Nigeria – Our students should not be victims of Turkey’s high-handedness and authoritarianism


Date posted: October 16, 2016

Nigeria Today Editorial Board

Diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Turkey may be strained over the ongoing harassment and deportation of some Nigerian students from Instanbul by the Turkish authorities. One of the students deported to Nigeria last week, Rukkaya Usman, a final year Political Science student at the University of Meliksah, said the Turkish government did not give a reason for the action. Usman, who arrived in Turkey to resume her studies on September 26 was held for ten hours and placed on a flight back to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaye, has said that the Nigerian students who were arrested in Turkey may have been paying for the refusal of the Nigerian government to shut down Turkish schools and other institutions in Nigeria.  Also, the Charge D’Affaires of the Nigerian Mission in Turkey, Ibrahim Isah, said that two Nigerian students had been in detention for more than two months at the Silivri Prisons in Istanbul, Turkey, for allegedly being members of the Fethullah Organisation, which the Turkish government has accused of responsibility for the coup attempt in the country in July. It was also reported that about 50 Nigerian students were arrested in Turkey last week over an alleged link to a suspected terrorist organisation in the country. Many of the Nigerians were said to be students of Fatih University, one of the schools shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt.

Following these developments, the Federal Government has summoned the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, also said that the Nigerian government has asked its Turkish counterpart to free the students.

We strongly condemn the arrest, detention and deportation of some Nigerian students from Turkey’s capital city, Istanbul, over the botched coup in the country. The harassment and intimidation of our students by the Turkish Government over a matter that does not concern them is undiplomatic and utterly reprehensible.

The Turkish government should not visit the punishment for the alleged actions of its political enemies on innocent Nigerian students. Our students should not be victims of that country’s high-handedness and authoritarianism.

It is good that the Nigerian government has summoned the Turkish envoy and demanded the release of the arrested students. Turkey should immediately release these students. What the Turkish government has done is against the spirit of diplomacy. Innocent Nigerian students should not be singled out for punishment for a crime they did not commit. The world should call President Recep Erdogan to order and curb his tendency towards dictatorship.

The Turkish leader should not use the failed coup as an excuse to punish his real and imagined enemies. This victimization of Nigerian students is wrong-headed and in bad taste. The arrogance of Turkey is becoming unbearable.

We call for a quick resolution of this matter. The Nigerian students, like all students everywhere, are vulnerable persons who deserve the protection of the authorities of any country in which they choose to study. Turkey should not be an exception. Since the government of that country has not made any specific charges against them, we demand that they are immediately released and allowed to go about their studies. Those who have been wrongly deported should be assisted by the government of that country to return to Istanbul to conclude their studies.

However, if all attempts at a peaceful resolution of this matter fails, the Nigerian government should not hesitate to invoke the doctrine of reciprocity against Turkey.

Source: Nigeria Today , October 16, 2016

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Jailed journalist Ayşenur Parıldak given courage award by Norwegian rights group

Ayşenur Parıldak, a 27-year-old reporter from Turkey’s now-closed Zaman newspaper who has been behind bars for 13 months, was named the recipient of the first Shahnoush Award by the Oslo-based Vigdis Freedom Foundation.

Turkey’s Erdoğan Regime Extends Post-Coup Witch Hunt Targeting Gülen Followers Abroad

Turkey, under the autocratic rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has stepped up its witch hunt against the alleged members of Gülen movement abroad, pro-Erdoğan English paper Daily Sabah reported. So far, 16 alleged Gülen followers have been abducted or caught abroad and transferred to Turkey from Asian, Middle Eastern countries and Bulgaria.

Advisor’s claim has potential to accelerate AK Party’s downfall

Amid a deepening high-profile corruption scandal that has seriously damaged the government’s reputation, a claim made by a senior advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has the potential to bring the military back to the political scene, carrying the risk of accelerating his party’s downfall from power.

PM Erdoğan widens hostile stance to include more and more groups

Erdoğan has been trying to dodge the damaging impact of the corruption scandals by using Hizmet as a scapegoat. Gülen, an ardent supporter of transparency and accountability in government, was critical of Erdoğan government’s efforts to stall the corruption investigations. Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Gülen said that the massive corruption investigations that have shaken the government cannot be covered up no matter how hard the government tries to derail the probes — not even by blaming the scandal on what the prime minister has called the “parallel state,” a veiled reference to the Hizmet movement inspired by Gülen.

Report: Gülen-linked media outlets sold to pro-gov’t media groups without tender

A number of TV and radio stations that were closed down by the government in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15 due to their links to the faith-based Gülen movement have been sold to the pro-government Turkuvaz Media Group without a tender.

The Turkey I no longer know

The Turkish population already is strongly polarized on the AKP regime. A Turkey under a dictatorial regime, providing haven to violent radicals and pushing its Kurdish citizens into desperation, would be a nightmare for Middle East security. I probably will not live to see Turkey become an exemplary democracy, but I pray that the downward authoritarian drift can be stopped before it is too late.

Latest News

This notable Pocono resident has been living here in exile since 1999

Logistics companies seized over Gülen links sold in fast-track auction

That is Why the Turkish Government could Pay 1 Billion Euros

ECtHR rules Bulgaria violated rights of Turkish journalist who was deported despite seeking asylum

Fethullah Gülen’s Message of Condolences in the Wake of the Western European Floods

Pregnant woman kept in prison for 4 months over Gülen links despite regulations

Normalization of Abduction, Torture, and Death in Erdogan’s Turkey

Turkey’s Maarif Foundation illegally seized German-run school in Ethiopia, says manager

Failed 2016 coup was gov’t plot to purge Gülenists from state bodies, journalist claims

In Case You Missed It

Turkey’s Purge Could Cause a Massive Brain Drain

Netherlands poised to cancel status of Islamic university over rector’s discriminatory remarks

Netherlands fires a lawyer from gov’t job due to her role in witch hunt against Gulen followers

Turkish Gov’t Unveils 16 Ways to Identify Gulenists [as Terrorists]

Police raid Gülen-inspired schools in Adana despite ministry regulation

Turkish Authorities Deny Funeral Service for Drowned Gulen Supporters and babies

Dismissed policeman detained while applying to post-coup rights commission

Copyright 2021 Hizmet News