Al-Hasakah

al-Hasakah الحسكة
City
al-Hasakah Location of al-Hasakah in Syria
Coordinates: 36°30′42″N 40°44′32″E / 36.5117°N 40.7422°E / 36.5117; 40.7422Coordinates: 36°30′42″N 40°44′32″E / 36.5117°N 40.7422°E / 36.5117; 40.7422
Country	Syria
Governorate	al-Hasakah
District	al-Hasakah
Subdistrict	al-Hasakah
Elevation	300 m (1,000 ft)
Population (2004)[1]	188,160
• Metro	251,570
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Area code	+963 52
Geocode	C4360

Al-Hasakah (Arabic: الحسكة‎‎, Kurdish: Hesîçe‎, Syriac: ܚܣܟܗ‎, translit. Ḥasake, Turkish: Haseke), also known as Al-Hasakeh, Al-Kasaka or simply Hasakah, is the capital city of the Al-Hasakah Governorate and it is located in the far northeastern corner of Syria.^[2] With a population of 188,160 residents in 2004, Al-Hasakah is among the ten largest cities in Syria and the largest in the governorate. It is the administrative center of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") consisting of 108 localities with a combined population of 251,570 in 2004.^[1]

Al-Hasakah has an ethnically diverse population of Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians.^[3][4] The Khabur River runs through Al-Hasakah and the rest of the governorate.

Al-Hasakah is 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the Turkish border-city of Qamishli. The Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates River flows through the city, downriver from Ras al-Ayn, another border town. The Jaghjagh River flows into the Khabur River at Al-Hasakah.

History

Excavations in 2007 on Citadel Hill. The barracks from the French Mandate, battalion Levant is in the background

In the city centre, an ancient tell is identified by Dominique Charpin as the location of the city of Qirdahat.^[5] Another possibility is that it was the site of the ancient Aramean city of Magarisu, mentioned by the Assyrian king Ashur-bel-kala who fought the Arameans near the city.^[6] The etymology of Magarisu is Aramaic (from the root mgrys) and means "pasture land".^[7] The city was the capital of the Aramean state of Bit-Yahiri invaded by Assyrian kings Tukulti-Ninurta II and Ashurnasirpal II.^[8]

Excavations in the tell discovered materials dating to the Middle-Assyrian, Byzantine and Islamic eras. The last level of occupation ended in the fifteenth century.^[9] A period of 1500 years separated between the Middle-Assyrian level and the Byzantine level.^[10]

In Ottoman times the town was insignificant. Today's settlement was established in April 1922 by a French military post. After the expulsion and genocide of the Armenians in the then Ottoman Empire many refugees fled to the city and began to develop it in the 1920s.

During the French mandate period, Assyrians, fleeing ethnic cleansings in Iraq during the Simele massacre, established numerous villages along the Khabur River during the 1930s. French troops were stationed on the Citadel Hill during that time. In 1942 there were 7,835 inhabitants in al-Hasakah, several schools, two churches and a gas station. The new city grew from the 1950s to the administrative center of the region. The economic boom of the cities of Qamishli and al-Hasakah was a result of the irrigation projects started in the 1960s which transformed Northeast Syria into the main cotton-growing area. The 1970s brought oil production from the oil fields of Qara Shuk and Rumaylan in the extreme northeast.

Syrian Civil War

On 26 January 2011, in one of the first events of the uprising,^[11] Hasan Ali Akleh from Al-Hasakah poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire, in the same way Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi had in Tunis on 17 December 2010. According to eyewitnesses, the action was "a protest against the Syrian government".^[12][13] In 2012, Al-Hasakah which has a large Kurdish population, began witnessing protests of several thousand people against the Syrian government. From 2013, the militia associated with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the People's Protection Units (YPG), controlled Kurdish districts and government Arab districts. There were also clashes in the city between an Arab insurgent group and the YPG.

In the Battle of Hasakah during summer 2015, the Syrian Government lost large areas of control of the city to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which were then captured by the People's Protection Units (YPG). Afterwards, some 75% of Hasakah and all surrounding countryside were under the administration of the Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava, while only some inner city quarters were controlled by the Syrian Government.^[14][15][16] On 1 August 2016 the Syrian Democratic Council opened a public office in Al-Hasakah.^[17]

On 16 August 2016, the Battle of al-Hasakah (2016) started, with Rojava-associated forces taking control of the remaining areas held by Assad loyalists.^[18] On 23 August 2016 an agreement between YPG and Syrian Army let Al-Hasakah be freed completely from Syrian Government forces.^[19][20] Al-Hasakah since is self-administered within Jazira Canton in the framework of the de facto autonomous Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava.^[21][22]

