Arabic to English Translation*
After the Kurdish language curriculum during the previous autonomous-administration years (2013-2017) in Afrin, which was a natural right for the Kurds in their region, the Turkish occupation since 2018 has deliberately neglected its education and completely changed the school curricula, in the context of Turkifying or Arabizing the area. The Kurdish language and how to teach and disseminate it were not among the concerns of the local authorities or the Turkish education delegations that visit the area repeatedly, nor is there a cultural center or a special Kurdish institute!
Below are facts about the prevailing conditions:
=The Kurdish Language:
The hostile policies and practices towards Kurdish culture and language are evident, as well as the procedures for Turkifying or Arabizing the area. Despite the inclusion of the Kurdish language in what is called the “Coalition Curriculum” for primary schools and transitional grades for middle and high schools since 2018, it has been deliberately neglected through:
– Not adopting it as an official language in the region alongside Arabic and Turkish.
– Making it an optional subject, even for Kurdish students, and it has been removed from the middle and high school diploma programs, while Arabic and Turkish have been adopted as compulsory subjects and can cause the student to fail the grade if they do not achieve the minimum required grades.
– Allocating fewer study periods for it than those allocated for Arabic and Turkish.
– There is no department for the Kurdish language like others in the “Afrin Education College – Antep University,” or a special institute for it, or a department in the “Free Aleppo University – Azaz,” or consecutive courses at the Higher Institute for Languages at Azaz University except for one orphaned course held there.
– Dozens of schools, especially in the countryside, remain without Kurdish language teachers, or one teacher has been assigned to several schools, such that they cannot perform their duty; and no qualifying courses or level-raising in the Kurdish language have been held for holders of high school and university certificates to fill the shortage in the teaching staff, while consecutive courses are held by the Directorate of Education in cooperation with the “Anatolian and Yunus Emre Cultural Turkish Centers” in the field of the Turkish language; and not a single competition has been opened to appoint Kurdish language teachers, unlike competitions for other subjects.
– Many Kurdish language teachers have left their jobs due to pressures and accusations directed at them inside schools and at security checkpoints.
– In the absence of a Kurdish language teacher, their study periods are converted to sports or drawing classes.
=A Pakistani Islamic Institution Builds Settlement Villages:
In order to complete its project under the name of the so-called “Safe Zone” in northern Syria, and with the aim of establishing a wide demographic change in the Afrin region, the Turkish government introduced a new Islamic institution to implement its programs, which is the “Islamic Dawah Center – Karachi/Pakistan” and the “Faizan Global Relief Foundation (FGRF)” affiliated with it. A delegation from the center’s Shura Council headed by “Sheikh Abdul Habib Attari” visited the town of Shiyeh/Sheikh Al Hadid on January 17, 2024, and announced the successful construction of a new model settlement village consisting of /96/ apartments, a mosque, two religious schools for boys and girls, and infrastructure, in cooperation with the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority “AFAD” and the “ANDA Search and Rescue Association” – headquartered in Ankara with a Turkish nationalist background; on a piece of land near the town’s clinic building belonging to citizens “Yusuf Mammo, Mustk Ibrahim, Khoja Hussein, Jamil Khaleh,” which was seized by the “Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade – Amshat” militias in March 2021 and leveled under the supervision of a Turkish engineer in preparation for such a project, without having paid them for it to date.
Also, the “Madani News Channel – a media station affiliated with the Islamic Dawah Center” posted on its Facebook page on February 1, 2024, news about signing a deal between “Faizan Foundation” and the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation to build /84/ new homes, where days later the foundation stone for the “City Village Project” was laid near the village of “Kafroum” – Sharra/Sharan; and in a video clip of the channel dated January 29, 2024, Sheikh “Attari” refers to a project to build a thousand residential apartments near the city of Afrin, the details of which have not yet been revealed.
It is worth mentioning that the center was established in 1981 and has branches and Islamic missionary activities within Pakistan and dozens of countries around the world, including Turkey, Britain, and America, and has a large media network, chaired by the Shura Council of the center “Sheikh Muhammad Imran Al Attari”.
