During all history, countless beautiful libraries belonging to various civilizations have been burned or destroyed. The most famous of these are the Library of Alexandria, the House of Wisdom (Beyt al-Hikma) in Baghdad (destroyed by the Mongols), the Nalanda Library in India, the Imperial Library in Istanbul, and the Alamut Fortress Library (Iran), which was destroyed by the Mongols in 1256. Or the books burned by the Nazis. One could talk about them all.
These events usually occurred during times of war, conquest, and cultural destruction. The destruction of these libraries is considered a painful example of how easily knowledge and culture can be destroyed throughout history.
But the event I want to tell you now is not from the dusty shelves of history, it is an event that happened in early 2026…
Nagihan Akarsel, a member of the Academy of Jineolojî, editor of the Jineolojî Magazine, was a journalist, writer and academic. In the Southern Kurdistan Region, Sulaymaniyah, she was murdered in front of her home by the Turkish state in an armed attack. Therefore, women who knew Nagihan, had heard about her and were impressed by her attitude, opened reading houses and libraries, fulfilling one of her greatest dreams. One of these was the Reading House of the martyr Nagihan Akarsel, which was opened on October 4, 2023 in the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood of Aleppo. Thanks to this, everyone from young people to adults can easily access books, and a culture of reading is developing. All of this was possible thanks to Nagihan’s dream. In Aleppo weapons are freely bought and sold at the borders and in vehicles in areas under the control of HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), but unfortunately books were banned from crossing the borders, and the greatest fear was the people who gathered and organized around them. For this, books were burned and destroyed.
And this happened in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo, which is a symbol of resistance. Now I ask you who are listening: How can you accept this brutal ideology that is afraid of those who advance in the light of knowledge? Really, you accept these brutal people? Because your silence is your acceptance. Anyone who remains silent about the ISIS-HTS-Turkish state alliance and i
ts massacres naturally becomes an accomplice to their actions. Now I ask your conscience again: are you on the side of protecting enlightenment or on the side of protecting darkness?
Serhildan Banyan Magusa
For know more about the reading house in Aleppo:
