JINHA

ŞIRNEX – In the wake of a 37-day nonstop assault on the town of Silopi, Turkish state forces have announced that they will be converting four schools in the town into police stations.

For 37 days, Turkish state forces maintained a state of martial law in the besieged town of Silopi, using schools as police and military installations. Metin Alan, local chair of the educators’ union Eğitim Sen, reports that the union has learned that police plan to permanently convert four primary and middle schools into police station.

Although state forces recently lifted the 24-hour curfews in Silopi and moved to a system of curfews at night only, four schools in the town are still operating as police and military posts. The union met with local officials from the Directorate of National Education, but was told that “decisions are coming from above,” according to Metin.

“These are approaches that deepen the problem, not policies that solve the problem,” said Metin. “The AKP is not concerned about education, but about protecting its own gains by means of violence.”

(ekip/fk/cm)