Afghan official lauds Turkey’s education drive

International Mazar-i Sharif Afghan Turk High School
International Mazar-i Sharif Afghan Turk High School


Date posted: May 10, 2010

afghan-officialŞEYMA AKKOYUNLU, İSTANBUL

A top Afghan official has praised Turkey’s efforts to boost education and help in restructuring Afghanistan, saying Turkish assistance to the country was unparalleled.

“Turkey has a very special place in Afghanistan. It is the only Muslim country in NATO, and the Afghan people trust Turkey. The source of this trust is the assistance provided by the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency [TİKA] and Turkish schools in Afghanistan,” Rashid Mubariz, Afghanistan’s deputy minister of culture and information, said on Thursday.

Mubariz was speaking during a meeting of Turkish and Afghan journalists hosted by the Medialog Platform, a body affiliated with the independent Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) promoting dialogue among media institutions. “There are 48 countries [contributing to NATO’s peacekeeping force] in Afghanistan. But no country can do what Turkey is doing,” Mubariz, who visited Turkey with a group of 10 journalists, also said.

The Afghan official called on Turkish schools operating in Afghanistan to increase their efforts to provide education to the Afghan people, saying the Afghans are very pleased with their current work.

There are six Afghan-Turkish schools — including one girls’ high school — operating in Afghanistan, the first of which was opened in 1995. The high schools — in Shibirgan, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar and Herat for boys, and one all-girls high school in Kabul — operate under the designation “Afghan-Turkish Schools.” This year, Turkey is to build and furnish 15 schools and seven health clinics through TİKA. There are over 6 million students in Afghanistan, with over 4,000 schools operating without proper school buildings.

Victims of the Taliban

Afghan journalists attending the meeting appeared to be united in blaming the Taliban for the current instability and insecurity in Afghanistan and in stating that the NATO presence in the country was a necessity. “There was not a single Afghan national involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Yet we became victims of the Taliban,” said Sanjari Suhayl, editor-in-chief of the Hasht-e-Subh daily, told the meeting. Another journalist, Fahim Dashti of Haftanamey-i Kabul, said almost all Afghans wanted NATO troops to stay because Afghanistan was currently unable to fight the vast number of problems it faced.

Dashti also warned that Afghanistan’s security problems were a threat to the entire world and that, if efforts to contain them in Afghanistan fail, the whole world would be affected. “We don’t have much to lose. But if we lose, our allies will also lose. The Taliban has objectives outside of Afghanistan. If they seize control in Pakistan, they will seize control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Then the war that we lost will continue in İstanbul, Berlin and other places,” he said.

Commenting on the presence of international troops in Afghanistan, Mubariz said no country would want to see foreign troops in its streets but added that NATO was providing security in Afghanistan and that NATO’s withdrawal depended on Afghanistan’s ability to create its own army.

Mubariz also called for more cooperation between Turkish and Afghan media institutions and training programs in Turkey for Afghan journalists.

Source: Today’s Zaman, 8 May 2010, http://www.todayszaman.com/news-209659-102-afghan-official-lauds-turkeys-education-drive.html


Related News

Pakistan submits to Turkey’s ‘authoritarian demands’ on Gulen

Authorities have ordered teachers with alleged links to Turkish cleric Gulen to leave the country as Turkey’s President Erdogan visits Pakistan. Experts say the move is aimed at appeasing Ankara. Pakistani liberal activists say Islamabad should not encourage Erdogan by obliging his government’s unlawful and authoritarian demands. Promotion of secular and democratic values is the only way forward, they say.

Erdogan’s parallel state in Kosovo functions despite PM Haradinaj

More importantly, is there any role played by President Hashim Thaçi who is known to be very close to the Turkish government? After all, it seems that Turkey’s Erdogan has a parallel state in Kosovo that executes decisions without the the knowledge of the incumbent prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.

Bangladesh’s Turkish school student becomes first in world math exam

Mostafa, who was up against nine million students from 110 nations, became first in Edexcel IGCSE exam. Mostafa is a 10th grade student from Bangladesh’s International Hope Turkish School and he received his award from Bangladesh’s London ambassador.

Coexistence Awards largely honor Turkey’s minority groups

MAHİR ZEYNALOV, İSTANBUL The Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) has largely honored Turkey’s minority groups and oppressed voices with its landmark 4th Coexistence Awards in the hopes of giving a stimulus to those promoting peaceful coexistence with a sustained effort despite scarce resources. The awards ceremony attracted thousands of spectators, including officials, intellectuals and public […]

U.S. schools are indirectly linked to preacher, often well-regarded

Even before the revolt, this network was already in Erdogan’s sights. Critics say Gulen gets payments from supporters doing contract work on the schools or from “donations” made by Turkish instructors brought to the U.S. on special visas to teach at them, charges he has rejected. Several charter chains thought to be related to the Gulen movement have been investigated by local authorities for misusing taxpayer dollars, but the inquiries haven’t resulted in charges of wrong doing.

Is [Erdogan’s] Maarif Foundation capable of delivering quality education?

Not only will the Maarif Foundation be unable to accomplish anything conducive and rewarding, it will not be able to prepare the required generation of youth with open-mindedness and critical thinking.

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

‘Removal of Gülen’s books from NT shelves offends the public’

NTIC Student Bags Int’l Young Inventors Olympiads, Beats US, UK, Others

The anomaly of war

How Christians conspired Christian murders in Turkey

Turkish consulate in Rotterdam seized passports of Gulen-supporters

Very bad things are happening in Turkey

Students from 140 countries to participate in Turkish Olympiads this year

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News