Families from Greece return to Turkey's Gökçeada after schools open

Fifteen families from Greece's Athens, Thessaloniki and Crete have moved back to the Turkish island of Gökçeada over the last two years, following the reopening of schools on the northwestern Aegean island, the Agos newspaper has reported. 

This year, 26 students are enrolled in the island's secondary school and high school, up from 11 in the first year after reopening. 

The primary school in the island's Zeytinli village, which had been abandoned after 1964, when all Greeks schools there were closed, was re-opened thanks to efforts of locals and after permission from Turkey's Education Ministry. 

Before the 1964 ruling, there were six primary schools, one middle school and three pre-schools on the island, where some 730 children were at school, Agos reported. The closure resulted in a wave of migration to Greece, with only a small population remaining there. 

The first efforts to reopen schools began in 2010, with the first permit being granted in 2012. 

Gökçeada, or Imbros in Greek, receives thousands of tourists, including many from Greece, in the summer, and 8,000 people live there in winter. 

The construction of a sports facility is ongoing near the new middle and high schools in the village of Tepeköy.  
"I want to open an English-Greek language school in Thessaloniki," Agos quoted one student as saying, "but I love Imbros very much."  

Ninth grade student Panos, who speaks fluent Turkish as he lives in the center of the island and has many Turkish friends, dreams of moving to Istanbul and starting his own business, Agos reported.

It added that the boys on the island hope their number will grow enough to find 11 players for their school football team, which currently only has seven...