Qamishli is situated at the base of the Taurus Mountains, located near the area of ancient Hurrian city of Urkesh which was founded during the fourth millennium BC.
The modern city was founded in 1926 as a railway station on the Taurus railway.
Qamishli is the largest town in Hassake province and it is regarded as the secret capital of the Kurds, the Assyrians/Syriacs also claim it to be their community capital. It is also the centre of the Syrian Kurdish problem.
In March 2004, during a chaotic soccer match, a riot started when some people started raising separatist Kurdish flags, hailing Barzani and Talabani and US President George W. Bush, turning the match into political conflict. The riot expanded out of the stadium and weapons were used against police and civilians of non-Kurdish background. In the aftermath, at least 30 Kurds were killed as the security services re-took the city. The event became known as "Qamishli massacre".
In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds. In March 2008, according to Human Rights Watch,Syrian security forces opened fire at Kurds celebrating spring festival of Newroz and gathering for reviving the 2004 riot in Qamishli. The shooting left three people dead.
The city is renowned for throwing a large Christmas parade every year in December, and celebrating Newroz festival by a large crowd every year in March
