The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

The jihadist terror group was eventually defeated, but the buildings, including two important churches, were almost destroyed, and the population scattered, some to refugee camps, while others emigrated.

It is hard to scare a man who spent months locked in a bathroom, threatened daily with death and who was even subjected to a mock execution for refusing to renounce his faith.

“I am married, I have three kids. If I am only a teacher, nowadays, I cannot give them what they need. I need to juggle more jobs to provide for them. This takes time from me, so I cannot prepare my classes as much as I used to."

One of the school’s students, 15-year-old Christine, was returning home from school with a classmate when a bomb detonated near them. Christine lost a foot, but her friend was killed.

"Our project partners sometimes feel despondent and tired, they think the world has forgotten them, but they retain a glimmer of hope, because they know we are with them, and that our benefactors are answering the call."

The Turks justify this intervention by saying that it is to protect their borders, to a depth of 20 miles along northern Syria. They want to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish state by the PKK, which is threatening the Turkish state and could prepare attacks on their country.