June 2019

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Circassians are an ethnic group originally native to the Northwest Caucasus region until they were driven out of their land by Russian conquest in the late 19th century, after which the Circassians resettled in agricultural communities in parts of the Ottoman Empire. In Syria, their communities were concentrated in the Golan Heights in the south-western parts of Syria, including Quneitra city and several surrounding villages. For many decades, the Circassians revived their heritage and lifestyle and became the largest ethnic minority group in southern Syria. In 1967, following the Six-Day War, the Circassians were yet again forcibly expelled from their homes; the Israeli Army bulldozed many villages and Quneitra city was never rebuilt, even after its return to Syrian control following the October 1973 war. Circassians became internally displaced people in Damascus or left abroad mainly to the United States following an offer by the United States government to move them to Paterson, New Jersey throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Aleppo city has fallen. The Assad Regime has re-imposed its authority over eastern Aleppo.
However, the relevancy of the Aleppo Governorate is no less diminished. As the war enters
its eighth year, the majority of fighting has shifted north where the many actors have gathered
to determine the fate of their claimed territories. Under the control of various militaries,
both foreign and domestic, the nearly six million inhabitants of the region are left with little
control over who governs them and how.