US Warned Of Plot To Stay In Syria Longer As Turkey Rebuilds Over 400 War-torn Schools In The Country

US Warned Of Plot To Stay In Syria Longer As Turkey Rebuilds Over 400 War-torn Schools In The Country

20 November 2017

EsinIslam And Agencies

It seems that the U.S. has some considerations to stay in Syria longer than intended and may be planning to be there against Russian and Iranian presence, Presidential Spokesman İbrahim Kalın told France24's Marc Perelman on Monday.

"If that's the goal, that will complicate the situation on the ground even more," Kalın said, adding that the main goal must be to protect Syria's territorial integrity.

"Assad is not the person to unite Syria, he has lost his legitimacy," he said, adding that the Astana process, brokered by Turkey, Russia and Iran is not meant to replace the Geneva talks.

"They are working on two different tracks, one under the U.N. and the other brokered by these three countries."

Kalın also slammed the U.S.-backed PYD terrorist group's deal with Daesh, saying that the 'terrible' deal which made possible the evacuation of Daesh terrorists from Raqqa is a consequence of trusting a terrorist group in the fight against another.

Responding to Perelman's "But they say they [PYD] are the most effective [against Daesh]" remarks, he said that is because "they have American backing," emphasizing that any other group would be as effective as them if the same military support was provided.

Turkey rebuilds over 400 war-torn schools in Syria

Over the last eight months, Turkey has rebuilt over 400 damaged schools in Syria's Aleppo region, enabling 152,000 children to continue their education.

After the Operation Euphrates Shield operation, Turkey's National Education Ministry launched a study for a total of 458 schools in Aleppo's Jarabulus, Al-Bab, Cobanbey and Azez regions.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, the ministry's Lifelong Education Director Ali Riza Altunel said: "I believe the number of students will increase to around 170,000 by the end of the first semester."

Altunel said the ministry had been running its program since March after Operation of Euphrates Shield was successfully wrapped up by the Turkish military.

"There were enough numbers of primary and middle schools, but a very small amount of high schools," Altunel said. "In March, we only managed to continue with lessons in only three schools. By the end of June, the number increased to 103 schools."

The director said children in the rebuilt regions were "extremely happy with Turkey's contributions," with Syrian children painting banners saying they continue their education "no matter what".

"This is the reaction we are glad to receive in exchange for our hard work," Altunel said.

The director said children in the region were unable to receive a proper education in the last five years.

"So, we launched a 'compensation program' for children to make up for the lack of the education," he said. "We are working hard to graduate children from elementary schools for them to continue with middle school."

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since 2011. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced, according to UN figures.

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