The Queiq ( Modern Standard Arabic : قُوَيْقٌ , Quwayq , [quˈwajq] ; northern Syrian Arabic : ʾWēʾ , [ʔwɛːʔ] ), with many variant spellings, it was known to the Greeks in antiquity as the Belus in ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Βήλος , Bēlos ), the Chalos and also known in English as the Aleppo River is an endorheic river and valley of the Aleppo Governorate , Syria and Turkey . It is a 129 kilometres (80 mi)-long river that flows through the northern Syrian city of Aleppo . It arises from the southern Aintab plateau in southeastern Turkey . The Akpınar River in the Kilis plain is one of the headwaters of the Queiq. The former town of Qinnasrin lay on its banks. It partly flows along the western rim of the Matah Depression . The valley has been occupied for thousands of years and in ancient times the Queiq valley was noted for its flint industries and pottery.
20-663: The river dried up completely in the late 1960s, due to irrigation projects on the Turkish side of the border . Recently, water from the Euphrates has been diverted to revive the dead river, and thus revive agriculture in the plains south of Aleppo, but many Syrians remain bitter towards the Turks over their handling of the river. To revive the river and build irrigation, the Tal Hasel Water Pumping Station
40-808: A number of clashes ; there has also been a substantial influx of refugees across the border to Turkey. Turkey began construction of a border barrier in 2014. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , around 471 Syrians civilians, including 86 children and 45 women, have been killed by the Turkish gendarmerie at the Syrian–Turkish border since the beginning of the Syrian civil war. From west to east, as of 28 December 2022. Bidama Bidama ( Arabic : بِدَامَا , romanized : Bidāmā ; also spelled Bdama and Badama )
60-541: Is a town in northern Syria , administratively part of the Idlib Governorate , located northwest of Idlib along the border with Turkey . Nearby localities include al-Najiyah to the southeast, Jisr al-Shughur to the east, Shughur al-Fuqani and al-Janudiyah to the northeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics , Bidama had a population of 4,162 in the 2004 census. The town
80-817: The Euphrates and reaching as far as the Tigris . Much of the border follows the Southern Turkish stretch of the Baghdad Railway , roughly along the 37th parallel between the 37th and 42nd eastern meridians. In the west, it almost surrounds the Turkish Hatay Province , partly following the course of the Orontes River and reaching the Mediterranean coast at the foot of Jebel Aqra . Since Turkey's 1939 appropriation of
100-820: The Hatay State , the Syrian–Turkish border now touches the Mediterranean coast at Ras al-Bassit , south of Mount Aqra ( 35°55′44″N 35°55′04″E / 35.9288°N 35.9178°E / 35.9288; 35.9178 ). Hatay province borders the Syrian Latakia and Idlib governorates. The westernmost (and southernmost) border crossing is at 35°54′18″N 36°00′36″E / 35.905°N 36.010°E / 35.905; 36.010 , some 3 km west of Yayladağı . The border reaches its southernmost point at 35°48′29″N 36°09′07″E / 35.808°N 36.152°E / 35.808; 36.152 , 2 km west of Bidama , to include
120-527: The OSCE (1973), its boundary with Syria also then formed an outer border of these organisations. Syria continued to claim Hatay province as part of Greater Syria , often depicting the region as part of Syria on official maps, though in recent decades their claims have been less pronounced. Since the Syrian Civil War broke out in 2011, tensions across the border have increased, and there have been
140-542: The Sanjak of Alexandretta , briefly became independent as the Hatay State in 1938, before being annexed by Turkey as Hatay Province in 1939. The Hatay section of the boundary was delimited in 1938 and then confirmed the following year, being marked on the ground by numerous pillars. Hatay was then formally transferred to Turkey on 23 July 1939. Syria gained independence in 1944, and the frontier then became one between two sovereign states; when Turkey joined NATO (1952) and
160-599: The Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey ( Arabic : الحدود السورية التركية , romanized : alhudud alsuwriat alturkia ; Turkish : Suriye–Türkiye sınırı ) is about 909 kilometres (565 mi) long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the tripoint with Iraq in the east. It runs across Upper Mesopotamia for some 400 kilometres (250 mi), crossing
180-644: The French-controlled Sanjak of Alexandretta (modern Hatay province). By the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres Anatolian Turkey was to be partitioned, with the Syrian-Turkish frontier placed further north than its current position. Turkish nationalists were outraged at the treaty, contributing to the outbreak the Turkish War of Independence ; the Turkish success in this conflict rendered Sèvres obsolete. A new border more favourable to Turkey
