Bizaah

Bizaah بزاعة
Town
Bizaah Location of Bizaah in Syria
Coordinates: 36°22′51″N 37°33′54″E
Country	Syria
Governorate	Aleppo
District	al-Bab
Subdistrict	al-Bab
Control	Turkey Syrian Interim Government
Population  (2004)[1]	12,718
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Geocode	C1188

B'zaah (Arabic: بزاعة) is a town located 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the city of al-Bab in northern-central Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. It is administratively part of Nahiya al-Bab in al-Bab District. The town is inhabited by Turkmen^[2] and had a population of 12,718 as per the 2004 census.^[1]

History

During the Roman Empire the town was known as Beselatha, which became Buza'a in the Middle Ages.^[3]

Medieval era

Located on the road to Aleppo, Bizaah was captured by the Crusaders during several attempts to siege the main city. The first was in early 1119, when Roger of Antioch captured it from the Turkoman prince Ilghazi of Mardin.^[4] While the second was in 1138, during the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos campaign in Syria. It was later captured by the Ayyubid dynasty under the Kurdish ruler Saladin.^[5]

Syrian Civil War

Demonstration in Bizaah in support of the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.

During the Syrian Civil War in the summer of 2013 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria had a presence in the town and by mid-November 2013, was in full control of the town. On 23 February 2017, the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army and other affiliated rebels captured the town.^[6][7]

Notable people

• Sayf Balud, Syrian Turkmen rebel^[8]

References

1. "2004 Census Data for Nahiya al-Bab" (in Arabic). Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics. Also available in English: UN OCHA. "2004 Census Data". Humanitarian Data Exchange.
2. Suriye'de Değişimin Ortaya Çıkardığı Toplum: Suriye Türkmenleri (PDF) (Report) (in Turkish). ORSAM. 14 November 2011. p. 13. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
3. Batnai, Tell Batnan at Imperium.
4. Runciman 1987, p. 134.
5. Runciman 1987, p. 215.
6. "The "Islamic State" organization withdraws from Bzaah and Qabasin and inspection operations continue in al-Bab city and kill 7 fighters in mine explosion". SOHR. 2017-02-23. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
7. "ISIS in full-scale retreat as the Turkish Army seizes two large towns neighboring Al-Bab". Al-Masdar News. 23 February 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
8. Muhammad al-Binshi (2 October 2020). "Turkey Sends Syrian Rebels to Azerbaijan to Face Off Against Putin's Armenian Allies". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 3 October 2020.

Bibliography

• Runciman, Steven (1987). A History of the Crusades, Volume 2. CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521347716.