Al-Hasakah Governorate

Al -Hasakah (Arabic الحسكة, DMG al -Hasakah, Syriac Aramaic ܓ ܨ ܪ ܛ ܐ, kurd. Hesiça ) is a Syrian province on the border with Turkey and Iraq with an area of ​​23,334 km ² and a population of about 1.4 million people (2008).

The population consists mainly of Kurds and Assyrians / Syrians. There are also some Armenian communities and Arabs. Capital is al -Hasakah, the largest city is Qamishli, more cities are amude, Derbasiah, Qahtaniye and Ra's al-' Ayn.

From Kurdish nationalists, the government is referred to as "West Kurdistan " and attributed to the home country of the Kurdish region in much of which is claimed by the Kurdish opposition in Syria for an autonomy similar to that of Kurdistan Autonomous Region. However, some Arabs feared the creation of a separate state.

History

In the region there are numerous tells, some of which were inhabited from the Stone Age to Roman times. These include Tell Brak, Tell Halaf and the extreme northeast Hamoukar.

1933 settled on the river Khabur 30,000 Assyrian refugees who fled before the abduction and attacks by extremists in Iraq. Order and in al - Malkiyye in the extreme northeast are two historic churches. The current as shrine Syrian Orthodox Church of the Holy Virgin was known in 1955 through the miracle of the holy water. The Church of the Holy Virgin in Barabaida is visited as a pilgrimage every year on 15 May by Christian pilgrims.

Between living in the province Kurds and the government security forces, there are often tensions. Finally, it came in March 2004 political unrest in Qamishli and environment after riots at a football game between Arab Baath supporters and Kurds escalated.