Syrian school renovated after being used as terror base

SANLIURFA, Turkey

Turkey has turned a school in northern Syria back into an education center Thursday after it was used as a base by the terror group YPG/PKK.

The transformation came amid Turkey’s anti-terror operations in northern Syria.

A month of renovations at the school were just completed, said a Thursday statement by the governor’s office in Sanliurfa, southern Turkey, on the border with Syria.

The Nukra School in Ras al-Ayn, Syria has 13 classrooms and is ready for elementary and middle school students.

The statement said students were given clothing and stationery supplies, while local boys got free haircuts.

Old basketball equipment in the playground was replaced, and seeds were planted in the nearby garden.

Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring was launched on Oct. 9 to eliminate YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

Since then, Turkey reached agreements with both the U.S. and Russia to force the terrorist YPG/PKK to withdraw from the planned terror-free zone.

Turkey also set about renovating and replacing infrastructure, schools, and healthcare facilities damaged by the terrorist YPG/PKK.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.