Al-Rai, Syria

Al-Rai (Arabic: الراعي, al-Ra'i or al-Rayi; Turkish: Çobanbey), is a small town in northern Aleppo Governorate, northern Syria. With 4,609 inhabitants, as per the 2004 census, al-Rai is the administrative center of the sparsely populated Nahiya al-Rai.^[1] Located on the Istanbul-Baghdad Railway and close to the Turkish border, right across Elbeyli, it is however a strategically important village. The town of Akhtarin, some 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) to the southwest. Larger towns are Azaz, some 35 kilometers (22 mi) to the west, and Jarablus and Manbij, both some 45 kilometers (28 mi) to the east.

Al-Rai الراعي
Town
Al-Rai Location of Al-Rai in Syria
Coordinates: 36°36′43″N 37°26′48″E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Aleppo
District	al-Bab
Subdistrict	al-Rai
Control	Turkey Syrian Interim Government
Population  (2004)[1]	4,609
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Geocode	C1250

Prior to the Syrian Civil War, the town was inhabited primarily by Turkmen.^[2] These Turkmens belong to the Elbegli tribe.^[3]

Railway

The Al-Rai Railway Border Gate which had been closed since 1981, was reopened on 22 December 2009 after the 62 km line between Aleppo and Al-Rai was renewed. The opening ceremony was attended by the transport ministers of Turkey and Syria, Binali Yıldırım and Yaarub Bader.^[4]

Education

Education under Turkish occupation (2016–present)

On 3 February 2021, a shoemaking and tailoring workshop for prisoners was established in collaboration between Turkish-Dutch NGO Sumud and Turkey's Ministry of Youth and Sports.^[5]

On 6 February 2021, Official Gazette of Turkey announced Turkey's plan to open a new health care vocational school and a medical faculty in Al-Rai.^[6][7] Syrian Foreign Ministry expressed their objection through Syria's official news agency SANA, and named the decision "a dangerous act and a flagrant violation of international law".^[8]

Syrian Civil War

Main articles: Northern Aleppo offensive (March–June 2016) and Battle of al-Rai (August 2016)

In the Syrian Civil War, al-Rai was captured by Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces and held until early February 2014, when the FSA-allies the Al-Tawhid Brigade and Conquest Brigade were assaulted by a predominantly Chechen unit of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, (ISIL) who seized the town on 3 February 2014.^[9]

Since then, ISIL considered the town its main stronghold in the Aleppo countryside.^[10] In the course of their Northern Aleppo offensive, FSA units captured the town twice in April 2016 and in June 2016, but both times were not able to withstand counterattacks by ISIL. The FSA recaptured the town a third time in the August 2016 Battle of al-Rai, but lost it yet another time to an ISIL counterattack later in August.^[11][12] On 3 September 2016, rebels were reported to have recaptured the town for the fourth time with the help of Turkish forces (including tanks) and to have seized several villages close by.^[13][14]

Syrian Turkmen Brigades' political wing Syrian Turkmen Assembly announced the relocation of its headquarters into Al-Rai on 31 December 2019, which was previously located in Istanbul, Turkey.^[15]

Gallery

• 
  al-Rai is the administrative center of Nahiya al-Rai of the Al-Bab District
• 
  Al-Rai Council of Syrian Turkmen Assembly

See also

• Talal Silo, Syrian Democratic Forces commander originating from Al-Rai

References

1. "2004 Census Data for Nahiya al-Rai" (in Arabic). Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Also available in English: UN OCHA. "2004 Census Data". Humanitarian Data Exchange.
2. Günümüzde Suriye Türkmenleri (in Turkish) - Suriye’de Değişimin Ortaya Çıkardığı Toplum: Suriye Türkmenleri. ORSAM Rapor № 83. ORSAM – Ortadoğu Türkmenleri Programı Rapor № 14. Ankara — November 2011.
3. Pürlü, Kadir. "Sivaslıların yarısını ilgilendiren bir konu! İlbeyli Aşireti". Retrieved 13 January 2023.
4. "Turkey / Syria: the 3rd Railway Border Gate has opened". UIC eNews. International Union of Railways. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
5. "Shoe-making, tailoring workshop established in Syria's north". Daily Sabah. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
6. "Presidential Decision" (PDF). T.C. Resmî Gazete (in Turkish). 6 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
7. "Turkey to open schools in war-torn Syria". Arab News. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
8. "Syria rejects Turkish regime decision to open faculty and institute in al-Raei town, northern Aleppo". Syrian Arab News Agency. 7 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
9. Charles R. Lister (2015). The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency. Oxford University Press. p. 203. ISBN 9780190462475.
10. "Turkish military hits Daesh position in Syria". Yeni Şafak. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
11. Keating, Fiona (27 August 2016). "Isis recaptures Syrian border town al-Rai after defeat in Jarablus by Turkish-backed rebels". International Business Times. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
12. Charkatli, Izat (27 August 2016). "ISIS recaptures Al-Rai following massive attack". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 2016-08-27. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
13. Umit, Ozdal (2016-09-04). "Turkish tanks roll into Syria, opening new line of attack". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
14. "Syrian rebels advance on symbolic IS-held town of Dabiq". BBC News. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
15. "Turkmen Council moves its office into Syria". North Press Agency. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.