Education minister calls on African ambassadors to have Gülen-inspired schools closed

Turkey's National Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz.
Turkey's National Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz.


Date posted: September 20, 2017

Turkish Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz has called on ambassadors of African countries to have their governments close schools affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement, the t24 news website reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, Yılmaz warned ambassadors about Gülen supporters living in African countries and said Turkey’s Maarif Foundation was working on taking over Gülen-affiliated schools and opening new schools in African countries.

“We want Africans, our friends and brothers, to get rid of FETÖ [a derogatory term used by the Turkish government to refer to the Gülen movement] schools.”

The military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Gülen, whose views inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but Erdoğan and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Erdoğan also launched a witch-hunt against Gülen followers worldwide, asking several countries to close down Gülen-affiliated schools and institutions as well as to detain and extradite teachers, businessmen and their families who sympathize with the movement.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15 through government decrees issued as part of the state of emergency.

 

Source: Turkish Minute , September 19, 2017


Related News

The legacy of a professor closing down schools

The attempt to close down these schools is an indicator of hatred/resentment among some against the Hizmet movement, which laid the foundation for these institutions.

Turks caught up in Gulenists crackdown seek justice

When she returned to her old school to pick up some papers after being suspended, the religious affairs teacher from the Turkish town of Adapazari was braced for some awkward glances. But she was not prepared to be treated as an outcast by colleagues of eight years’ standing. “They wouldn’t even look at me,” says the mother-of-three, dabbing her cheek with a tissue. “It was as if I was a terrorist.”

D.C.-based law firm gathers intel on U.S. residents for Turkey – WSJ

The Turkish government has employed a Washington D.C.-based law firm to gather information on its critics, including U.S. residents, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Wedding gifts will help build dorm and water wells in Tanzania

Ubeyd and Nurefşan Yeşil donated the gifts presented at their wedding to the Hizmet in Tanzania. Almost $40,000 value donation will be used in the construction of a college dormitory and water wells.

Aid organization head blasts terror probe

Turkey was shocked by a terror investigation against Kimse Yok Mu (KYM). According to a statement by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the organization was being probed over its alleged involvement in terrorism during activities during Eid al-Adha.

Scores of students march to Pristina airport after learning Gülen teachers not yet deported

Scores of students marched to Pristina airport after finding out that six Turkish nationals who were arrested early on Thursday had not yet been deported.

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

Turkish schools dominate award ceremony in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Asylum for Fethullah Gulen Movement Supporters?

TUSKON challenges Erdoğan to enter business, defies threats

Albanian Ministry of Interior Violated Law in Trying to Deport Turkish National Selami Simsek

Gursel Tekin: Gulen’s remarks on the third bridge are valuable

Mr. Erdogan’s Jaw-Dropping Hypocrisy

Young Peacebuilders Honored

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News