Kurdish militants close down Assyrian schools by force in Syria's northeast
The Kurdish group in control of northeast Syria's Gozarto Region has once again closed down Assyrian schools by force in an attempt to impose its own curriculum.
Forces of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) raided the private Assyrian Christian schools in the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli, shutting them down by force on Monday 29 September, several Assyrian news outlets have reported.
The closures included the Mar Quriakos, Al-Salam, Maysalun, Faris al-Khoury, and Al-Ittihad schools in Qamishli, as well as the Al-Amal school in Hasakah, after administrators and teachers were expelled amid a barrage of insults and abuse, according to several local sources.
The self-proclaimed Kurdish “Autonomous administration” had previously issued a decision to impose its own curricula in all schools located in areas under its control and to sever ties with the Syrian government’s Ministry of Education in Damascus — a move rejected by the Assyrian schools.
Assyrians oppose the Kurdish curriculum for several reasons. It contains ideological indoctrination aligned with the group’s Marxist ideology, portraying its leader Abdullah Öcalan as a god-like figure. It also promotes historical revisionism, attempting to rewrite the history of the Assyrian region in favor of a constructed Kurdish narrative. Another concern is that no authorities recognize its self-proclaimed administration, meaning diplomas issued under its curriculum are not recognized by Damascus.
The harassments and attempts at closing down the Assyrian schools by the Kurdish entity have been ongoing since 2018.
The Gozarto Region in northeast Syria, once a historically Assyrian-majority area, has witnessed a sharp decline in its Assyrian population since the PKK offshoot took control amid the Syrian civil war.
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