Turkey, Qatar vow to educate Syria's next generation

By Aynur Ekiz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey and Qatar are jointly making efforts to educate Syria’s next generation, Religious Affairs Directorate head Mehmet Gormez said Tuesday.

Speaking at a meeting with Qatar’s Sheikh Thani Ibn Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) head Ayed bin Dabssan al-Qahtani in the capital Ankara, Gormez said: “We have lost a certain number of [people from the] current generation. Now, we should work together to teach these [Syrian] children for the sake of saving the next generation.”

Turkish Religious Foundation (TDV) and RAF had agreed in December 2016 to print four million books for Syrian children studying in Turkey.

“This is an important project,” he said, adding: “All people are obliged to fulfill the needs of oppressed Syrian people. Syrian children should not be forgotten during this humanitarian support.

“We have already lost a part of the current generation. It is a very important to work together for the education of Syrian children in order to not lose the next generation,” he said.

The TDV and Turkish Education Ministry are jointly running the education program for Syrian children. Around 500,000 Syrian children are getting their education in Turkey, according to the ministry.

Gormez said Syrian children in refugee tent cities along the border areas and in other places were being taught by teachers who know Arabic.

The TDV carries out its religious education programs and relief work in around 120 countries. Gormez said his foundation is ready to work with any institution to support Syrians.

RAF head al-Qahtani said: “Turkey and Qatar are two countries working for oppressed people.”

He said his foundation’s mission was to participate in establishing communities of mercy and was also planning to form a coordination center in Ankara.

Following their meeting, Gormez and al-Qahtani distributed books and stationeries among 20 Syrian children.