Pakistan Today Editorial: The Turkish connection and Turkish schools


Date posted: November 21, 2016

Editorial

Surely nobody at the joint session really believed Mr Erdogan’s warning about the threat the so called Gulen Network presents Pakistan. No doubt the Turkish president really believes the Network – which ran schools here till just before his visit – is just as dangerous for Pakistan as al Qaeda, etc, but that he believes that lawmakers of a country at war with some of these outfits would buy it raises a few questions. Not the least about the country itself. Surely somebody in the high chain of command took it very seriously; enough to shut down those schools and deport the staff.

There is a deeper irony in this tragedy. It’s not just that Pakistan faces an acute education deficit and could do with all the help, and a lot, lot more, in that area. It’s also that the government really faces a huge challenge concerning so called educational institutes that spread hatred, violence and even terrorism. And on the front – the madrassas – the government has been paralysed. And no manner of terrorism or tragedy has made it budge and pay attention to this crucial point of the National Action Plan.

None of that, in any way, takes anything away from Mr Erdogan’s achievements in a long and largely impressive political career. His economic turnaround is well marketed, but few outside Turkey know he also revolutionised the country’s judiciary, turning it from a corrupt, inefficient institution like ours to the embodiment of a just, fast and efficient judiciary. And even though of late his foreign policy blunders have helped bring death and destruction to the Middle East, and he has become increasingly paranoid and authoritarian, there is still much our rulers can learn from him. And given the proximity, and the obviously close Turkish connection, there is hope that some of him will rub off onto them.

Source: Pakistan Today , November 20, 2016


Related News

Accused Turkish Cleric Assails President on Anniversary of Coup Attempt in WSJ Interview

Fethullah Gulen repeated his declaration that he has never been involved in any coup-plotting. “I never thought that he could go so bad,” said Mr. Gulen, who said that the Turkish president was unleashing mass hysteria inside the country. “Some parts of Turkish society have lost their ability to think.”

Opinion: Does the Turkish Intelligence Agency Plan to Abduct Turkish Dissidents from the US?

When it comes to conducting abduction operations in the U.S. soil Erdogan regime may receive help from his new allies, Russia and Iran. It is a fact that Erdogan has a deeply seeded network of Muslim institutions inside the United States.

Gov’t ban on charity Kimse Yok Mu hits orphans

Thousands of orphans and needy people around the world whose lives depend on the aid they receive from charities such as Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?), the largest volunteer and global aid organization based in Turkey, are at risk of being affected by the Turkish government’s restrictions on the charitable association.

Gülen says Turkey’s democracy eroding under AK Party rule

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said Turkey, which was not long ago the envy of Muslim-majority countries with its bid to become an EU member and dedication to being a functioning democracy, is reversing progress and clamping down on civil society, the media, the judiciary and free enterprise under the rule of the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Five pilots who bombed coup base on July 15 arrested over Gulen links

Five pilots who bombed the Akincilar Air Base in Ankara to halt the coup attempt on the night of July 15, 2016, were later arrested as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement.

Turkish school in Pakistan produces math world champion

Usama Mahmoud Hawar, a student at a Turkish school in Pakistan, has become the world champion in mathematics in an exam commissioned by the British Council’s Cambridge University, the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday. Hawar, one of 12 million students from 200 countries to participate in the exam, was a final-year student at Lahore […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Erdogan’s Private Youth Army

Turkey pays a price for purging counterterror professionals

Turkish intelligence abducts Gülen-linked expats in Malaysia: relatives

Aid organization head blasts terror probe

American reporters got an intriguing glimpse into the political mind-set in Turkey

Kimse Yok Mu delivers humanitarian assistance to Yazidis, Turkmens

Pro-gov’t columnist: Turkish state must assassinate Fethullah Gülen

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News