04 December 2018•Update: 04 December 2018
By Omer Koparan
AZAZ, Syria
Syrians have been receiving vocational training in a public education center established by Turkey in northern Syria's opposition-held Azaz region.
The center was initiated by the National Education Directorate in Turkey's border province of Kilis and opened three months ago.
The courses include Turkish language education, hairdressing, graphic design, tailoring, electric and electronics, as well as operation and maintenance of heavy machinery.
Mahmut Kesikminare, deputy director of the Kilis National Education Directorate, and his team frequently visit the public education center to follow the developments and needs of the center.
Remi Allavi, vice principal of the education center, told Anadolu Agency that women were more interested in the courses.
Allavi said: "Our students will have a new profession with the help of their training here. Some of them had previously worked in some other professions and they are learning new ones here."
"I am planning to open my own business after completing the training, may God bless Turkey," said Sameer Zekku, a student receiving training to become a hairdresser.
The public education center hosts some 250 students. Apart from Azaz, Turkey opened similar centers in the Syrian towns of Mare, Soran, and Akhtarin.
Azaz is among the regions in which Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield, with the use of the Free Syrian Army, eliminated the terrorist threat. The operation began in August 2016 and ended in March 2017.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
