Azaz
أَعْزَاز | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 36°35′10″N 37°02′41″E / 36.5861°N 37.0447°E | |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | Aleppo |
District | Azaz |
Subdistrict | Azaz |
Control | Turkey Syrian Interim Government |
Elevation | 560 m (1,840 ft) |
Population (2004) | |
• Total | 31,623 |
Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | +3 |
Azaz (Arabic: أَعْزَاز, romanized: ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly 20 miles (32 kilometres) north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 at the 2004 census.[1] As of 2015[update], its inhabitants were almost entirely Sunni Muslims, mostly Arabs but also some Kurds and Turkmen.[2]
It is historically significant as the site of the Battle of Azaz between the Crusader States and the Seljuk Turks on June 11, 1125. It is close to a Syria–Turkey border crossing, which enters Turkey at Öncüpınar, south of the city of Kilis. It is the capital of the Syrian Interim Government.[3]