TURKEY/SYRIA: Students in the Turkish town of Akcacale say they miss their teachers as schools remained closed following violent clashes on the border

Record ID: 281462

  • Title: TURKEY/SYRIA: Students in the Turkish town of Akcacale say they miss their teachers as schools remained closed following violent clashes on the border
  • Date: 9th October 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF CHILDREN SITTING DOWN IN SCHOOL GROUNDS (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH STUDENT, OZLEM, SAYING: "Today is Monday, the schools should have opened. It is 0730 am now, the class should have started but our teacher is not here yet, we are waiting for her. Probably the school will be closed again today in Akcakale. It has been closed for 3 weeks. We want the schools
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey, Syrian Arab Republic
  • City:
  • Country: Turkey Syrian Arab Republic
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA14YTKTOXUU2BNGXWXYQZVCBS1
  • Story Text: Schools remained closed in the southern Turkish town of Akcakale on Monday (October 8) after a fresh mortar strike from the Syrian side of the border, as the situation on the Tel Abyad border remained calm for the morning.
    Schools had been scheduled to reopen in Akcakale on Monday but students who came to attend class after a three week break had to return home without being able to see their teachers.
    "Today is Monday, the schools should have opened. It is 0730 am now, the class should have started but our teacher is not here yet, we are waiting for her. Probably the school will be closed again today in Akcakale. It has been closed for 3 weeks. We want the schools to be opened. We are behind schedule. We miss our teachers very much and we want this war to be over,'' said one student, Ozlem.
    "We came to school today but the school is closed. The principal didn't come, we missed our teachers. We want to see them. We are way behind schedule. We haven't read any books since school began. We want the schools to be opened. We want this war to come to an end. Many of our relatives have died, some of them are wounded. We want to return to school now,'' added another student, named Melek.
    Turkish authorities opted to keep schools closed in Akcakale for another day after Turkey's military fired an artillery round into Syria on Sunday (October 7) in immediate retaliation after a shell fired from Syria landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, the second such incident in five days.
    The latest Syrian shell hit land near a plant belonging to the Turkish Grain Board, several hundred metres from the centre of Akcakale, where five civilians were killed on Wednesday in previous Syrian shelling.
    There were no immediate reports of casualties in the latest incident.
    The exchanges are the most serious cross-border violence in Syria's conflict, which began as pro-democracy protests but has evolved into a civil war with sectarian overtones.
    NATO member Turkey was once an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but turned against him after his violent response to an uprising in which, according to the United Nations, more than 30,000 people have died.
    Turkey has nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees in camps on its territory, has allowed rebel leaders sanctuary and has led calls for Assad to quit.
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