Imran Khan denounces expected closure of Pak-Turk schools
Date posted: July 25, 2016
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan condemned the expected move to close Pak-Turk schools across the country.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the PTI chief said that the closure of Pak-Turk schools in Pakistan would be disastrous for the country.
“We stand firmly by Turkish democracy but closure of Pak-Turk schools in Pakistan, which has a high illiteracy rate, could be disastrous for the country,” he said.
Khan said that if the schools are closed without considering its consequences, it will put the future of the students and staff at stake.
Earlier, the Turkish ambassador while talking to journalists in Islamabad demanded Pakistan to close down all the institutions in Pakistan which are backed by the Fethullah Gulen-inspired Hizmet movement.
Around 28 Pak-Turk schools and colleges with staff strength of 1,500 are functioning across the country, including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other areas.
Once lauded as model, Turkey’s Africa initiative loses momentum
One of the main reasons behind the loss of momentum in Turkey’s once-intense efforts to boost relations with African states is the Turkish government’s effort to win domestic battles at any cost. In one such attempt, the Turkish government started to work on a plan to get states to close down Turkish schools abroad that are affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by the teachings of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and known as one of Turkey’s most important soft-power instruments.
Beating ‘domestic enemies’ in the game of ‘advanced’ democracy
The writers, intellectuals and the journalists close to the Hizmet movement have, from the very beginning, called on the government to take legal steps against those whom he constantly labels the “parallel state” so that they could also know who they are.
AK Party gov’t treats critical letters, columns as ‘treachery’
In an attempt to defame the Hizmet movement inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish government and its media outlets have presented letters sent by civil society representatives affiliated with the faith-based movement to foreign officials providing them with information about the situation in Turkey as “treachery.”
Turkey’s New Anti-Americanism (NY Times Editorial)
The Turks need to be reminded that Mr. Gulen has a legal right to be in the United States, and that the Justice Department would have to go through a rigorous process before deciding whether he could be handed over, especially to a country where due process is increasingly unlikely and torture is reportedly used against detainees.
Infiltrating or contributing?
None of the academics in attendance reported finding any sign of attempts by movement members to overthrow democracy or even to “grab a bigger share of the pie” for a new elite, shady or otherwise.
Farewell of Pak-Turk Teachers: Symbolic Burial of a Heart
All the parents were depressed and disappointed at the forced exit of Turkish staff. They looked sad with tearful eyes bade farewell to the Turkish staff. Mr. Osman Arslanhan along with the other Turkish staff made a symbolic burial of a heart which was full of hearty wishes of the Turkish staff and drawings made by the Turkish children. The heart was buried with tears in the eyes by all the Turkish staff.
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