In Afrin, Turkish occupation, its mercenaries’ mask disappeared-1

The Kurdish language against Turkification policy in Afrin

BASEL RASHID-SELAH IBO

AL-SHAHBA

This unprecedented development which many intellectuals described as the period of burning stages despite its shortcomings constituted a positive point in the liberation of the individual and society from the mentality of power. However, the curricula in Afrin were preparing the individual to be free and receptive to the other, and special curricula were devoted to the Arab component in the framework of the democratic nation project and the peoples' fraternity.

Afrin's reality did not satisfy the enemies of the Syrian people and peoples' fraternity, so the Turkish occupation began in the first days of its attack on Afrin on January 20 targeting schools in a clear indication of its intention to change the cultural monuments and the democratic mentality in the canton.

38 destroyed schools

   38 schools out of 318 schools were destroyed as they were under the supervision of the Education Body in the canton before the Turkish invasion. All of which were funded by the Democratic Autonomous in Afrin. They had about 50,000 students in the elementary, preparatory and secondary levels. According to the Education Body in Afrin, 3,712 teachers and employees worked in the public schools, in addition to the existence of dozens of private schools which included thousands of children and students, and included kindergartens, musical institutions, art and Information Science.

In anticipation of the Turkish attack which was preceded by several threats from Turkey and its mercenaries, the first semester was terminated in all schools in the canton. The schools were not opened to the students due to indiscriminate bombing of villages, towns and schools.

Why did the Turkish aggression targeted schools?

On the first day of the Turkish air attack, three schools were damaged, and 38 schools were destroyed during the Turkish attack, including the Rajo and Janders schools. Consequently, a complaint was lodged by the Education Body of Afrin canton to UNESCO against Turkey to stop targeting schools, but that was in vain. As a result of the Turkish bombardment, dozens of children were killed and hundreds have been disabled permanently and tens of thousands displaced.

Racial discrimination against Kurdish students in Afrin

According to special information, Turkey has put great pressure on the so-called coalition in 2017 to introduce the Turkish language to the school curricula in Jrablous, al-Bab and Azaz. Afrin was also included in this agreement. Today, in Afrin schools, Turkish is taught within four classes a week according to some of the students who we have contacted with.

Afrin schools’ students and curricula today have been changed. The Kurdish students are outcasts and the priority is for the settlers from al-Ghouta, Homs, Idlib and other Syrian areas who were deported to Afrin under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The curricula have become Arabic and Turkish with Islamic color, and most of the teachers are settlers.

Schools turned to military headquarters and torture basements

In addition to the harassment and discrimination practiced by the settlers (teachers and students) against the Kurds, the Turkish army and its mercenaries are working to turn the schools into military headquarters and prisons. Among these schools are Amir Ghbari's School in Azadi Square to a Turkish intelligence headquarters, al-Karama School that located behind the popular market in the city center of Afrin was turned into a center for the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation and al-Asdiqaa Private School is being supplied to be a center for security branch.

Turkification and spreading chauvinism by changing the children’s mindset

Muhammad Abdi, a Kurdish language teacher and a member of the Democratic Training Committee confirms that the Turkish aggression did not exclude anything in Afrin to destroy it, he said, "But its focusing to target the fountains of science and the institutes indicates that the Turkish occupation is the same as the Ottoman thought that used to target whoever would be different from it."

Muhammad Abdi said that the Turkish occupation is working to change the curricula and spread the Turkish culture in Afrin. He added, "This has been evident by raising the Turkish flags, especially during the opening of a school in Afrin and putting dozens of the Turkish flags in the hands of the children."

Afrin's children continue to learn their language in al-Shahba canton

Despite the displacement, the children of Afrin continue to learn their native language and adhere to it in accordance with the principles of the democratic nation which call for tolerance and peoples' fraternity in addition to being armed with white resistance and the flag to return to Afrin and their destroyed schools. The Education and Training Committee opened dozens of schools in al-Shahba canton as the general tests for the primary stage ended, and today, general examinations for high school students are being prepared for to provide them opportunities for joining the universities in the Euphrates and al-Jazeera regions.

An overview on higher and semi higher education in Afrin

Afrin canton was characterized by the opening of the first institute and university in which Kurdish and Arabic were being taught. It was the beginning of a new educational stage that aimed at graduating teachers and specialists in all fields. The Institute of Viyan Amara was founded in 2014 in Afrin city center. It was consisted of 11 institutes specialized in all subjects for preparing and qualifying the teachers in all disciplines to manage all canton's schools and under the supervision of a cadre of 82 teachers and dozens of staff. The number of students was 500 students before the invasion. During the invasion, some students were killed or wounded in their villages. After the occupation, all the contents of the institute were looted and robbed, villages and towns were also looted.

Afrin University

The university was opened in Afrin on August 2015 with the initiative of a group of university professors and it was funded by the Democratic Autonomous Administration to accommodate students who could not join the Syrian universities for various reasons, including the siege and political reasons.

Before the Turkish aggression on the area, the university had six faculties: Medicine, Electromechanical Engineering, Media, Economics, Agriculture, and Kurdish Literature under the supervision of a cadre of 51 professors, an assistant professor and about twenty employees, and the total number of the students was 469 before the battle. The central library contains 3,150 books and the scientific laboratories contained many scientific devices with more than fifty computers.

The university was suspended after the start of the aggression because of the indiscriminate shelling which posed a danger to the safety of the students. After the occupation, all the contents of the university were looted or destroyed. It is now a headquarters of the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries and a center for kidnapping and torturing.

Some students and professors have been kidnapped, assaulted and abducted to outside the canton, including the dean of the Faculty of Arts, Dr. Abdul Majid Sheikho who is 67 years old.

A.H

ANHA