Kurdish students interrogated in Afrin after graduation ceremony

Gaziantep University – Afrin branch reportedly issued an internal decision calling Kurdish students and their families for questioning today, several days after the graduation ceremony organized by the university, due to some students wearing symbols and signs of a Kurdish nature during the event.

According to information conveyed by some students' families, the summons were communicated through communication groups used by students and university administration, without any official clarification so far from the Afrin administration affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government regarding the nature of these measures or their legal basis.

The ceremony included the raising of both the Turkish and Syrian flags as part of the approved organizational arrangements, while on-the-ground procedures related to the event were carried out by security authorities affiliated with the administrative body supervising the area.

This has raised many public questions regarding the absence of an official explanation, particularly concerning the policies governing the legitimacy of raising the Turkish flag on Syrian territory and the reasons for the Syrian Interim Government’s silence on the matter, along with the absence of any statement clarifying the organizational basis of these practices.

During communication with ANHA agency's correspondent, many students' families expressed concern that their children’s graduation certificates could be withdrawn or that they could be referred to governmental security authorities on what they described as unfounded accusations.

Meanwhile, there is no official and clear legal provision criminalizing the display of Kurdish symbols in Kurdish areas.

This comes at a time when the agreement signed on January 29 between the Syrian Interim Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stipulates guarantees for the particularity of Kurdish regions.

Decree No. 13 issued by Prime Minister Ahmad al-Sharaa also states that Kurds are an essential part of Syria’s social fabric, while prohibiting discrimination or exclusion on ethnic grounds and guaranteeing the protection of cultural diversity.

It is worth noting that the Faculty of Education branch affiliated with Gaziantep University was established in Afrin in 2019, one year after the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries took control of the city.

A-H

ANHA