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Eski binalar yıkılınca modern bir okul açıldı.

Eski binalar yıkılınca modern bir okul açıldı.
When the old buildings were demolished, a modern school was opened.
From Lesson 160:Elapsed time since an action (-alı, -eli)·Turkish

Questions & Answers about Eski binalar yıkılınca modern bir okul açıldı.

Why do both verbs in this sentence have an -ıl in them (yıkılınca, açıldı)?
That is the passive suffix! The root verbs are yıkmak (to demolish) and açmak (to open). By adding -ıl, they become yıkılmak (to be demolished) and açılmak (to be opened). We use the passive voice here because the sentence does not say who did the demolishing or opening.
The current lesson is about -(y)alı (since), but here we see yıkılınca. What is the difference?
The suffix -ınca means 'when' or 'as soon as', so yıkılınca means 'when they were demolished'. If the sentence used the lesson's suffix to say yıkılalı, it would mean 'since they were demolished' (for example, Eski binalar yıkılalı iki yıl oldu which means 'It has been two years since the old buildings were demolished').
How do we know yıkılınca happened in the past if it does not have a past tense ending?
Verbs with the -ınca ending do not take their own tense markers. They automatically borrow their timeframe from the main verb at the very end of the sentence. Because açıldı is in the past tense, we know the demolishing also happened in the past.
Why is the word order modern bir okul instead of bir modern okul?
In Turkish, when a noun has both a descriptive adjective (like modern) and the indefinite article bir (a/an), the standard order is Adjective + bir + Noun. So 'a modern school' translates perfectly to modern bir okul.

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