Ethiopian schools linked to Turkish cleric are sold to German educators


Date posted: March 1, 2017

ELIAS MESERET, Associated Press

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A network of schools in Ethiopia linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey of masterminding a failed coup attempt last year, is changing ownership.

The sale of the Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools follows pressure from the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is urging countries that host institutions inspired by Gulen to close or take them over.

The sale of the school network to a group of educators from Germany was a “business decision,” Cecil Aydin, a coordinator at the schools in Ethiopia, said this week.

Aydin did not identify the new owners. The German embassy declined to comment.

Ethiopia previously said the schools, which currently enroll nearly 2,000 students, many from elite Ethiopian families, would be handed over to a foundation backed by the Turkish government.

Erdogan raised his concerns about the global network of schools linked to Gulen during a trip to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar in January.

Turkey accuses schools inspired by Gulen of providing militant recruits for his movement, which in turn says an increasingly authoritarian government is casting as wide a net as possible for perceived opponents. Gulen, who is based in Pennsylvania, has denied that he engineered the botched uprising.

Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, said in January that Erdogan had raised concerns about the schools on a visit to Addis Ababa.

Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools, Alemgena Banch

Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools, Alemgena Banch

“I told him that if there is something wrong with the establishment of the schools, then he should give us a way out how to keep the schools running,” Desalegn said.

Turkey’s campaign against Gulen in Africa has been criticized by some who say the call to close schools lacks evidence of wrongdoing and infringes on national sovereignty. Turkey, however, has significant economic clout in some countries. In Ethiopia, for example, dozens of Turkish companies operate in railways, textile factories and other industries.

The Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools opened nine years ago and have six branches with kindergartens, primary schools and high schools. Annual fees run to more than $2,500 per child, an amount beyond the means of most Ethiopians.

Hakan Ulus, a spokesman for the schools, said the sale left many Turkish employees in limbo.

“I was lucky enough and have acquired a Ugandan passport with which I can travel everywhere,” Ulus said. “But there are many families of the teachers and their families who are feeling stranded here because they teach at this institution.”

Source: The Gazette , March 1, 2017


Related News

Scandalous return of Feb. 28

Hizmet movement lent full support to the AK Party in connection with critical issues such as the lawsuits against Ergenekon — a clandestine organization nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government — and the e-memorandum of April 27, 2007.

Erdogan’s crackdown – Woman detained while showing newborn baby to jailed husband

S.Ö., whose husband was jailed a few weeks before she gave birth to a baby, was detained in Sakarya on March 8 when she went to Sakarya Prison to show him their newborn baby.

Erdoğan’s allegations proven to be incorrect, contradictory over time

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has over time turned out to be wrong or self-contradictory in his allegations over a number of issues in the past few years, which has cast doubts on his credibility as well as the credibility of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in the eyes of the people.

Nigerian Turkish Nile University: Moulding the Lives of Young Nigerians

Nigerian Turkish Nile University, in its vision, hopes to grow into a vanguard university that gains the respect of the world through academic excellence by providing the highest quality university education for students from around the globe. Located in the heart of Abuja, the nation’s capital, the NTNU boasts of a clean academic environment and a friendly atmosphere.

AK Party VP Sahin: We can only be grateful to Hizmet people

Vice President of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Mehmet Ali Şahin remarked on the relations between AK Party and the Hizmet Movement (Gulen movement) in an interview*. Şahin said, “Is it possible for us to have any issue with the people performing such activities? We can be only grateful to them. We […]

Kimse Yok Mu extends helping hand to orphans in eastern Turkey

Charity organization Kimse Yok Mu continues its campaign in the holy month of Ramadan. Volunteers from the KYM went to the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Tuesday and delivered aid boxes economically disadvantaged citizens.

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

‘I feel like I have been buried alive’: families live in fear and isolation as Erdoğan leads a witch-hunt

African village named ‘Turkiye’ to show thanks for humanitarian aid

Gülen-inspired schools lead in university entrance exam results

Source claims US not probing into Gulenists’ alleged role in Russian ambassador’s murder

Abrahamic Faith Leaders on Significance of Coexistence

Former intel chief calls for use of ASALA, MOSSAD tactics to kill Gülen followers

25-year-old woman escapes Turkey’s witch-hunt as Bosnia grants asylum

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News