Kurd Mountain

{{Short description|Upland area in Syria and Turkey}} {{Distinguish|Jabal al-Akrad}} {{more citations needed|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Kurd Mountain | other_name = Kurd Dagh, Çîyayê Kurmênc, Çîyayê Kurdan | image = تلال جبل حلب.JPG | image_caption = Hills of the Kurd Mountain in Afrin | map = Syria | mapframe = yes  | highest = | highest_location = | elevation = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | elevation_ref = | elevation_system = | prominence = | prominence_m = | prominence_ft = | prominence_ref = | parent_peak = | isolation = | isolation_km = | isolation_mi = | isolation_parent = | isolation_ref = | listing = | coordinates = {{coord|36|40|N|36|46|E|display=inline,title|region:SY_type:mountain_source:dewiki}} | coordinates_ref =  | length = | length_km = | length_mi = | length_orientation = | length_ref = | width = | width_km = | width_mi = | width_orientation = | width_ref = | area = | area_km2 = | area_mi2 = | area_ref = | volume = | volume_km3 = | volume_mi3 = | volume_ref =  | etymology = Named after the Kurmanji-speaking Kurdish population | nickname = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | translation = Mountain of the Kurmanj | pronunciation = | authority =  | location = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg}} Syria: Afrin District<br>{{flag|Turkey}}: Kilis Province | country_type = | country = {{hlist|Syria|Turkey}} | state_type = | state = | region_type = | region = {{hlist|Aleppo Governorate|Kilis Province}} | district_type = | district = Afrin District | part_type = | part = | settlement_type = | settlement = Afrin | range_coordinates = | range_coordinates_ref = | range = Limestone Massif | borders_on = Aintab plateau, Mount Harim, Mount Amanus, Aleppo plateau | grid_ref_UK = | grid_ref_UK_ref = | grid_ref_Ireland = | grid_ref_Ireland_ref = | topo_maker = | topo_map = | biome =  | formed_by = | orogeny = | age = | type = Highland | geology = Limestone | volcanic_zone = | volcanic_arc = | volcanic_belt = | volcanic_field = | volcanic_arc/belt = | last_eruption =  | first_ascent = | easiest_route = | normal_route = | access =  | embedded = | module = }}

'''Kurd Mountain''' or '''Kurd Dagh''' ({{Langx|ku|Çîyayê Kurmênc}};<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=عبدو علي |first=محمد |title=جبال الكرد: دراسة جغرافية شاملة |year=2014 |edition=1st |location=Afrin |pages=145 |language=ar}}</ref> {{langx|ar|جبل الأكراد|jabal al-ʾakrād}}; {{langx|tr|Kürt Dağı}}, officially {{lang|tr|Kurt Dağı}}) 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 in Latakia Governorate.

==Location and description== Kurd Mountain is a part of the Limestone Massif of northwestern Syria. The mountain is 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 Mountain 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.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

The main town is Afrin (Efrîn in Kurdish), in Syria. The area is known for its olive growing and charcoal production.

== Demographics == The district (Kaza) of Kurd Dagh had a population of 21,823 in the census of the State of Aleppo in 1922.<ref>{{Cite book |last=الغزي |first=كامل بن حسين بن محمد بن مصطفى البالي الحلبي |title=نهر الذهب فى تاريخ حلب |publisher=دار القلم، حلب |edition=الثانية، 1419 هـ |pages=258 p.2 |language=ar}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" !Male !Female !Total |- | align="right" |10,434 | align="right" |11,389 |21,823 |} When the Kurd Dagh was governed by the French, several Kurdish tribes were living in the area.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tejel|first=Jordi|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|date=2008-08-29|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-09643-5|pages=9|language=en}}</ref> From the 1800s onwards, several group of Kurds have migrated from the Kurd Dagh to Aleppo.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tejel|first=Jordi|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|date=2008-08-29|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-09643-5|pages=11|language=en}}</ref> In the 1930s, Kurdish Alevis fled persecution by the Turkish Armed Forces during the Dersim Massacre, settling in Mabeta.<ref name="derStandard">{{Cite web|url=https://apps.derstandard.at/privacywall/2000076385176/Angriff-auf-Afrin-Vertreibung-vom-Berg-der-Kurden|title=derStandard.at|website=DER STANDARD|access-date=2021-01-22|archive-date=2022-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706064125/https://apps.derstandard.at/privacywall/2000076385176/Angriff-auf-Afrin-Vertreibung-vom-Berg-der-Kurden|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Religion=== The majority of the Kurd-Dagh population are Sunni Hanafi-Muslims, while most Syrian Kurds are Sunni Shafiite-Muslims. Yazidis also have a presence in the region.<ref>{{cite book |last=Açikyildiz |first=Birgül |date=23 December 2014 |title=The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ql4BAwAAQBAJ |location=London, UK |publisher=I.B. Tauris |page=63 |isbn=978-1848852747}}</ref>

