Turkey to appoint 4,000 police officers to Syria

Turkey will be appointing 4,000 urban and rural police officers in Ras al Ayn and Tel Abyad in northern Syria, the governorate of southeastern border province of Şanlıurfa said in a statement.

Turkish forces had taken control of the two Syrian towns as per the Sochi Accord Turkey signed with Russia, following its Operation Peace Spring into the Kurdish-controlled territories in northern Syria in October.

Şanlıurfa Governor Abdullah Erin said in a meeting in Tel Abyad Turkish security forces would start training some 1,800 Syrian men within the week.

Governor Erin said the second group would start training later, bringing the total force up to 3,500 to 4,000 officers.

Turkey has appointed governors to Tel Abyad and Ras al Ayn, Erin said, and started to provide municipal, education and medical services.

Governor Erin’s media office said the governors had already started to work, and a local source said they started a week ago, pro-Kurdish Rudaw reported on Friday.

Syrian Kurds in the towns and provinces controlled by Turkey have been marginalized, the Kurdish language has been excluded from the curriculum, and Kurdish signs have been removed from local government institutions, Rudaw said.

Turkey had appointed governors to Syrian towns Jarablus and Al Bab after Turkish forces took control in 2016. 

Turkish postal service PTT had been providing money transferring and postal services in Jarablus since 2017, and Gaziantep University had established faculties in the province.