=”Joud” Settlement Village:
On September 1, 2023, “Rawasi Company” announced the final touches on the construction of the model settlement village “Joud,” consisting of /96/ residential apartments, a mosque, a school, a water tank, a drinking water network, a sewage system, and road and plaza paving. This was funded by the “Joud Charitable Association – Kuwait” and executed by the “Ghazi Sham Association for Education, Culture, and Relief – Antep/Turkey,” located near the village of “Kholto/Al-Khalidiya” – Jabal Layloun, (on eyesight /7/ km) southeast of Afrin city; where the homes were delivered to the newcomers on February 15, 2023, before the completion of additional works.
=Arbitrary Arrests:
The occupying authorities arrested:
– On February 4, 2024, the citizen “Fathallah Abdul Hanan Mohammed, /72/ years old”, from the village of “Ammara/Amoro” – Mobato/Ma’batli, by the Turkish intelligence and the “Civil Police in Ma’batli/Mobato,” on charges of affiliation with the previous autonomous-administration. He was taken to Afrin city and remains arbitrarily detained in “Marateh” central prison; this occurred about three months after his return with his wife from the destination of displacement in Aleppo to his village. Meanwhile, the Azaz police militias arrested his son Sherzad and his wife Rosaline on February 1, 2024, with the same charge during their return to the village, and they remain arbitrarily detained.
– In mid-February 2024, the citizen “Aisha Dilo,” wife of “Jamal Qader Bilal” from the village of “Biboko” – Bulbul, was arrested on charges of affiliation with the previous autonomous-administration. She was released after ten days of detention and a fine was imposed on her.
– On February 22, 2024, the citizens “Abdul Rahman Sharaf son of Hassan, /58/ years old”, “Ziad Sharaf son of Sabri, /63/ years old”, “Ahmed Dilo son of Mohammed, also known as “Salan,” /58/ years old”, from the village of “Biboko” – Bulbul, were arrested by the Turkish intelligence and the military police militias, on charges of affiliation with the previous autonomous-administration, after they had returned in September 2023 from the destination of displacement in Aleppo to their village. “Abdul Rahman” was released on Thursday, March 7, 2024, after a fine was imposed on him, and the rest remain arbitrarily detained.
– Shortly after his return from the destination of displacement in Aleppo to his village about ten days ago, the citizen “Omar Hussein Omar, /32/ years old”, from the village of “Kurzileh Cheh” – Bulbul, was arrested by the Turkish intelligence and the military police militias, on charges of affiliation with the previous autonomous-administration, and he remains arbitrarily detained.
– On March 2, 2024, the citizen “Dogan Abdo Bakr, /65/ years old”, from the village of “Kuliya/Golio Fuqani,” was arrested by the Turkish intelligence and the “Military Police militias in Raju,” on charges of affiliation with the previous autonomous-administration.
– On March 4, 2024, the citizens “Rasul Qanbar Rashid, /49/ years old”, “Subhi Akash Bilal, /62/ years old”, from the village of “Maska/Mosako” – Raju, were arrested by the Turkish intelligence and the “Civil Police militias in Raju,” under the pretext of participating in night guard duties during the previous autonomous-administration. They were released on March 6, 2024, after a fine of $300 USD was imposed on each of them.
=Other Violations:
– After the “Liwa al-Waqas” militias took control of the village of “Ashkan Gharbi” – Jenderes in 2018, they seized the house of the citizen “Inayat Bakr” and imposed large tributes on his properties, under the pretext of his trade dealings with the previous autonomous-administration, so he was forced to live in Jenderes city for rent; also, a member of “al-Waqas” filed a lawsuit against him with fabricated charges to blackmail him and extort a large sum of money from him, and the lawsuit is still ongoing, with his relatives in the village not daring to testify in court! Meanwhile, “Bakr” regained his house after “al-Waqas” was expelled from the village by the ‘Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade’ militias in October 2022.
