Country Syria Time zone EET (UTC+2) Administrative center Kobanî | Governorate Aleppo Area code +963 21 | |
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De facto Administration Federation of Northern Syria - Rojava Autonomy declared January 27, 2014 (2014-01-27) | ||
Kobanî Canton (Kurdish: Kantona Kobaniyê) is the central of four cantons of de facto autonomous Rojava in northern Syria, factually comprising Ayn al-Arab District of the Aleppo Governorate, Tell Abyad District of the Raqqa Governorate, and the westernmost tip of Nahiya Ras al-Ayn of the Ras al-Ayn District of Al-Hasakah Governorate. Kobanî Canton unilaterally declared autonomy in January 2014 and since de facto is under direct democratic government in line with the polyethnic Constitution of Rojava.
Contents
The cantonal capital city is Kobanî, which was under siege between October 2014 and January 2015 by ISIL.
Geography
The canton is bordered by Euphrates river to the west, Urfa Province of Turkey to the north, Jazira Canton to the east, Raqqa and Al-Thawrah Districts of the Raqqa Governorate of Syria to the south. At latitude approximately 36 and a half degrees north, its landscape consists of plains and low hills, rivers being Euphrates and Balikh. Part of the Fertile Crescent, its climate is mostly "warm mediterranean" on the Köppen climate classification, as opposed to the colder, semi-arid regions in its and further to the south and east.
Demographics
The current population of Kobanî Canton is unknown due to substantial refugee movements; however, the population of the territory prior to 2014 was estimated at roughly 400,000, with an ethnic Kurdish majority. Due to intense fighting at least three-quarters of the population fled across the border to Turkey in 2014; however, many returned in 2015.
Cities and towns with more than 10.000 inhabitants according to the 2004 Syrian census are Kobanî (44,821) and Tell Abyad (14,825).
History
The present Kurdish populated area on the left bank of the Euphrates was settled by Kurdish tribes at the beginning of the 17th century. In modern post-independence Syria, the Kurdish society of the region was subject to heavy-handed Arabization policies by the Damascus government. In the course of the Syrian Civil War and the Rojava conflict, Damascus government forces withdrew from the area, and on 27 January 2014 an autonomous Kobanî Canton under the Constitution of Rojava was declared and institutions established.
In July 2013, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) began to forcibly displace Kurdish civilians from towns in Raqqa Governorate. After demanding that all Kurds leave Tell Abyad or else be killed, thousands of civilians, including Turkmens and Arabs, fled on 21 July. Its fighters looted and destroyed the property of Kurds, and in some cases, resettled displaced Sunni Arab families from the an-Nabek District (Rif Damascus), Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, in abandoned Kurdish homes. A similar pattern was documented in Tel Arab and Tal Hassel in July 2013. As ISIL consolidated its authority in Raqqa, Kurdish civilians were forcibly displaced from Tel Akhader, and from the immediate Kobanî area, in March and September 2014, respectively.
Kobanî Canton has seen fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) since 2014. In September 2014, ISIL launched a major assault against Kobanî Canton, seizing more than 100 Kurdish villages. As a consequence of the ISIL occupation, up to 200,000 Kurdish refugees fled from the Kobanî Canton to Turkey, allowed in only under the condition that they leave vehicles or livestock behind. While committing massacres and kidnapping womenen the seized villages, ISIL forces were not able to occupy the entire canton, as the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Women's Protection Units (YPJ) forces successfully put up stiff resistance in the city of Kobanî. After weeks of isolation as a result of Turkey blocking arms and fighters from entering the city, the US-led coalition finally began to target the ISIL assault forces with airstrikes. This move helped the YPG/YPJ to force ISIL to retreat from the city, and much of the surrounding region was retaken by Kurdish forces. After the successful summer 2015 Tell Abyad offensive of YPG/YPJ forces against ISIL, municipalities there voted to join the autonomous Kobanî Canton administration, creating the canton in its contemporary shape.
Politics and administration
Kobanî's Legislative Assembly has appointed a president, two deputies and 22 ministers to rule Kobanî Canton. Its prime minister is Enver Müslim. According to the constitutional Charter of the Social Contract, the Kobanî Canton's Legislative Assembly on its 27 January 2014 session declared autonomy. The assembly elected Enver Müslim prime minister, who appointed Bêrîvan Hesen and Xalid Birgil his deputies. The government is lobbying for a humanitarian corridor, and the creation of new refugee camps inside Syria, where they can help with rebuilding.
Economy
The economy of the canton is mainly based on agriculture, with the invention of greenhouse agriculture since the constitution of Kobanî Canton.
While there is no significant industrial area in Kobanî Canton, there is a notably large number of cement production facilities.
Electricity is supplied by Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, within Kobanî Canton; apart from that, electricity is produced by diesel generators.
Around the canton, but in particular in the city of Kobanî, economic priorities are the continuing war and reconstruction, including help for returning refugees. Most of the city and surrounding villages have been destroyed or badly damaged, and there is a danger of landmines. As of January 2017, in spite off the paucity of resources available and the embargoes imposed on the region, the rebuilding process has made considerable progress; over 70% of damaged roads have been restored, two hospitals rebuilt and another two added, and the 15 schools rebuilt now host over 50,000 students.
Education
Like in the other Rojava cantons, primary education in public schools is initially instructed according to each student's mother tongue, be it Kurdish or Arabic. Students then begin to learn their second language of Kurdish or Arabic, as well as additional instruction of English. This is due to Rojava's stated goal of students achieving bilingualism in both Kurdish and Arabic by secondary schooling. Curricula are a topic of continuous debate between the cantons' Boards of Education and the Syrian central government in Damascus, which partly pays the teachers. With Kobanî Canton being home to a Syrian Turkmen minority, school education bilingual in Turkish and Arabic has also been made available.
The federal, cantonal and local administrations in Rojava put much emphasis on promoting libraries and educational centers, to facilitate learning and social and artistic activities. One cited example is the May 2016 established Rodî û Perwîn Library in Kobani.
Kobanî Canton has no institution of higher education.