
mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...
content, containing calcium, lithium, and radium.


Water supply

The Allouk water pumping station, which distributes water to the Hasakah Governorate, is close to Ras al-Ayn. Since the Turkish occupation began, the water supply has been interrupted several times. Previously, the station supplied about 460,000 people in
Al-Hasakah Al-Hasakah (; / ; ) is a city in northeastern Syria and the capital of the Al-Hasakah Governorate. With a 2023 estimated population of 422,445, Al-Hasakah is populated by Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians and Chechens. A ...
,
Tell Tamer Tell Tamer (, or Til Temir, ) also known as Tal Tamr or Tal Tamir, is a town in western al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Tamer Subdistrict consisting of 13 municipalities. Originally buil ...
, and the
Al-Hawl refugee camp The Al-Hawl refugee camp (also Al-Hol refugee camp or simply Al-Hawl camp, , ) is a refugee camp on the southern outskirts of the town of al-Hawl in northern Syria, close to the Syria-Iraq border, which holds individuals displaced from the Islami ...
, but not since the last interruption in March 2020, according to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
.


History


Neolithic and ancient history

The area of Ras al-Ayn was inhabited at least since the
Neolithic age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...
(c. 8.000 BC). Today's Ras al-Ayn can be traced back to a settlement existing since c. 2000 BC, which in the early 1st millennium BC became the ancient city of Sikkan, part of the
Aramaean The Arameans, or Aramaeans (; ; , ), were a tribal Semitic people in the ancient Near East, first documented in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. Their homeland, often referred to as the land of Aram, originally covered cent ...
kingdom of
Bit Bahiani Bit Baḫiani was an independent Aramean city-state kingdom (c. 1200 – 808 BC) with its capital at ''Guzana'' (modern day Tell Halaf). Bit Baḫiani was ruled by King Kapara. There were at least five kings and four governors of Bit Baḫiani b ...
. It was later conquered by the
Medes The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...
. The archaeological site is located on the southern edge of the mound Tell Fekheriye, around which today's Ras al-Ayn is built, just a few hundred meters south of the city center. During excavations in 1979, the famous Tell Fekheriye bilingual inscription was found. The nearby town of
Tell Halaf Tell Halaf () is an archaeological site in Al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria, a few kilometers from the city of Ras al-Ayn near the Syria–Turkey border. The site, which dates to the sixth millennium BCE, was the first to be excavated from a N ...
is also a former site of an Aramean city.


Classical era

In later times, the town became known as "
Rhesaina Rhesaina (Rhesaena) () or Resina (Ῥέσινα) was a city in the late Roman province of Mesopotamia Secunda and a bishopric that was a suffragan of Dara. Rhesaina (Rhesaena, Resaena – numerous variations of the name appear in ancient authors ...
", "Ayn Warda", and "Theodosiopolis", the latter named after the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
emperor
Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...
who granted the settlement city rights. The latter name was also shared with the Armenian city of Karin (modern
Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...
) making it difficult to distinguish between them. The
Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
destroyed the city twice in 578 and 580 before rebuilding it and constructing one of the three Sassanian academies in it (the other two being Gundishapur and
Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...
) in it.


Medieval history

The city fell to the Arabs in 640 who confiscated parts of the city which were abandoned by their inhabitants. The Byzantines raided the city in 942 and took many prisoners. In 1129, Crusader Joscelin I managed to hold the city briefly, killing many of its Arab inhabitants. At its height the city had a West Syrian bishopric and many monasteries. The city also contained two mosques and an East Syrian church and numerous schools, baths, and gardens. Ras al-Ayn became contested between the
Zengids The Zengid or Zangid dynasty, also referred to as the Atabegate of Mosul, Aleppo and Damascus (Arabic: أتابكة الموصل وحلب ودمشق), or the Zengid State (Old Anatolian Turkish: , Modern Turkish: ; ) was initially an ''Atabegate ...
,
Ayyubids The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ori ...
, and the Khwarazmians in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was sacked by
Tamerlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timuri ...
at the end of the 14th century, ending its role as a major city in
al-Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business * Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional ...
.


Ottoman history

In the 19th century a colony of Muslim Chechen refugees fleeing the
Russian conquest of the Caucasus The Russian conquest of the Caucasus mainly occurred between 1800 and 1864. The Russian Empire sought to control the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. South of the mountains was the territory that is modern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georg ...
were settled in the town by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. The Ottomans also built barracks and a fort for a thousand soldiers to control and protect the refugees. During the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
, Ras al-Ayn was one of the major collecting points for deported
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
. From 1915 on, 1.5 million Armenians were deported from all over
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, many forced on
death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...
es into the
Syrian desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...
. Approximately 80,000 Armenians, mostly women and children, were slaughtered in desert
death camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...
near Ras al-Ayn. As well as the Deir ez-Zor Camps further south, the Ras al-Ayn Camps became "synonymous with Armenian suffering."


