Qamishli


Qamishli is a city in northeastern Syria on the Syria–Turkey border, adjoining the city of Nusaybin in Turkey. The Jaghjagh River flows through the city. With a 2004 census population of 184,231, it is the ninth most-populous city in Syria and the second-largest in Al-Hasakah Governorate after Al-Hasakah. Qamishli has traditionally been a Christian Assyrian majority city, but is now predominantly populated by Kurds with large numbers of Arabs and Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians. It is northeast of Damascus.
The city is the administrative capital of the Qamishli District in Al-Hasakah Governorate, and the administrative center of Qamishli Subdistrict, consisting of 92 localities with a combined population of 232,095 in 2004. Qamishli was the de facto'' capital of the DAANES, until it was moved to Ayn Issa.

Etymology

The city was initially a small village inhabited by Assyrians called ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ meaning "House of Reeds". The modern name is the Turkish calque of this name. Kamış means "reed" and -lı suffix denotes "place with" in Turkish.

History

The city was established in the 1920s by Assyrians escaping the Assyrian genocide who fled from northwestern Iran and southern Turkey. They built a small town under the French Mandate which they initially called Bet-Zalin. In 1926, it was renamed Qamishli and served as a station on the Taurus railway. One of the funders of the early development of the city was Masoud Asfar, an Assyrian who survived the Massacres of Diyarbakır as a young child. Masoud, along with stepbrother, whose last name was Najjar, established the Asfar & Najjar Corporation, a company that produced wheat in Qamishli. Throughout the 1920s–1940s, the Asfar & Najjar Corporation funded hospitals, Assyrian schools, and churches throughout the city. At the same time, many Armenians and Assyrians, fleeing persecution in Iraq and Turkey, moved into the region. This was followed by the emigration of Kurds from Turkey, most of whom settled in the countryside and then began to move to the city. However, in the 1960s and until the late 1970s, when Assyrians still constituted two-thirds of the city's population, the government of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region actively confiscated Assyrian farms, lands, and areas, causing an Assyrian exodus.
Qamishli is considered a center for both the Kurdish and the Assyrian ethnic groups in Syria. It was heavily settled by refugees from the Assyrian genocide. Assyrians were the majority in the city until the 1970s, when Kurds from the surrounding countryside moved into the city in numbers. Qamishli is renowned for its large Christmas parade, and Newroz and Kha b-Nisan festivals.

21st century

In March 2004, during a chaotic soccer match, the Qamishli riots began when visiting Arab fans from Deir ez-Zor started praising Saddam Hussein to taunt the Kurdish home fans. The riot expanded out of the stadium and weapons were used against people of Kurdish background. In the aftermath, at least 30 Kurds were killed as the Syrian security services took over the city.
In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurdish civilians.
In March 2008, according to Human Rights Watch, three more Kurds were killed when Syrian security forces opened fire on people celebrating the spring festival of Newroz.

Syrian Civil War

With the civil war and the Rojava conflict from 2011, the city grew into a major political role, being the de facto capital of the DAANES. Part of the city, as well as an area to the south which includes Qamishli Airport, remained under the administration of the Syrian government until the rebel offensive in December 2024. Unlike many Syrian cities, Qamishli has not seen large-scale fighting during the war, although it has been attacked by unknown perpetrators in 2015 and by Islamic State in 2016, as well as brief skirmishes between DAANES and Syrian forces in 2016 and 2018. Qamishli is home to Chirkin prison, which houses detained Islamic State militants.
On 17 August 2020, Syrian forces reportedly clashed with US troops near Qamishli, which resulted in the death of one Syrian. Two other Syrian soldiers were said to have been injured during the clash, state media added.
In 2022, the Syrian government remained in control of a large part of the city centre as well as a substantial rural area to the south, including the airport, the border crossing, various government buildings, and many residential neighbourhoods. The government still organised the production and the distribution of the harvest in the southern countryside, and organised flights between Qamishli and other Syrian cities, as well as Beirut. However, most of the city was under the administration of the DAANES.
The city came fully under Kurdish forces control in December 2024, when Ba'athist Syrian forces handed over control with little fighting.

