Kifri کفری Kifrî | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 View over Kifri | |
  Kifri Location in Iraqi Kurdistan | |
| Coordinates:34°41′0″N44°58′0″E / 34.68333°N 44.96667°E /34.68333; 44.96667 | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Governorate |  Kurdistan Region |
| Autonomous region | Sulaymaniyah |
| Elevation | 282 m (925 ft) |
| Population (2014)[1] | |
• Total | 32,870 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 |
Kifri (Arabic:کفري;[2]Kurdish:کفری,romanized: Kifrî;[3][4]Turkish:Kifri[5]) is the central town ofKifri District inDiyala Governorate,Iraq. It has a mixed population ofArabs,Kurds andTurkmen.[6][7] It is under de facto administration byKurdistan Region, but remains adisputed area claimed by the central government.[8][9]
Kifri was known to have oil as early as the 1820s.[10]James Buckingham visited Kifri in the 1820s. He described the town as clean and moderately large, estimating its population at 3,000. Buckingham also described the town as having furnished bazaars with excellent fruit, especially melons and grapes. Kifri had a cookshop selling kebabs, roast meat and sausages, and one coffee-house.[11]
Kifri, which was also known as Salahiye during the Ottoman era,[12] was part of theOttoman Empire until theUnited Kingdom captured the town in April 1918 during theMesopotamian campaign.[13] During the capture, 565 Ottoman prisoners and onemountain gun were captured.[14] The local Kurds were supportive of the British and were described as very hostile to the Ottomans.[15] Britain briefly lost control over the town for two days during therevolt of 1920 to the local tribes. Captain G. H. Salmon was killed during the tribal takeover.[16]
The locals of Kifri did not support theMahmud Barzanji revolts causingMahmud Barzanji not to push for the inclusion of the town into his jurisdiction.[17] In 1921, the town was included in the plans ofWinston Churchill in creating an independentKurdistan which would work as a bulwark againstTurkey.[18]
Under theBritish Mandate of Iraq, theTurkoman language was an official language in Kifri under Article 5 of the Language Act of 1930, due to the town's significant Turkmen population.[19]
British data stated that Kurds constituted 67% and 60% of the population in the town in 1924 and 1931, respectively, while the remaining population was Arab and Turkmen.[7] However, the town was not included in the 1931 British-Iraqi 'Local Languages Law' initiative which would have made Kurdish an official language in the town for arbitrary reasons.[20] 70% of the population was Kurdish in the Iraqi census of 1947.[21]
Iraq's first two Turkmen schools were opened on November 17, 1993, one inErbil and the other in Kifri.[22]
While it was previously part ofKirkuk Governorate, it was attached toDiyala Governorate in 1976 as part of theArabization efforts by Iraq.[6]
The town was quickly captured by Kurdish rebels (Peshmerga) in March 1991 during anuprising that began that month.[23] In October 1991, heavy fighting took place between Iraqi forces andPeshmerga after the former had started shelling the town indiscriminately, prompting about 1,000 Kurds to flee towardSulaymaniyah.[24][25] Iraqi forces would ultimately fail at recapturing the town[26] and Kifri would be included in the autonomous Kurdistan Region when established in May 1992, despite being part ofDiyala Governorate.[6]
The town experienced deadly clashes between thePatriotic Union of Kurdistan and theKurdistan Islamic Movement in December 1993 which quickly spread to other towns in the region. 18 KIM members were killed on 28 December only.[27]
Despite being the southernmost point of the autonomous region, the town remained calm for over a decade until April 2003 when theUS military shelled the outskirts of the town during theUS-led invasion of Iraq, forcing the Iraqi Army to retreat southward.[28] In April 2005, a mass grave from theAnfal genocide was discovered in the town.[29] In September 2005, residents of Kifri demanded to be reincorporated into Kirkuk Governorate to reverse the Arabization policy of 1976.[30]
In July 2020, Iraqi and Kurdish forces agreed to jointly run the area south of the town despite recurring tensions.[8][9]
AJewish community existed in Kifri for decades until theexodus toIsrael in the 1950s. While the Jewish population in Kifri was only six in 1826, it grew to 15 households in 1845 with onesynagogue located in the town. The number of Jews was 30 households in 1859 and 50 people in 1884. The population grew steadily by the turn of the century to 300 people in 1906, 540 in 1924 and 722 in 1931.[7][31]
Eski Kifri (lit. ‘Old Kifri’ in Turkish) is a large and extensive site situated some eight kilometers south-west of Kifri.[32] In the 19th century,Claudius Rich found artefacts at the site dating to theSasanian andMiddle Assyrian periods, including a fortified complex, jar and vessel.[33][34][35]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)The town of Kufree, or Kiffree, is seated on a plain, at the termination of the line of bare hills, described on our way from Baiaat to this place, and extending throughout the whole distance between them. The town is moderately large, and is enclosed within a wall, which, as well as the buildings within its enclosure, is constructed of mud, hardened by pebbles being imbedded in it. There is a stream of clear water which runs within the wall, on the east; and this is distributed by small canals through the central parts of the town, contributing to the cleanliness of the place, and the convenience of its inhabitants. The wall of the town, near which this stream begins to run, has a high parapet, or breast-work, ...[the population] of Kiffree being estimated at three thousand... pierced with loop-holes for musketry; and the platform of this is ascended to by narrow flights of steps, but there were no cannon planted in any part of it. The bazars are very mean in appearance, though they are furnished with a sufficiency of provisions, and particularly with excellent fruit, among which melons and grapes are the best and most abundant. There is a good cook-shop, at which kebubs, or roasted meat and sausages can be procured; and though there is only one coffee-house in the place, this is adequate to the supply of all the idlers and passengers through the town.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)| International | |
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