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Arab Belt project
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arab Belt (Arabic: الحزام العربي, al-hizām al-ʿarabī; Kurdish: Kembera Erebî, کهمبهرا عهرهبی) was the Syrian Ba'athist government's project of Arabization of the north of the Al-Hasakah Governorate to change its ethnic composition of the population in favor of Arabs to the detriment of other ethnic groups, particularly Kurds.[3][4]
Quick Facts Date, Location ...
![]() Al-Hasakah Governorate highlighted in red | |
Date | 1973 – 1976 |
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Location | Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria |
Type | Forced deportations[1] |
Motive | Arab nationalism, Ba'athification |
Perpetrator | ![]() |
Organized by | ![]() ![]() |
Outcome |
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Target | Syrian Kurds |
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It involved the seizure of land which was then settled with Arabs displaced by the creation of Lake Assad. The programme was implemented in 1973; forcibly deporting around 140,000 Kurds and confiscating their lands around a 180-mile strip. Thousands of Arab settlers coming from Raqqa were then granted these lands to establish settlements.[5][2]