– Recently, “Sheikh Hussein,” brother of “Abdul Karim Jamal Qasoum,” leader of the “112 Brigade” militias, has been leveling a piece of land (“Jeb Shaabo” – entrance to the town of “Baadina”) and unloading materials and supplies to construct a building and a swimming pool for his personal benefit, knowing that it belongs to the Shaaban family and was donated by the late grandfather Hajj Shaaban for digging a well for public drinking water, while the previous autonomous-administration built a public park around it, with an estimated area of /1700/ m².
– After his sister’s family left and vacated their father’s old house in the center of “Baadina” town, the citizen “Mohammed Manan Ibish” initiated opening a sewing workshop inside the house. However, “Absi al-Hamd/Abbas,” one of the leaders of the “112 Brigade” militias, prevented him from operating the workshop and forced him to vacate the house with the intention of seizing it.
– Recently in the town of Shiyeh/Sheikh Al Hadid, “Mohammed Al-Jasem/Abu Amsha,” the leader of the “Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade” militias, seized several homes belonging to the original inhabitants to house his relatives. Among these were the home of “Sido Ibrahim Sheikho,” which he had built and had recently become ready for habitation, and where the mother of “Abu Amsha’s” fourth wife was settled; the home of ‘Khalil Siouh,” who was forcibly displaced after a newcomer family was expelled from it; the home of “Ibrahim Hashem,” an expatriate, after his brother’s family was expelled from it; and the home of “Fatima Izzat Bakr,” after she and her grandchildren were expelled from it.
The suppression of the culture and language of an indigenous people is a serious violation of international law, which mandates the protection of cultural properties, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2007, especially since Turkey is practicing a systematic hostile policy against the Kurds and their region of Afrin in this regard.
09.03.2024
Media Office-Afrin
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekiti)
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Images:
– The examination programs for the middle school and high school diplomas, both scientific and literary branches, for the year 2023, approved by the “Olive Branch Education Directorate,” including subjects “Arabic, Turkish, and English languages,” without the Kurdish language subject.
– Announcement of a competition to appoint teachers for subjects “Arabic language, English language, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics and Chemistry, History, Geography, Class Teacher, General Sciences, Sharia” by the “Olive Branch Education Directorate,” dated 21 August, 2023, without the Kurdish language subject.
– Announcement of the opening of a Turkish language course by the “Olive Branch Education Directorate” in cooperation with the “Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Center,” and the appointment of successful candidates as Turkish language teachers, dated 12 February, 2024.
– Visit of “Qasim Taher Oglu, the General Coordinator of Education in Olive Branch, Anas Shishman, an official from the Pioneers Organization in Turkey, and Mohammed Ali and Khalil Ibrahim, officials in the Refugee Organization in Turkey” to Afrin, dated 1 March, 2024, to “discuss what civil society organizations can offer in the education sector to improve the educational reality and develop the education system” according to the “Local Council in Afrin.”
– Visit of Mustafa Masatli, the Governor of Hatay, accompanied by his deputies to Afrin, dated 1 March, 2024, to “discuss infrastructure development projects and improve the commercial and industrial reality in the region, and discuss the needs of the region for the coming stage” according to the “Local Council in Afrin.”
– Ceremony of distributing Turkish language certificates to /110/ students and congratulating them, at the “Yunus Emre Center – Afrin,” dated 2 February, 2023.
– Construction of a model settlement village in the town of “Shiyeh/Sheikh Al Hadid” funded by the “Faizan Global Relief Foundation,” a Pakistani organization, January 2024.
– Project to build the “City Village” settlement near the village of “Kafroum” – Sharra/Sharan, funded by the “Faizan Global Relief Foundation,” a Pakistani organization.
– “Joud” Model settlement village.
– Land “Jeb Shaabo” at the junction of the town of “Baadina” with an area of approximately /1700/ m², a public park during the previous autonomous-administration.”
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* Under the supervision of the European Organization of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekîtî).
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