MAMIHAN HALBIN ZIDAN

AMED_ The phenomenon of drug abuse is expanding in Van province in northern Kurdistan,amid alarming indicators that the age of use has dropped to 10-20 years. Circulating data indicate that children and youth in Kurdish cities face a growing threat as the scope of narcotics use widens.

In the border province of Van, concerns continue about the growing spread of drugs, despite repeated security operations that have resulted in the seizure of large quantities of narcotic substances. As anti-drug trafficking campaigns intensify, data indicate that access to drugs has become easier, while their use has become more present and visible among youth.

Fears increase with the start of the school year, especially among parents and workers in the education sector, given that the vicinity of schools is indicated as one of the places where drug sales spread. According to the data, youth constitute the largest proportion of users who turn to treatment and counseling centers or whose use has been detected, as their proportion exceeds 60% within the age group extending between 16 and 30 years.

"The Spread of Use Has Widened"

Fonda Demir Bozkurt, co-chair of the Van branch of the Education and Science Union, believes that reducing the spread of drug abuse to an individual or family problem obscures the deeper causes of the crisis. In her assessment of the situation, she linked the exacerbation of the phenomenon to the long course of conflict in Kurdistan and what she describes as "special war policies."

She stressed that the decline in the age of use and the spread of drugs reflect a "multidimensional societal crisis," noting that the crisis and the poverty, unemployment, lack of horizon, and anxiety about the future it produces push some individuals toward drugs.

She pointed out that forced migration, dropping out of school, easy access to narcotic substances, the absence of preventive and comprehensive measures, alongside focusing on pursuing sellers and users without addressing the surrounding social conditions, are all factors that contribute to deepening the crisis. "Turning to drugs does not arise from a single cause, but as a result of the intertwining of multiple economic and social factors."

"The Course Was Shaped According to Special War Policies"

Fonda Demir Bozkurt noted that easy access to drugs, especially substances with chemical components, has become one of the most prominent factors that contributed to the spread of use. "When we assess the situation in general, we see that the tendency toward drug abuse has increased to a great extent. We can say that the age of use in Van has dropped to 10 years, in Amed to 8 years, and to 9 years in Bursa."

She stressed the necessity of reading these data within a special context in northern Kurdistan, where the conflict has continued for decades, considering that its effects went beyond armed confrontation to psychological, social, and societal dimensions. She noted that what she calls "special war policies" aim to create crises within society and prepare conditions for societal erosion and disintegration.

         

        

She believes that pushing youth toward drug abuse, pushing young women toward prostitution, alongside the destruction that has affected cultural, social, and artistic aspects, must be read within the framework of special war policies. "The spread of the phenomenon in northern Kurdistan should be read from a political perspective, especially in light of the talk about permanent peace, which has allowed seeing the effects of years of conflict and accumulated crises more clearly."

She also linked the conflict with the economic crisis, noting that poverty and unemployment are worsening, and that poverty is taking new forms such as the poverty of women, children, and youth, which may push some individuals toward drug abuse. She noted that the effects of the conflict do not remain confined to a specific region, but extend to society and the family, where societal violence can fuel domestic violence, and the individual who is subjected to violence or marginalization or feels inequality and lack of belonging may resort to drugs, according to her assessment.

"Schools Should Be Safe Places"

Fonda Demir Bozkurt stressed that schools, as public spaces, must provide a safe environment for students, teachers, and all workers in them, pointing to the escalation of manifestations of violence inside and around schools.

She cites incidents that occurred recently in Manisa, Van, and Osmaniye, considering that these incidents reveal that schools no longer enjoy the required level of safety. She says that the ease of entry of weapons or knives into schools also makes it difficult to prevent drug sellers from being present in their vicinity, which in turn may turn into an open space for violence and drug promotion.

"A Risk Map Around the School Must Be Prepared"

She believes that addressing the problem cannot be limited to deploying security forces in front of schools, but requires a broader treatment of the social and educational factors related to violence and drugs.

She called for preparing a "risk map" for each school, while protecting children's privacy and data, increasing the numbers of educational counselors, and providing specialists in social services inside schools. She stressed the necessity of creating a joint mechanism that includes the school, the family, parents, children, civil society, and educational unions, to identify the needs of each school and the risks of its surroundings and develop appropriate preventive measures.

She criticized limiting the role of educational institutions to merely warning students about the dangers of drugs, confirming that the school must at the same time be a safe, cultural, and social space, in which the child feels belonging, and is able to practice their culture and speak their mother tongue. She added that the existing system has not been able to protect children from violence and drugs, nor has it provided a sufficient response to the phenomenon of child suicide, which reveals the need to review and strengthen existing mechanisms.

"All Segments of Society Should Play a Role"

She stressed that the spread of drugs and its transformation into a societal crisis cannot be borne by educational institutions alone. She believes that educational and health institutions, political parties, civil society organizations, unions, and organizations concerned with children, women, and youth are required to work together and bear their responsibilities.

In this context, she evokes the shifts organized by women in the Khajurt (Haji Bekir) neighborhood in Van during last August, with the aim of limiting the sale and use of drugs, considering that the cooperation of society and institutions can open the field for more effective measures.

She stressed that the solution should not be limited to arresting drug sellers and rehabilitating users, but must include addressing the social and economic causes, and developing preventive mechanisms that protect children and youth from being drawn into drug abuse.