Bayırbucak
Bayirbucak (Turkish: Bayırbucak) is a region in the Latakia District of the northern Latakia Governorate in northwestern Syria. There is a considerable Syrian Turkmen presence in the area who have strong cultural and historical ties with Turkey.[1][2]
Bayirbucak's most distinctive mountain is Turkmen Mountain (Arabic: جبل تركمان; Jabal Turkman,[3] Turkish: Türkmen Dağı)
Etymology
Bayirbucak is a Turkish exonym, and not the official name for the region, which is Al-Rabiaa subdistrict. The word Bayırbucak comes from two different words in Turkish: bayır (en: hillside) and bucak (en: district). According to Ottoman archival documents, Bayir was the official name of the district (nahiye) in the Ottoman period.[4]
Notable events
On 24 November 2015, two Turkish F-16s shot down one of two Russian Su-24 fighter jets, which violated Turkish airspace while in an operation to attack a Turkmen rebel militia in Bayirbucak. One Russian pilot was killed by Turkmen forces under the command of Alparslan Çelik.[5][6][7]
Heavy Russian aerial bombardments during the 2015–16 Latakia offensive resulted in a very difficult situation in the Bayirbucak Turkmen regions, causing almost all Syrian Turkmens to flee the region to Turkey. The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad began a policy of settling Alawites into the houses of Turkmen civilians who had fled the region.[8]
References
- ^ "Türkmen Dağı'nda Bayırbucak'ta neler oluyor". En Son Haber (in Turkish). 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ "The Turkmens of Bayırbucak". Hürriyet Daily News. 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ "جبل التركمان.. الأهمية الإستراتيجية والرهانات الإقليمية". aljazeera (in Arabic). 25 November 2015.
- ^ Winter, Stefan (2016). A History of the 'Alawis: From Medieval Syria to the Turkish Republic. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691173894.pp. 131, 145
- ^ "Türkmendağı". Kalemiyet (in Turkish). 2015-12-11. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ Karadeniz, Tülay & Maria Kiselyova (2015-11-25). "Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syria border, Putin warns of 'serious consequences'". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ "Turkey shoots down Russian jet for airspace violation near Syrian border". Hürriyet Daily News. 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ "Russia, Assad regime continue to pound Turkmen Mountain area". aa.com.tr. 15 January 2016.