Several schools formerly run by the Gülen movement in Albania have been the subject of growing government pressure in recent weeks. On Oct. 28 the campus of the Turgut Özal School was raided by Albanian police without any court order or warrant, and excessive force was used in the presence of students.
South Africa is a good example of a country that has not been pressured into adopting the narrative touted by the Turkish government. Local politicians, students and academics regularly acknowledge the Hizmet Movement’s altruistic activities in the country.
A court in Bosnia and Herzegovina has terminated restrictions on the movement of Turkish citizen Fatih Keskin, previously imposed by the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs following his arrest and subsequent release in December last year, the court told.
The Bucharest Court of Appeal has denied the extradition of educator Fatih Gürsoy on dubious terrorism charges brought by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and underlined the fact that the Lumina Educational Institutions “operates according to the Romanian law.”
Erdogan regime has transformed most of the seized schools into religious vocational high schools, where teachers mostly teach Salafi beliefs. The Gülen Movement’s first school Yamanlar College was one of them.
Albanian authorities on Wednesday deported Harun Çelik, a Turkish teacher at a school affiliated with the faith-based Gülen movement in Albania, to Turkey despite a court order releasing him from his five-month incarceration over an extradition request from Ankara.
“As parents, as we are concerned about the way the principal of this school is treated, and we expect information on the further development of the situation regarding the treatment of the principal,” parents stated, adding that they request to be informed on the reasons for the arrest as soon as possible.