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Deir al-Asafir

Deir al-Asafir
دير العصافير
Dayr al-Assafir
Village
Deir al-Asafir is located in Syria
Deir al-Asafir
Deir al-Asafir
Coordinates: 33°27′55″N 36°25′11″E / 33.46528°N 36.41972°E / 33.46528; 36.41972
Country  Syria
Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate
District Markaz Rif Dimashq
Nahiya Maliha
Population (2004)
 • Total 6,209
Time zone EET (UTC+3)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+2)

Deir al-Asafir (Arabic: دير العصافير‎‎; also spelled Dayr al-Assafir or Dair al-Asafir) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located 12 kilometers southeast of Damascus. It is situated in a heavily farmed area in the Ghouta region. Nearby localities include Babbila to the west, al-Maliha to the northwest, Zabdin to the north, Shabaa to the southwest.

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Deir al-Asafir had a population of 6,209 in the 2004 census. Between 1,000 and 1,500 Nawar (Syrians of Turkmen or Dom origin) reside in Deir al-Asafir. They largely reside in a quarter outside the village center. Much of the remaining population are Arab farmers. Starting in the 1960s some of Deir al-Asafir's Turkmen inhabitants also entered the field of agriculture. However, the majority of Turkmen men in work laborers, produce sellers and truck drivers. The hookah bars in tourist-frequented cafes in the Ghouta region is dominated by Turkmen waiters.

In the 16th-century, towards the end of Mamluk rule in Syria, the revenues of Deir al-Asafir were part of milk (private property previously part of a fief), a quarter of which was owned by Jan Sevar bin Abdullah, a slave girl of the Mamluk Yilbay.

The Nawar of Deir al-Asafir were headed by the al-Tahir family who served as mukhtars for the community. Between the 1930s and 1965 the mukhtar of the Nawar was Abu Jamil al-Tahir (died 1965) who was succeeded by his son Jamil al-Tahir. An agricultural cooperative specializing the breeding of dairy cattle was established in Deir al-Asafir in 1965 under the government's agrarian reforms plan. The land where the cooperative operated was expropriated from lands owned by local landlords. Jamil died in 1967 and was succeeded by his son Ali Jamil al-Tahir. When the mukhtar of Deir al-Asafir died in 1975, his office was briefly occupied by his deputy before power passed to Ali Jamil. Because he was not tied to the traditional power structure i.e. the major landlords, the ruling Ba'ath Party had backed Ali Jamil's ascension to the role of village chief from his previous role as chief of the local Nawar. The Syrian government granted Ali Jamil leadership over local security and allocated 75 rifles and other weapons to his control.


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