PKK detains teachers opposing propagandist curriculum

By Ethem Emre Ozcan

ANKARA (AA) - At least 61 teachers have been detained by the YPG/PKK terror group in the occupied Syrian territories as they either rejected the dictated-curriculum or refused forcible recruitment, according to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).

The rights group, which documents human rights violations against Syrians, shared a report with Anadolu Agency regarding detention of Syrian teachers from Jan. 1 and Feb. 15 in the provinces of Al-Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor.

According to the report, at least 27 teachers who defied the terror group’s propagandist curriculum and gave private lessons based on the former curriculum were detained; 14 of them were released after agreeing to follow the YPG/PKK-imposed curriculum.

Furthermore, 34 other teachers were detained by the terror group in the past 45 days in line with YPG/PKK’s forcible recruitment policies in the region.

The report underlined that the YPG/PKK is now after nearly 550 teachers -- residing in Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Al-Hasakah -- who refused to join the terror group.

In the report, Ahmed Shamti, one of the detained teachers, was quoted as saying the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) -- another acronym for YPG terrorists in the region -- forced some teachers not to lecture in regime-controlled areas. However, some of the teachers raised objection, and they were detained following home raids.

Shamti said the teachers were held in al-Darbasiyah district of Al-Hasakah and then released on Jan. 23 following demonstrations and rising pressure. He noted he was released after signing documents in which he agreed to follow the dictated curriculum.

Halid Omar, another teacher, said he was suspended as teacher after rejecting to join the ranks of the terror group. The 31-year-old said he could no longer receive his salary due to his status as "fugitive".

He noted that he was not able to move easily in the region as he was included in the SDF's compulsory military service list.

Abdullah Ali, a teacher in Raqqa, also has "fugitive" status. Ali said he was threatened to be expelled from his school if he did not join the terror group.

- Ideological curriculum of YPG/PKK

The terror group first changed the curriculum of the primary and secondary schools in 2016. Then, the dictated-curriculum began to be taught at high schools.

In this context, the terror group first seized schools linked to the Bashar al-Assad regime and radically changed the education system in occupied regions.

The terror group indoctrinates students, feeding them militarist and ethnic ideas along with prejudice toward Islam.

In YPG/PKK-controlled schools, the students are taught quotes of Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK ringleader prisoned in Turkey.

Additionally, the report noted that the YPG/PKK arbitrarily detained 3,784 people, including 176 women. The whereabouts of 2,147 of them are not known.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas