By Siwar Hamo
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Seven years after Turkey and its affiliated armed factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), occupied Afrin region in northwestern Syria, a significant number of schools remain out of service. These schools have been repurposed as security centers by the Turkish-backed Military Police and Intelligence in the city of Afrin.
On March 18, 2018, Turkey and SNA factions took control of Afrin following a 58-day military operation, which ended in Turkey’s occupation and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of the region’s original Kurdish inhabitants.
Turkey refuses to evacuate
From the earliest days of occupation, “Faisal Qaddour” School in the western part of Afrin was converted into a center for Turkish commando forces and used as a training and graduation facility for military courses. In the village of “Khirabeh Sharran” in the Sharran subdistrict, the local high school was turned into a center for the Civil Police and Turkish commandos.
Hassan Ismail, a teacher who used to work at Faisal Qaddour School, says, “This school used to educate more than a thousand students with the help of 25 teachers and administrators.”
“After 2018, the school was turned into a base for Turkish commandos, depriving children of education. Most students had to attend schools far away, and some could not go at all due to the poor security situation over the past years.”
Ismail pointed out that despite the severe shortage of schools, Turkish forces refuse to vacate the building and return it to the Directorate of Education under the transitional government.
He also mentioned the private “Azhar Afrin” School, which has been used since 2018 as a center for the Turkish-backed Civil Police and Intelligence. All surrounding streets and roads have been blocked by concrete walls, turning the area into a restricted security zone.
Another case is the “Commercial High School” located in the al-Villat Street neighborhood, which was turned into a military base by the Turkish-backed Jaysh al-Sharqiya faction. After 2020, it became a headquarters for the Military Police and includes a prison where local Afrin residents are held.
Hassan Mamo, a former teacher at the Commercial High School, says, “This school used to serve students interested in commercial studies, teaching them the basics of accounting and management, which prepared them for admission to business institutes.”
He added that the conversion of schools like this one—as well as agricultural and industrial schools—into military and security centers deprived thousands of students of their right to education.
“About two months ago, a General Security office was established within the compound, which recently entered the city of Afrin,” he noted.
Mamo also notes that the Agricultural High School was turned into a headquarters for the Turkey-backed local council in 2019. Though the building was vacated by council staff six months ago, it remains out of the education system because the local council head refuses to return it to the Directorate of Education, claiming it is still under the council’s jurisdiction.
Shiyar Mohammed, a former educator at the agricultural school, says that the school used to accommodate around 400 students.
“During the time of the Autonomous Administration in Afrin, the high school was converted into a university,” he explains.
“After Turkish forces and SNA factions took control, the building was reassigned to the Turkish-affiliated local council under the pretext that no other facility was available. As a result, students were deprived of continuing their studies in their field of specialization.”
Turkish language centers
On another front, local sources in Afrin told North Press that the Ahrar al-Sharqiya faction turned the city’s only cultural center into a military base after looting its contents.
This center was the only cultural hub in the Afrin area and was later converted into a branch of Turkey’s Gaziantep University in 2021, directly administered by the university’s authorities in Turkey.
According to the same sources, two buildings from the Industrial School in the Mahmoudiyah neighborhood of Afrin were turned into a Turkish cultural center called the “Yunus Emre Institute.”
This center has become the primary hub for teaching Turkish language and culture in Afrin, falling entirely under Turkish management and linked directly to the Turkish Yunus Emre Institutes network.
In late 2023, the Turkish Yunus Emre Cultural Institute opened a new branch in Afrin—its second in the city—to teach Turkish. This initiative is part of a broader campaign aimed at educating children and residents in Turkish-controlled areas of northern Syria and integrating them into Turkish culture.
A source at Afrin’s Directorate of Education told North Press they have been requesting for years that the Turkish Wali (governor) in Afrin return the schools to the education system due to the severe shortage of schools and educational centers.
“The Wali has refused to discuss the issue, claiming these matters fall under the jurisdiction of Turkish intelligence,” the source said.
“He justified it by citing security tensions and procedures determined by the Turkish military and intelligence leadership. He also claimed that the matter of the schools requires a long time to be addressed, as they are currently used as security and police facilities.”
Families are reluctant to send their children to distant schools out of fear of clashes between factions or potential abductions. Despite relative calm in the area, locals continue to ask how much longer will these schools remain out of service and function as military or security centers.
Residents of Afrin argue that the long-term repurposing of these schools has significantly contributed to the rise in illiteracy. The transformation of agricultural, commercial, and industrial schools into security posts or Turkish language centers has left the region lacking in vocational education—fields that once supported the local labor market but are now severely underrepresented.
Numerous media reports have highlighted Turkey’s ongoing “systematic” Turkification policies in the region, including imposing Turkish as a core subject in schools and universities.
Turkey has also altered the civil registries of the original residents in cities like al-Bab, Afrin, Jarabulus, Azaz, Akhtarin, Marea, Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), and Tel Abyad. This includes changing neighborhood names and enforcing the use of the Turkish lira.