Rimêlan

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TEV-DEM Headquarters
Former headquarter of Syrian Petroleum Company.Until 2012, Rumelan was cut off from the Kurds who lived around it by a high wall and barbed wire. Assad’s oil company exploited nearby oil fields of the same name, with profits going to members of his ruling Baath party. Now, the compound serves as the Jazira headquarters of the Movement for a Democratic Society, or TEV-DEM, Rojava’s coalition government in which Yusif’s party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), has majority control.

Rumelan (Syriac: ܪܡܝܠܐܢ‎, Arabic: رميلان‎) is a town in Cizire Canton, Rojava. The town of Rmelan is located 900km northeast of the capital Damascus, 165 km northeast of the governorate capital al-Hasakah, 70 km east of Qamishli, 30 km southwest of the district centre al-Malikiyah and 0.5 km southwest of the sub-district centre Ma'badah. It has an area of 5 km² and a population of 11,500 based on the 2009 official estimate.

The town is famous for being one of the major centres of oil production in Syria. The first oil exploration works in Rmelan started in 1934. However, the town was founded in 1956 along with the discovery of the first oil well in the Rmelan region, in the area of Karatchok. Later in 1959, the oil well of as-Suwaydiyah was discovered as well in region.

The town has a well-developed infrastructure including roads of 22 km-long, public parks, swimming pools, family clubs, cinema halls and cultural centres.

The town is also home to the Ommal Rmelan (Rmelan Labours) football club. They participate in the 3rd division of the Syrian Football League and play their home games at the Rmelan Municipal Stadium.

The population of the town is of mixed Arab, Kurd and Assyrian ethnicities. However, Rmelan is also home to a large number of workers resettled from other Syrian regions.