Bulbul (Arabic: بلبل) is a village in the Afrin region of Northern Syria.
On 3 February 2018, armed clashes broke out in Bulbul and Rajo was invaded by Turkish forces and allied Jihadist militias. The village is currently under the control of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.
Bulbul had a population of 1,742 in the 2004 census.
In preparation for the forthcoming municipal elections in NES, planned for 11th of June [now postponed to 8 August, 2024], the DAANES passed a new law defining the administrative divisions of the NES region. This follows the DAANES’ publication of the new Social Contract in December 2023.
For the fifth anniversary of the Turkish invasion, in this explainer we want to focus on four aspects of the current situation of the Afrin region: SNA crimes, administration and living conditions, forced demographic change, and new role of HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant militant group in Idlib).
Karim and other women work in a sewing workshop in Sardam Camp, which shelters IDPs of Afrin, in Aleppo northern countryside. The women all share the same goal to challenge the hardships of displacement and provide for their families.
Before the Turkish occupation, Efrîn was a center of the ‘women’s revolution’ that North and East Syria has become famous for. Women’s institutions based on direct democracy and aimed at addressing gender inequality and other social challenges were active, and laws and policies mandating political equality had been put into practice. Efrîn Canton saw minimal
This report by the Information Centre of Afrin Resistance was first published on 25 January, 2018. Sadly, Afrin is now completely under the control of Turkey and its Jihadist allies. We are publishing it now because we believe it is important to maintain an awareness of the situation of Afrin and its history.