Two more schools burnt down in protest at closure of Kurdish schools

HAKKARİ – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Two more schools were burnt down late on Sept. 17 in Turkey’s southeastern province of Hakkari, in protest at the closure of a nearby school that had planned to teach in the Kurdish language.

A masked group, reportedly members of the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), a youth organization linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), threw Molotov Cocktails at schools in Hakkari’s Yüksekova district, causing severe damage to the buildings.

Tension escalated in the district when officials closed a school for the second time, after a sealing wire that had been placed on its door by the authorities was removed by locals and members of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). The school was closed by a decision of the local governor’s office, on the grounds that it had not received permission from the ministry to operate as a school.

Clashes erupted after the school was closed again, with a group of 50 people throwing stones and fireworks at police vehicles dispatched to the area.

After being driven away by the police, the group targeted nearby schools, breaking down the doors of two secondary schools and throwing Molotov Cocktails in teachers’ rooms and classrooms.

A wide investigation has been launched into the incident.

The new school year began on Sept. 15, triggering conflicts over schools aiming to provide Kurdish language education in the southeastern provinces, including Diyarbakır, Hakkari and Şırnak.