Kurd Mountains


Kurd Mountains or Kurd-Dagh, is a highland region in northwestern Syria and southeastern Turkey. It is located in the Aleppo Governorate of Syria and Kilis Province of Turkey. The Kurd mountain should not be confused with the neighboring Jabal al Akrad which is located further southwest towards the mediterranean coastline.

Location and description

Kurd Mountains are part of the Limestone Massif of northwestern Syria. The mountains are a southern continuation into the Aleppo plateau of the highlands on the western part of the Aintab plateau. The valley of River Afrin surrounds Kurd Mountains from east and south and separates it from the plain of Aʻzāz and Mount Simeon to the east, and from Mount Harim to the south. The valley of River Aswad separates Mount Kurd from Mount Amanus to the west.
In Syria, it is among the four "ethnic mountains" of western Syria, along with al-Ansariyah mountains, Jabal Turkman and Jabal al-Duruz.
The main town is Afrin, in Syria. The area is known for its olive growing and charcoal production. The majority of the Kurd-Dagh population are Hanafi-Muslims, while most Syrian Kurds are Shafiite-Muslims. Yazidis also have a presence in the region.
The Sherefname asserts that the authority of Kurdish beys of the region was extended to localities in Antakya. In areas in the plains such as Islahiye, Kırıkhan, Reyhanlı, and Kilis, there are vestiges of Kurdish concentration in Kurd-Dagh.

Demographics

As the Kurd Dagh was governed by the French, several Kurdish tribes were living in the area. From the 1800s onwards, there have settled several Kurds from the Kurd Dagh to Aleppo. While other regions populated by Kurds in Syria faced an influx of Arab immigrants and the campaign of Arabization beginning in 1960s, Kurd-Dagh was spared from Arabization, mainly due to Syria's different policy based upon good relations with pro-Damascus landowners.

Etymology

In 1977 the Kurd Dagh was renamed into the Arabic Jabal al-`Uruba in accordance with decree 15801 which banned non-arabic place names.
The Turkish part was renamed officially as Kurt Dağı, with a pun on the Turkish words Kürt and kurt. In the Syrian part during the 1980s the Kurdish names of most of this region's villages were changed to Arabic as part of the process of Arabization.