200-493: The Syrian-Turkish frontier was delimited more precisely between Meidan Ekbis and Nusaybin in 1926, and between Nusaybin and the tripoint with Iraq in 1929. A Final Delimitation Protocol covering the entire boundary east of Hatay was then confirmed and deposited with the League of Nations on 3 May 1930. A special case was what is now Turkey's Hatay province, which remained autonomous until 1923, then became part of Syria as
220-596: The border passes the border town of Nusaybin in the Turkish Mardin Province (ancient Nisibis , the birthplace of Ephraim the Syrian ), next to Syrian Qamishli . The Syrian Aleppo Governorate has a 221 kilometres (137 mi) long northern boundary with the Turkish Kilis , Gaziantep , and Şanlıurfa provinces. On the Turkish side, the European route E90 runs alongside the length of
SECTION 10
#1732772646181240-502: The border town of Kobanî (Ayn al Arab) (built in 1912 as part of the Baghdad Railway construction project). The Raqqa Governorate 's Tell Abyad District borders the Turkish Şanlıurfa Province , including the divided border town of Tell Abyad / Akçakale . The Al-Hasakah Governorate , still bordering Şanlıurfa Province , has a border crossing at Ras al-Ayn , connecting to Ceylanpınar . Some 100 km east of Ceylanpınar,
260-520: The border, crossing the Euphrates at Birecik and the Tigris at Cizre . For the final 30 km the border follows the course of the Tigris, turning towards the south-east, until it reaches the Iraq-Syria-Turkey tripoint at 37°06′22″N 42°21′18″E / 37.106°N 42.355°E / 37.106; 42.355 . At the start of the 20th century the entire border region
280-679: The exception of Hatay province, the Turkish side of the border is entirely within the Southeastern Anatolia Region . East of Meidan Ekbis, the border stretches eastward for some 400 km, roughly following the 37th parallel north and passing the 37th to 42nd meridians. From Al-Rai to Nusaybin / Qamishli , the border follows the tracks of the Konya-Baghdad Railway . It crosses the Euphrates River at Jarabulus / Karkamış and passes north of
300-848: The now-abandoned village of Topraktutan (Beysun) in Hatay. The border now runs north and east, following the Orontes River for a part of its course, where in 2011 construction of a Syria–Turkey Friendship Dam began (but has since been delayed due to the Syrian Civil War), and east to the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing on the İskenderun – Aleppo road, then further north to the border between Hatay and Gaziantep Province , where it turns sharply east outside of Meidan Ekbis ( Afrin District ), at 36°49′48″N 36°39′54″E / 36.830°N 36.665°E / 36.830; 36.665 . With
320-437: The river. Youssef Horan, a lawyer and activist, with his team of volunteers have gathered information on the murders at the time. The Syrian Institute for Justice headed at the time by Abdulkader Mandou, also investigated the case and held a press conference. 36°11′16″N 37°8′24.5″E / 36.18778°N 37.140139°E / 36.18778; 37.140139 Syria%E2%80%93Turkey border The border between
340-428: The tape across mouth. Nearly all the victims were in their twenties (not older than 30) who had recently crossed the border line from rebel-controlled neighbourhood into the government one. The blame for murders was widely put on Bashar al-Assad 's regime as the bodies usually came downstream from the government controlled area. Between February and mid-March 2013, between 80 and 120 additional bodies were recovered from
360-478: Was drawn by the Franco-Turkish Treaty of Ankara in 1921 after negotiations between French Prime Minister Aristide Briand and Turkish Foreign Minister Yusuf Kemal Bey . By the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne Turkey's independence was recognised and a far more generous territorial settlement was agreed upon, albeit at the cost of Turkey formally renouncing any claim to Arab lands. Following Lausanne,
380-626: Was opened in 2008 in rural Aleppo. The station was restored and made operational again in July 2022, after "it went out of service in 2012 after the occupation of the area by terrorist organizations, which completely destroyed the plant." In late January 2013 during the Syrian civil war over 100 dead bodies were shored up from or floating in the river in rebel-held parts of Bustan al-Qasr district, Aleppo . They were typically found with hands tied behind their backs and having gunshot wounds in their heads with
400-722: Was part of the Ottoman Empire . During the First World War , an Arab Revolt (supported by the British) successfully ousted the Ottomans from Syria and Mesopotamia , however Britain and France had secretly agreed to partition the area between them in 1916 via the Sykes–Picot Agreement . In 1920 Syria formally became a French mandatory territory , being initially split into a number of states, including
#180819