School "Turkish Governor" .. Image proves "occupation" in northern Syria
A new school in Jarabulus, northern Syria, has a Turkish name
The most recent step in the field of educationalization in the areas under Turkish control, this week, was the opening of the prefect school "Ahmed Torgay Imam Geylar".
The image of the opening of the school shows a number of Turkish officials under the Turkish flag and another for the Syrian opposition. Among the participants was an officer from the Turkish army.
Neither the name of the school nor the flag above it reflects the culture of the country to which it belongs, but rather another testament to Turkish domination of another kind, according to what critics of the move said.
Ahmed Torgay, a Turkish administrative official in the neighboring province of Gaziantep, died in January last year.
Turkish media say that the opening of the school this week coincided with the first anniversary of the departure of the former official.
The move was denounced by the Syrian Kurds, and the Facebook page of the "Afrin Activists Network" wrote on Facebook a comment on the school's opening: "Tartik al-Shamali al-Shamali continues."
"What is the relationship of the Turkish name to a Syrian city? And who is Ahmed Torgay?"
The school was opened in the Syrian city of Jarabulus, on the border with Turkey, which it militarily took control of in 2016, in what was known as Operation "Euphrates Shield".
The military operation, as then-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, was aimed at removing the threat of ISIS and Kurdish fighters, but the Turks remained in control of the region and did not withdraw from it despite the absence of the reason.
Turkey's direct military intervention in Syria began in 2016, and reached its climax in October 2019, when its forces and factions loyal to them invaded areas in northeastern Syria, in order to drive out Kurdish fighters whom Ankara considered a threat.
This intervention has displaced hundreds of thousands of Syrians, especially the Kurds, from their homes.
In late November, the Turkish "Anatolia" agency reported that the Turkish University of Gaziantep had opened branches in areas including: Al-Bab, Azaz, Afrin and Jarablus.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in a report published on its website, said that the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which is one of Erdogan's arms in implementing Turkish policies in the areas controlled by the Turkish army.
He added that "this ministry has expanded its activities in the Turkish occupation areas, including Afrin, in order to open religious educational projects."
He talked about activities through private societies and schools, including the "Youth of Huda" association, which promotes the ideas of the new Ottoman, under the name of (the campaign of enlightenment and guidance to correct the beliefs and ideas of the people).
He pointed to the conversion of many galleries of previous sewing workshops in Afrin into mosques or religious headquarters. The test (Imam Khatib and Turkish language materials) was included in the programs of the last academic year exams, while promises to teach the Kurdish language were not implemented.
It appears that the purpose of this matter is to end the Kurdish presence in northern Syria, and this may come first through education and language.
It was not days before the Turkish army seized the city of Ras Al-Ain a few months ago, until images showing a banner appear on the facade of the city hospital in Arabic and Turkish, as other pictures of the city court showed a sign written in both languages as well.
This change to the names of villages, towns, and headquarters comes after years of self-management relying on writing those names in the three languages spoken by the local population (Kurdish, Arabic, and Syriac).