Coinciding with the return of the people of Jarablus to their city after its liberation from the Islamic State group following Operation Euphrates Shield, supported by Ankara, Turkish organizations are preparing the city’s schools to reopen for students after the terrorist group wreaked havoc on their buildings.
Turkish charities and government institutions are working in an effort to restore the city’s schools and prepare them to receive students after they were in a state of near collapse as a result of the brutal practices of the Islamic State group which forced residents to close the doors of these schools.
Turgay Aldemir, head of the Anadolu Foundation, which is overseeing the aid and assistance programs offered to the residents of the city of Jarablus, said that his institution was working to return life to normal for the city and was cooperating toward that aim with a number of other charitable groups, led by the “Anadolu Association for Women and Family Affairs”.
Aldemir said that his foundation had met with Jarablus residents and given them food and clothes and cleaning supplies, and said there was special care for children and women who have been subjected to long-term psychological crises living under the control of the Islamic State group for three years.
“We went on an inspection tour of the schools in the city and we noticed that the level of education is very low. The schools were closed during the time ISIS was in the area. The buildings had become unable to receive students,” he said.
He added: “The organization was not interested in educational issues and did not think about the future of the children. We have 12 schools in the cities of Aleppo and Idleb and Azaz (northern Syria) and we aim to open a school Jarablus as well. We hope to bring the Turkish educational experience to this city.”
Aldemir said that his foundation aimed to rehabilitate and equip all the schools so they are able to give educational services. He noted that the authorities in the Turkish Gaziantep province which borders Jarablus were carrying out large efforts for this aim.
In this respect, Aldemir directed a call to all civil society organizations in Turkey calling on them to support the efforts being carried out to revive the educational sector in Jarablus and bring the Turkish experience in this respect to Syrians.
His added: “We are waiting for the support of all civil society organizations and educational institutions and universities. We must rehabilitate the young people and educate them, as the young people here carry weapons and everyone knows that weapons keep young people away from reading and writing.”
In support of the Free Syrian Army forces, units from the special forces in the Turkish army coordinated with air forces of the international coalition on August 24 in a military campaign in the city of Jarablus (northern Syria) under the name Euphrates Shield aiming to cleanse the city and the border area of terrorist organizations, especially the Islamic State group which has targeted the Turkish state and its innocent citizens.
The operation soon succeeded in liberating the city and surrounding areas and subsequently liberated the whole border between the Syrian towns of Jarablus and Azaz. No areas adjacent to the Turkish border remain under the Islamic State group’s control.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
