Information regarding the latest events in Al-Qamishly, Al-Hassaka Province, Northern Syria
With the establishment of the Democratic Self-Administration (DSA) in North Syria, which was founded by the common will of Arabs, Syriacs and Kurds in 2012, a cornerstone has been laid for a new way of education with a new curriculum. The new curriculum ensures a democratic, pluralistic and multi-religious definition of the inhabitants of the region and approaches equal rights for the Arabic, Syriac and Kurdish languages.
The DSA decided two years ago to implement the new curriculum in all schools within the territory of the DSA, so that equal rights are ensured. Through this new education system all students will be able to be educated in their mother tongue. Based on this right the Syriac Cultural Association in Syria founded the institution Olaf Taw and together a Syriac curriculum has been created. After long time and hard work the curriculum is ready to be used in all classrooms in the education system of the DSA in North Syria.
On August, 28th, a delegation from Olaf Taw met with teachers and the leadership of the Syriac private schools in order to agree on terms for the implementation of the new education curriculum. The meeting, which took some hours, went well, until some uninvited people disturbed the meeting and tried to force out the delegation from Olaf Taw. The delegation didn’t accept this disrespect and explained that they would not leave like this.
At the same time outside the schools people started to gather and shout slogans for president Bashar Assad as well as demanding that nobody is entitled to change the current curriculum and close Syriac private schools. In very short time people entered with Syrian flags in their hands the schools and attacked very aggressively the Sutoro, which is the Syriac police force in the region.
Olaf Taw offered all teachers to continue their work at the private schools with guaranteed salary; also the leadership of the schools has been guaranteed to stay in their positions. Another important offer was to decrease the term cost for students under the precondition that the new Syriac curriculum would start in the education system of all Syriac private schools in the region.
The main source of all provocations is most likely the Baath regime, which aims to harm the DSA and its new curriculum. The Baath regime continues to prevent the people of Syria from their coexistence. It wants to show to the world, that the model of the DSA, which is based on multi-ethnic and multi-religious rights, is not a working model. Thus, the Baath regime is using our Syriac people and its institutions. The Baath regime is using all it’s propaganda machine in order to achieve its goals. It is not the first time that the Baath regime incites people against each other.
Although the Baath regime moved all his agents and provocateurs in order to push the people against each other and to provoke the use of force, we are very happy for the fact that our Syriac police force Sutoro did not loose control and did not start to shoot on the aggressive mob on the streets.
We call on all friends of democracy to support this new way of coexistence in Syria and to help Syriacs, Arabs and Kurds to start a new life free from oppression and assimilation.