On the south side of the railway line, in French Syria, some mostly Kurdish areas came under the control of France. These Kurdish areas were around the Kurd Mountains (Kurd-Dagh), around the town of Jarabulus, and the lands in Upper Mesopotamia (the Northern Jazira). They had been given to France after World War I. From the start of French control in Syria, the geography of these separated areas was very important for their later history. According to the historian Jordi Tejel, "These three Kurdish enclaves constituted … a natural extension of Kurdish territory into Turkey and Iraq".