Haydar Aliyev Primary School, rebuilt in Kahramanmaraş with the cooperation of Turkey and Azerbaijan, has become a safe home where generations looking to the future with hope will grow up while healing the wounds of the February 6 earthquakes. Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum shared this meaningful project with the public with an emotional post on his social media account after the opening of the school.
A Disaster-Resistant and Safe Education Center
In place of the Sezai Karakoç Primary School, which was severely damaged in the earthquake-centered Kahramanmaraş, Haydar Aliyev Primary School was built in the Azerbaijan District with the valuable contributions of TOKİ and Azerbaijan. The school, which draws attention with its modern architecture and disaster-resistant structure, offers its students a contemporary educational environment with 20 classrooms, 3 laboratories and 3 kindergartens. The primary school also has science, technology and music workshops, a rich library, a modern gym, a health room (infirmary) and playgrounds where children can have fun.
Minister Kurum: “The Joy of Our Children Echoes in the Corridors”
Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum shared interior and exterior images of Haydar Aliyev Primary School on his social media account, drawing attention to the meaning and importance of the project. Minister Kurum included the following statements in his post: “This is Haydar Aliyev Primary School in Kahramanmaraş. After the disaster of the century, we built a disaster-resistant, safe school for our children. Now, the joy, excitement and happiness of our children echo in its corridors.” These words emphasize that the school is not just a building, but a center of hope where children affected by the earthquake can hold on to life again.
Construction Completed in Record Time
The school principal Murat Demirci emphasized how quickly the project was implemented and said, “In a period of about 16 months, the debris of our old school was removed and a new one was built beautifully. It is a well-designed school. A building of such quality that we think it will not even get a scratch in an earthquake was built. Even the safety of the stairs was considered for our children. Our classrooms are spacious. We currently have 400 students. When the new construction in our neighborhood is finished and people start to settle in, this number will reach 1500.” These statements show that the school was built to be earthquake-resistant and that it has the capacity to accommodate the increase in the number of students in the future.
Hopeful Words from Teachers and Students
Dicle Baran Taşdemir, one of the teachers at the school, emotionally described the difficult process they went through after the earthquake and what the new school meant to them: “We were seeing the construction of the new school from the window of our school where we were guests. We followed it with excitement every day, saying ‘the roof was built today, this was done to the walls today’. It was built very quickly, time flew by for us like water. On behalf of all of Maraş, we would like to thank the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. It saved us from those ruins in a very short time. It was really hard to see those ruins every day. New houses, new hopes, new friends were very nice for us. We would like to thank them for healing our wounds in a short time.”
Ceylin Büyükkurt, one of the students, stated that her school was damaged in the earthquake and that she missed her school very much during that period, and expressed her happiness for having her new school with the following words: “My school was moderately damaged after the earthquake. Every part of it was cracked and burst. I missed my school during that period, I read my books to be diligent. I started to learn how to read and write. I prayed before going to bed at night; I said, “I hope my school will be rebuilt” and I started going to school again.” Another student, Erkan Can, stated that he followed the construction process of the school with excitement, and said, “I was watching the construction of my school, I was asking when it would be finished. Every part of this school is beautiful, I like it very much. I come running.” These words clearly show how important and valuable the new school is for the students.
Meaningful Support from a Sister Country
The solidarity and support shown by Azerbaijan in the construction of the Haydar Aliyev Primary School became a concrete indicator of the strong bond between the two brotherly countries. This meaningful cooperation once again demonstrated the importance of international solidarity in healing the wounds of the earthquake disaster. The fact that the school is named after Haydar Aliyev immortalizes this bond of brotherhood. Haydar Aliyev Primary School will not only contribute to the education of children in Kahramanmaraş, but will also be passed on to future generations as a symbol of the unwavering friendship between Turkey and Azerbaijan. This project went down in history as one of the most beautiful examples of unity and solidarity shown in difficult times.
