Universities eye liberated Syrian towns for new faculties

Turkish universities are to join rebuilding efforts in parts of Syria liberated from terrorist groups. Gaziantep University in the eponymous Turkish province on the Syrian border will establish a department in Jarablus while Harran in Şanlıurfa, another city near the border, will set up a faculty in al-Bab.

Jarablus and al-Bab are among the towns liberated from Daesh control in 2016 in Operation Euphrates Shield. During the months-long operation, the Free Syrian Army with the assistance of the Turkish Armed forces, took back several towns in the war-torn country from Daesh. These towns in northern Syria, whose residents had fled to Turkey, have seen a revival and rebuilding of daily life with the help of Turkey.

Turkey has been involved in everything from building and restoring schools and infrastructure, t

o training local police in Jarablus, al-Bab and other towns. Two years ago, Turkey opened a hospital in Jarablus. A decision to set up a college affiliated with Gaziantep University in Jarablus was issued on Official Gazette on Tuesday though it is not clear yet when it will be set up.

Professor Ramazan Taşaltın, president of Harran University said yesterday during a visit to al-Bab, that they wanted to instill hope in Syrian youth by setting up a new faculty there. Studies available at the faculty have not been determined yet but Taşaltın said it would offer a curriculum in Turkish, Arabic and English. The university had hosted an exam for students in northern Syria's liberated towns last month and some 800 students sat the exam for admission into Turkish universities. Turkey cleared an area of 4,000 square kilometers from terrorist groups in Syria. Earlier this year, it wrapped up Operation Olive Branch that wiped out affiliates of the terrorist group PKK from Afrin, another city in northern Syria.