By Shella Abdulhalim
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – After extensive efforts to secure employment in local organizations and opposition-affiliated government institutions, As’ad al-Haji found it necessary to learn the Turkish language, since it is a key requirement for job opportunities in Turkish-occupied areas in northwest Syria.
Al-Haji, 33, a resident of the city of Azaz in northwestern Syria, told North Press that even though he is a university graduate, he could not get any job because he cannot speak Turkish.
After Turkey, along with Turkish-backed armed opposition factions aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), captured areas in northwest and northeast Syria, its influence became evident, starting from soft drinks sold in shops to increasing institutions and schools for teaching Turkish language.
Turkey has adopted a Turkification policy since its occupation of northwest Syria by imposing a Turkish character on all aspects of life in the Syrian territory it controls, including education.
Turkey, in cooperation with the SNA factions, has opened schools and branches of Turkish universities in the countryside of Idlib, Aleppo, Hasakah, and Raqqa, giving them Turkish names and raising its flag overhead.
Consequently, the Turkish language has become more desirable by school and university students and individuals seeking job opportunities.
Additionally, institutions and teachers trained in Turkey have emerged to meet this demand. However, observers and activists expressed their concerns and criticized this actions, decrying what they perceive as a process of Turkification.
Turkish language institutions
Over the past three years, as part of its policies of demographic engineering and Turkification, Turkey has opened numerous centers and institutes for teaching Turkish in several cities in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
The most prominent is Yunus Emre Cultural Institute which has opened several branches in different Turkish-occupied areas in northwest Syria.
In 2020, the institute established its first branch in the city of Azaz in the north of Aleppo. Additionally, Turkey established the Anatolian Turkish Academy in Azaz in 2021.
In August 2023, the institute opened a school for teaching Turkish language and culture in the city of al-Bab in the east of Aleppo, targeting 300 children.
Turkey continued this initiative and opened another school in the city of Afrin.
It is worth mentioning that the Yunus Emre Cultural Institute was established by the Turkish government in 2007. It was named after the famous fourteenth-century Turkish poet Yunus Emre and aims to promote Turkish language and culture worldwide.
The institute currently has branches in approximately 40 countries. It has launched a large campaign in areas occupied by Turkey in Syria, providing Turkish language education to about 300,000 children every year, according to a source from the institute.
Targeting next generation
Jihad Nassan, a pseudonym for one of the Syrian supervisors at Yunus Emre, told North Press that the institute has three main centers in Azaz, Afrin, al-Bab in the northern countryside of Aleppo, and another one soon to be opened in Jarablus.
Nassan said that the institute is directly affiliated with the Turkish government and provides free Turkish language education to all applicants, especially children.
He further explained that the center occasionally holds cultural events to promote Turkish culture and glory and victories of the Ottoman Empire and Turkish leader Ataturk.
“Such events have a significant impact on children,” he said.
Nassan pointed out that the institute aims to teach Turkish to around 300,000 Syrian children every year in northern Aleppo, which means that within at least four years, all children will master speaking and writing Turkish, “leading to the Turkification of the region in less than 20 years.”
“This is what Turkey is striving for, particularly as it focuses on spreading its culture and language among children who will be greatly influenced by the glory of the Ottoman Empire when taught on a daily basis,” Nassan said.
Surge in turnout
A source within the Ministry of Education of the Interim Government, the political wing of the SNA, told North Press that Turkish public and private institutes in northern Aleppo, in addition to the Turkish Language Institute at Free Aleppo University, have witnessed a significant surge in enrollment over the past two years.
According to the source, hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of students have shown a great interest in learning Turkish.
The source added that Turkish language has become a main subject in school curricula imposed by local councils affiliated with Turkey in all areas of northern Aleppo. Students fail in the exam if they score below 50 percent in Turkish class, similar to Arabic.
The source noted that there are two distinct curricula taught in schools. The curriculum followed by the Turkish-affiliated councils considers Turkish as a primary subject alongside Arabic, and the Interim Government’s curriculum that incorporates the Turkish language, replacing French as a secondary language after English, justifying that to “the requirements of the public interest.”
The majority of institutions in the region now set Turkish language proficiency as a requirement for employment, based on instructions of Turkish authorities that aim to promote the language among students, according to the source.
Job requirement
Turkey targets not only children but also their parents and other family members to spread its language through institutes affiliated with the SNA, making it a main requirement for employment. Consequently, jobs and employment are restricted to those who master Turkish.
Despite having a university degree, As’ad al-Haji failed to find any job in local organizations and institutions affiliated with the Interim Government because of the language requirement.
“I searched for a job to support my family of five, including my parents, but all in vain. Unfortunately, I have to go back to school in the hopes of improving my chances of getting a job,” he said.
He resorted to the Yunus Emre Institute to learn Turkish since they demand no fees for enrollment.
“I do not like Turkish, nor can I speak it. It is the only language among hundreds of languages in the world that I absolutely reject but I am forced to learn to provide for my children,” al-Haji said.
“It is impossible to find work here if you do not master Turkish, even if it is just 10 percent proficiency as a minimum requirement to pass the interview,” he said.
Al-Haji pointed out that the Turkish language is not used during work at all, “but it is obvious this requirement is imposed to force everyone to learn it.”
Conditional aid
The Turkish Yunus Emre Cultural Institute has initiated a program to provide assistance to schools in the northern countryside of Idlib. They offer aid on the condition that Turkish language is taught to students.
An official in the Salvation Government, the political wing of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), which controls much of Idlib Governorate, northwest Syria, told North Press that the institute provided students with gifts along with financial assistance to employees working in both private and public schools located in the camps of Atmeh, al-Bardeghli, Killi, and Deir Hassan.
The source added that the Turkish institute will provide financial support on the condition that Turkish language is taught to students of both genders, aged between seven and 12, taking advantage of the deteriorating living conditions.
In late October, the same institute, in collaboration with the Turkey-affiliated Local Council in the city of Tel Abyad in northern Syria, announced allocating a food basket to every family residing in the city and its surrounding areas, provided that their children are enrolled in authorized centers for learning Turkish culture and language.
Currently, the number of schools within camps that have agreed to these conditions in return for financial support has exceeded 23, according to the source.
Activists and observers argue that Turkey, taking advantage of the education sector and other means, plans to expand its territory and influence similar to the scenario of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, which was taken by Turkey in 1936.
They believe Turkey increases its Turkification efforts to give the civil and cultural sectors of these areas a Turkish character with the purpose of annexing them to its territories. This, of course, contradicts the official Turkish statements that stress the unity and integrity of the Syrian territories.