Climate

The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is "Csa". The summers tend to be dry and warm, with July being the hottest month of the year, while the winters are usually cold and wet, with January being the coldest month and having an average of 11 days of rain. In total, around 53 days of rain occur every year.

Demographics

In 1939, French mandate authorities reported the following population numbers for different ethnic/religious groups in Qamishli city centre.
Qamishli is an ethnically mixed city. Kurds make up a majority of the city's population, which also has many Arabs, Assyrians, and Armenians.

Religion

Muslims

More than 80% of Qamishli's inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. They are mainly Kurds, followed by Arabs.

Christians

The city is considered to be a Christian center in Syria, and was a Christian-majority city for much of its history.
In the 1930s it is estimated that out of the town's population of 23,000 individuals, 20,000 of those were Christians.
Before the civil war, the Christian population of Qamishli was about 40,000, of whom 25,000 belonged to the Syriac Orthodox Church, the biggest church in the city. As of 2014 it was believed that half of all Christians had left the city.
Once a Christian-majority city, the rural migration to Qamishli has increased the Kurdish population of the city. In addition, since the PYD militia took control of the city in 2012 they carried out a Kurdification process touching all aspects of life, starting by changing the name of the city to Qamishlo, to cultural and social aspects of the city. The Christian and Arab population in the city were fiercely opposed to the PYD rule. Half the Christian population left by 2017 although no fighting happened in the city.

Churches in the city

Historically, Qamishli was also home to a significant Jewish community. The origin of the Jews of Qamishli is the adjoining city of Nusaybin, on the other side of the Turkish-Syrian border. As after the foundation of Turkey in 1923, the major economic hubs were allocated to Turkey, the French Mandate authorities deemed it necessary to encourage the settlement or foundation of new villages and towns in the region. The current town was founded in 1926 by the French Mandate, which following encouraged the settlement of the population in Nusaybin, which is located just across the border. Within a few years, Qamishli was more populous than Nusaybin. The major part of the Christian, and also of the Jewish population from Nusaybin moved to Qamsihli. In the 1930s the Jewish population of Qamishli numbered 3,000. After the escalation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 1947, the situation of the Jews of Qamishli deteriorated. The exodus of Jews from Syria peaked due to violence, such as the 1947 anti-Jewish riots in Aleppo. By 1963, the community had dwindled to 800, and after the Six-Day War it went down further to 150, of whom no one remain today.

Neighborhoods

Qamishli is divided into several districts, which are further divided into neighborhoods.
This is a list of the neighborhoods of Qamishli.
  • Al-Zahra
  • Al-Qusour
  • Al-Muwazafin
  • Qudour Bek
  • Al-Gharbiyah
  • Corniche
  • Al-Arbawiyah
  • Al-Ashouriyin
  • Al-Siryan
  • Al-Bashiriyah
  • Tay
  • Al-Thawra
  • Al-Golan
  • Qanat al-Suways
  • Al-Antariyah
  • Maysaloun
  • Al-Hilaliyah
  • Jurnak
  • Alaiya
  • Mahmakiyah
  • Jumaayah
  • Halko

    Transportation

was closed to civilians in October 2015, but later reopened. Syrian airline companies including Cham Wings Airlines, FlyDamas and Syrian Air provide flights between Qamishli and Damascus, Latakia, and Beirut.

Media and education

The Kurdish-language newspaper Nu Dem has its headquarters in Qamishli.
While prior to the Rojava conflict, there had been no institution of higher education in northeastern Syria, in September 2014 the Mesopotamian Social Sciences Academy started teaching. Following the University of Afrin, in July 2016 the Jazira Canton's Board of Education officially established the second Syrian Kurdish university in Qamishli. The University of Rojava initially comprised four faculties: Medicine, Engineering, Sciences, and Arts and Humanities. Programs taught include health, oil, computer and agricultural engineering, physics, chemistry, history, psychology, geography, mathematics, primary school teaching, and Kurdish literature.