Hasakah Security Box

The Hasakah Security Box is a Syrian government enclave within al-Hasakah, established in August 2016.^[23] It contains the prison, immigration office, mayor's palace, police headquarters, and local army command center.^[23][24][25]

Following the second battle for the city in 2015, the Syrian government controlled 25% of the city while Rojava controlled 75%. On August 16, 2016, a small skirmish erupted into the third Battle of al-Hasakah between the Syrian government and Rojava for al-Hasakah. After a week-long battle, Rojava secured control over 95% of the city.^[26]

Russia mediated a ceasefire that was put into place on August 23, 2016.^[27] The Syrian Armed Forces and the NDF were expelled from the city and barred from ever returning. Only civilian police officers and interior ministry forces were allowed to return to the Security Box to protect the government's department buildings.

Climate

Al-Hasakah has a semi-arid climate (BSh) with very hot dry summers and cool wet winters.

Population

Demographics

In 2004 the city's population was 188,160. Al-Hasakah has an ethnically diverse population of Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians and a smaller number of Armenians.^[3][4]

The United Nations estimates that violence related to the Syrian Civil War has displaced up to 120,000 people.^[29]

Religion

There are more than forty mosques in the city, as well as at least nine church buildings, serving a large number of Christians of various rites. The cathedral of the Assumption of Mary is the episcopal see of the non-metropolitan Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Al Hasakah-Nisibis, which depends directly on the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch.

Districts

The city of Al-Hasakah is divided into 5 districts, which are Al-Madinah, Al-Aziziyah, Ghuwayran, Al-Nasra and Al-Nashwa. These districts, in turn, are divided into 29 neighborhoods.^[30]

Sports

Bassel al-Assad Stadium

Al-Jazeera SC Hasakah is the largest football club in the city and plays at Bassel al-Assad Stadium.

Gallery

• 
  Saint George Cathedral
• 
  Syriac Orthodox church in Al-Hasakah
• 
  Tell Hajjar neighborhood in Al-Hasakah

See also

• Battle of al-Hasakah (2016)
• Al-Hasakah offensive (May 2015)
• Al-Hasakah offensive (February–March 2015)

References

Cities and towns of Syria
Governorate centres	Aleppo Damascus Daraa Deir ez-Zor Hama al-Hasakah Homs Idlib Latakia Quneitra Raqqa Rif Dimashq as-Suwayda Tartus
District centres	Abu Kamal Afrin Arihah Atarib Ayn al-Arab Azaz al-Bab Baniyas Darayya Dayr Hafir Douma Duraykish Fiq al-Haffah Harem Izra' Jableh Jarabulus Jisr ash-Shugur Maarat al-Numaan al-Malikiyah Manbij Masyaf Mayadin Mhardeh al-Mukharram al-Foqani an-Nabk Palmyra Qamishli Qardaha Qatana Qudsaya al-Qusayr al-Qutayfah Ra's al-'Ayn al-Rastan as-Safira Safita Salamiyah Salkhad al-Sanamayn Shahba ash-Shaykh Badr al-Suqaylabiyah Talkalakh al-Tall Tell Abyad al-Thawrah Yabrud Zabadani
Sub-district centres	Abu Qilqil Abu al-Thuhur Akhtarin Amuda Arbeen Arima al-Ariqah al-Arishah Armanaz Arwad al-Asharah Assal al-Ward Awj Ayn al-Fijah Ayn Halaqim Ayn Issa Ayn al-Nasr Babbila Banan Barri Sharqi Beit Jinn Binnish Bir al-Helu Bosra Bulbul Busayrah Da'el al-Dana Darat Izza Darkush al-Darbasiyah Deir Atiyah al-Dimas al-Dumayr Furqlus Ghabaghib Ghandoura al-Ghariyah al-Ghizlaniyah al-Hader Hadidah al-Hajar al-Aswad al-Hajib Hajin al-Hamidiyah al-Hamraa Harasta Harbnafsah Harran al-Awamid al-Hirak Hish Hisyah al-Hawl Huraytan al-Huwash Ibbin Samaan Ihsim Jayrud al-Jalaa al-Janudiyah Jaramana al-Jarniyah Jasim al-Jawadiyah Jubb al-Jarrah Jubb Ramlah Jindires al-Jiza al-Qabu Kafr Batna Kafr Nabl Kafr Takharim Kafr Zita al-Karamah al-Kasrah Kessab al-Khafsah Khan Shaykhun Khasham Kirnaz Kuwayris Sharqi Khanaser Khirbet Ghazaleh Khirbet al-Tin Mahmoud al-Kiswah Ma'arrat Misrin Maabatli Maadan Ma'loula Madaya Mahin Malah al-Malihah al-Mansurah Mare' Markada Mashta al-Helu Maskanah al-Masmiyah al-Mazraa Muhambal Muhasan al-Musayfirah al-Mushannaf Muzayrib al-Nashabiyah al-Nasirah Nawa Nubl al-Qadmus al-Qahtaniyah Qalaat al-Madiq Qarah al-Qaryatayn al-Qurayya Qurqania Rajo Rankus Rasm Harmil al-Imam al-Rai al-Riqama al-Ruhaybah al-Saan Saasaa Sabburah al-Sabe' Biyar al-Sabkhah Sadad Sahnaya Saidnaya Salqin Saraqib Sarmin Sarrin Sawran Sebei al-Shaddadah al-Shajara Shaqqa Sharran Shathah Shaykh al-Hadid al-Shaykh Maskin Shayukh Tahtani Shin Sinjar Sirghaya Slinfah Suluk al-Sur al-Surah al-Saghirah Suran al-Susah al-Sukhnah al-Tabni Talbiseh Taldou al-Tamanah Tasil Tell al-Daman Tell Hamis Tell Rifaat Tell Salhab Tell Tamer Tedef Thiban Uqayribat Urum al-Kubra Wadi al-Oyun al-Yaarubiyah al-Zurbah az-Ziyarah