Modern history

After the
fall of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) was a period of history of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the Young Turk Revolution and ultimately ending with the empire's dissolution and the founding of the modern state of Turkey. The ...
and the 1921
Treaty of Ankara Treaty of Ankara may refer to: * Treaty of Ankara (1921) * Treaty of Ankara (1926), also known as the Frontier Treaty of 1926 *Treaty of Ankara (1963), also known as the Ankara Agreement See also * Ankara Agreement, 1963 {{disambiguation ...
, Ras al-Ayn became a
divided city ''Divided City'' is a novel written by Theresa Breslin and published on 5 May 2005 by Doubleday. The novel is written for teenagers and adults concerning the problems of sectarianism in Glasgow and racism against asylum seekers.
when its northern neighborhoods, today's
Ceylanpınar Ceylanpınar (, Ra's al 'Ayn, ''Resülayn'') is a municipality and district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,589 km2, and its population is 90,440 (2022). On the border with Syria, it is reached by a long straight road D.905 ...
, were ceded to
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. Today, the two cities are separated by a fenced border strip and the
Berlin–Baghdad Railway The Baghdad railway, also known as the Berlin–Baghdad railway (, , , ), was started in 1903 to connect Berlin with the then Ottoman Empire, Ottoman city of Baghdad, from where the Germans wanted to establish a port on the Persian Gulf, wit ...
on the Turkish side. The only
border crossing Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...
is located in the western outskirts of Ras al-Ayn. The town was first part of the
French colonial empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas Colony, colonies, protectorates, and League of Nations mandate, mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "Firs ...
's
Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territories ...
and, from 1946, the independent state of
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
.


Civil War

During the
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, Ras al-Ayn was engulfed by the long
Battle of Ras al-Ayn A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
. In late November 2012,
rebels A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...
of
al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...
and the FSA attacked
Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...
positions, expelling them from the town. During the following eight months, the
Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...
-majority
People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurds in Syria, Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostl ...
(YPG), present from the outset, gradually entrenched its position, and eventually formed an alliance with a non-jihadist FSA faction. On 21 July 2013, this alliance expelled the
jihadists Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Islamic movements that seek to establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation is an efficient and theologically legit ...
after a night of heavy fighting. The town was part of
Rojava Rojava may refer to: * Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava, the geographical region where Kurds historically settled within present-day Syria * Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administ ...
for the following six years, until it was attacked and captured by the
Turkish army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...
and allied Syrian National Army during the October
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria On 9 October 2019, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and later it involved the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Syria. It was code-named the Op ...
, in the Second Battle of Ras al-Ayn. After 11 days of clashes and siege, the
Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...
and the
Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...
YPG The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostly consists of K ...
retreated from Ras al-Ayn as part of a ceasefire agreement.


Bombings

On December 10, 2020, a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint run by Turkish-supported
Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA; ), also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups that participate in the Syrian civil war. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the sta ...
rebels in Ras al-Ayn. Reports on casualties differed, but according to several sources the explosion killed over 10 people including 2 Turkish soldiers. Turkish authorities blamed the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) for the car bombing as Turkey claims they are affiliated with the
Kurdistan Workers Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gu ...
(PKK). According the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
, no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Bombing continued in January and February 2021.


Demographics

In 2004 the population was 29,347. The town has been described as having an Arab majority, in addition to
Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...
, Assyrian,
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
, Turkmen and Chechen minorities before the Turkish/SNA takeover in October 2019. War crimes committed since the Turkish occupation began have since caused an exodus of Kurds, Christians, and other minorities from the town such as
Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...
and
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
.


The Turkish government's resettling of mainly
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
and Turkmen Syrian refugees from other parts of Syria in Ras al-Ayn has further altered the town's demographics.


Churches in the town

* Syriac Orthodox Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle (كنيسة مار توما الرسول للسريان الأرثوذكس) * Syriac Catholic Church of Mary Magdalene (كنيسة مريم المجدلية للسريان الكاثوليك) * Armenian Orthodox Church of Saint Hagop (كنيسة القديس هاكوب للارمن الارثوذكس)


See also

*
Battle of Ras al-Ayn A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
* Second Battle of Ras al-Ayn (2019) * Ras al-Ayn camps


References


External links

{{Al-Hasakah Governorate, ras Divided cities on the Syria–Turkey border Kurdish communities in Syria Assyrian communities in Syria Armenian communities in Syria Circassian communities in Syria