There used to be a Sufi community<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pinto |first1=Paulo |title=Kurdish Sufi Spaces of Rural-Urban. Connection in Northern Syria |url=https://journals.openedition.org/etudesrurales/9290?lang=en |website=Études rurales |access-date=30 December 2025 |pages=149–168 |doi=10.4000/etudesrurales.9290 |date=29 March 2010 |quote=in the Kurd Dagh and the Kurdish community of Aleppo, the Rifa’iyya also has a strong presence.}}</ref> before the Syrian Civil War.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sufism in Afrin |url=https://www.zachariahhopkins.com/kurdish_research/podcast_pages/Sufism_in_Afrin.html |website=www.zachariahhopkins.com |access-date=30 December 2025 |location=Web |language=en |quote=Afrin's Kurd Dagh region before 2010 was a significant center for Sufism…Ultimately, these sources paint a picture of a vibrant Sufi landscape in Afrin prior to the upheaval of the Syrian Civil War.}}</ref>

== Etymology == Kurd Mountain is known locally as '''Çîyayê Kurmênc''' meaning “Mountain of the Kurmanj” after the name of the spoken dialect in the region called Kurmanji, which is one of the Kurdish language dialects.<ref name=":0"/>

320px|thumb|left|map of the Ottoman Vilayet of Aleppo showing Kurd Dagh under name of كرد طاغى, ''Kurd Dağ.'' The name of the mountain was mentioned in Arabic sources as '''Jabal al-Akrad''' meaning “Kurd mountain”, then with the rule of the Ottoman Empire the name was translated into the Ottoman Turkish to كرد طاغ (''Kurd Dağ'') in the sense of "Kurd Mountain" derived from the Turkish word طاغ - Dağ, which means Mountain. The form Kurd Dagh was used in the official Ottoman documents and remained in official circulation during the French era until the end of the first decade of Syria's independence, until the Syrian government adopted the form Jabal al-Akrad again. However, in the years of unity between Egypt and Syria, the name of Jabal al-Akrad was removed. And in 1977 the mountain was renamed to جبل العروبة ''Jabal al-`Uruba'' meaning “Mountain of Arabism” in accordance with decree 15801, which banned Kurdish names. And then it was renamed "Mount Aleppo" and the name Jabal al-Akrad remained circulating in textbooks as a geographical name.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State policies and military actions continue to threaten further displacement |url=https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/syria-overview-nov2011.pdf |access-date=20 July 2020 |website=Relief Web |page=7}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Jabal al-Akrad was attested in the book of ''Dhikrayati ean bilad 'alf laylat walayla'' of the French commercial attaché in Aleppo between the years 1548-1556,<ref>''Mawsūʻat Ḥalab al-muqāranah''، Khayr al-Din al-Asadi, s. 3 p. 240</ref> as well as in Konstantin Bazili's book, ''Syria and Palestine Under Ottoman Rule'' (1861) on the events of the end of Ibrahim Pasha's occupation of the areas of Kurd Mountain.<ref>Suriyah wa-Filastin Tahta al-Hukm al-Uthmani, Konstantin Mikhailovich Bazili, p. 186</ref>

The Turkish part was renamed officially as ''Kurt Dağı'' ('Wolf Mountain'), with a pun on the Turkish words ''Kürt'' ('Kurd') and ''kurt'' ('wolf').{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

==See also==

*Yazidism in Syria *Yazidism in Turkey

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Mountain ranges of Syria Category:Mountain ranges of Turkey Category:Landforms of Kilis Province Category:Geography of Aleppo Governorate Category:Geography of Turkish Kurdistan Category:Afrin District Category:Sufism in Syria