Al-Hasakah Governorate
Capital: Al-Hasakah
	Al-Hasakah District Al-Hasakah Abu Hajirat Khuatana Abu Tinah al-Alwa al-Arishah Bir al-Helou Bureij Sharqi Dashishah Gharbiyah al-Fadghami al-Fakkah Markada Ghabshah al-Ghariri al-Haddadiyah al-Hajiyah al-Hawl Al-Kharitah Khatuniyah Markada Markada Sharqiyah Qaber Shamiyah al-Sabaa wa Arbain al-Saadah Safia al-Shaddadeh al-Shaykh Hamad Sumayhan Gharbi Tell Arboush Tell Balouaah Tell Baz Tell Beydar Tell Brak Tell Bureij Tell Damshij Tell Fuweidat Jazira Tell Goran Tell Hefyan Tell Hermez Tell Jazira Tell Jedaya Tell Jemaah Tell Kifji Tell Maghas Tell Majdal Tell Makhadah Tell Massas Tell Nasri Tell Ruman Tell Safouk Tell Sakra Tell Shamah Tell Shamiram Tell Tal Tell Talaah Tell Tamer Tell Tawil Tell Tawil Gharbi al-Tweinah Umm Ghargan Umm al-Keif Umm Madfaa
	Qamishli District Qamishli Amuda Jimaayah al-Manathirah al-Qahtaniyah al-Tannuriyah Tell Hamis Tell Maaruf Umm al-Fursan
	Al-Malikiyah District Al-Malikiyah al-Jawadiyah al-Muabbada Maashuq Sabaa Jafar Suwaydiyah Fawqani al-Tabaqah Tell Adas Tell Arab al-Yaarubiyah
	Ras al-Ayn District Ras al-Ayn Abu Rasin al-Darbasiyah al-Lid Dirbasiyah Mabrouka al-Manajir Tell Halaf Tell Sinan Sharqi Umm al-Dibs Dirbasiyah

Rojava articles
History	Syrian Civil War Rojava conflict History of human rights in Rojava Historic Background of Rojava History of the Kurds History of the Assyrians Archeological Tell Halaf Tell Barri Tell Brak Hamoukar Urkesh Chagar Bazar Tell Arbid Tell Leilan Carchemish Tell Taban Dūr-Katlimmu
Geography	Cantons Jazira Kobanî Afrin Shahba Syrian territories Towns Al-Hasakah Qamishli Manbij Tabqa Kobanî Afrin Ras al-Ayn Amuda Al-Malikiyah Tell Rifaat Al-Qahtaniyah Al-Shaddadah Al-Muabbada Tell Abyad Al-Sabaa wa Arbain Jandairis Al-Manajir Rmelan Kurd Mountains Khabur River
Politics	Libertarian socialism Libertarian municipalism Democratic Confederalism Jineology Constitution of Rojava Government of Rojava Human rights Foreign relations of Rojava Parliament Political parties Voting Police Sutoro Self-Defense Forces Syrian Democratic Forces People's Protection Units Syriac Military Council Army of Revolutionaries Al-Sanadid Forces
Economy	Economy of Rojava
Culture	Flag of Rojava Demographics of Rojava People Kurds Syrians Assyrians Turkmen Armenians Circassians Yazidis Bedouin Languages Northern Kurdish North Mesopotamian Arabic Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Turoyo Syrian Turkmen
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