The Turkish Government has linked 17 schools in Nigeria to the July 15 failed coup in Turkey. It stated that the owners of the schools allegedly have links with the Gulen Movement believed to be mastermind of the coup.
“They are raising funds through the schools and they are using these funds for the illegal activities,” the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, stated yesterday. Hence, the Turkish Ambassador has called on the Federal Government to close 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria over alleged link with a terrorist movement involved in the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey. Some of the schools are Nigerian Turkish International College (NTIC), Ahmadu Bello Way by Kashim Ibrahim Way, Wuse 2, Abuja; NTIC Rigachukun, along Kaduna- Zaria Road, Kaduna; NTIC, Hadeja Road bypass by Ring Road, Yankaba, Kano; NTIC, Mamudoo, Potiskum, Yobe; NTIC, Isheri: OGD Drive, Lagos- Ibadan, Expressway, Ogun State; and NTIC, Nursery & Primary School, 4A, Agbaoku St. Off Opepi Road, Ikeja, Lagos; Galaxy University Preparatory Centre; Nigerian Turkish Nile University.
The colleges have staff strength of over 1000 academic and non-academic personnel with a total of 4,025 students in which 17 per cent of them are on scholarship. The schools started activities in a rented building with only 14 pioneer students in Abuja in 1998. According to the ambassador, investigations by the Turkish government have linked the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation (FETO) to the failed coup attempt, which claimed over 300 lives. President Recep Erdogan has ordered the closure of 1,043 private schools, 1,229 charities, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions after the failed military coup.
The Erdogan-led government has detained a nephew of Fethullah Gulen, the United States-based Muslim cleric accused by Ankara of masterminding the failed coup attempt. The ambassador, who made the call when the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, paid him a courtesy visit, said the Turkish Government had nothing to do with the schools.
He said the Turkish government was dissociating itself from any school bearing the country’s name in Nigeria, adding that while country had schools in other countries, it had none in Nigeria. “We are requesting the Nigerian government to close down the schools. I have requested officially, both orally and in writing, the closure of these schools. Also, I have sent a letter to Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama (Foreign Minister) and Mr. Abba Kyari (Chief of Staff to the President) about this subject and requested their support for the closure of the schools. “I will also send letters to the Chairmen of Committees on Foreign Affairs in the National Assembly, as well as the Senate Majority Leader over the issue and I am going to enclose some documents in English on how the group members are engaged in the army, police and the judiciary.
“In Nigeria, there are 17 schools, which belong to the Gulen Movement, one in Kano, one in Kaduna, one in Abuja, Lagos etc and they are offering scholarships. “We are starting some legal procedures to take the name of Turkish out of the name of the schools. They are not schools of the Turkish Government. “They are misleading the public and allocating scholarships to the children of the high bureaucracy and after they graduate from school, they send the children to Turkey to attend their universities,” he said. The ambassador said the Turkish government had closed down all schools linked to the movement in Turkey.
“Turkish government has already closed down all primary, secondary, high schools and universities owned by the group in Turkey. “In our system, it is allowed for the foundation to establish schools if they fulfill some requirements and that is how they established these schools. This is an issue that the Turkish Government has attached so much importance. “Recently, my minister called Mr. Onyeama and briefed him about these schools because they are raising funds through the schools and they are using these funds for their illegal activities.
“This is a matter of national security for us in Turkey. I have instructions from my government to follow up this matter and we will be very happy to obtain the support of Nigerian legislators on that issue,” he said. He promised to engage other relevant government officials on the matter, adding that: “I will take the matter up to the Federal Executive Council (FEC). I have also requested an audience with the Minister of Education. “You may be aware that the government of Turkey started to investigate those responsible for the coup attempt. “It is really clear that the Gulen Movement is behind the coup.
There are some testimonies by detained military officials. They are confessing that they are in connection with the Gulen Movement and they have been members of the Gulen Movement for a long time and they have been planning this coup for a long time, nearly five months. “The Government of Turkey has started to take some legal actions against the leader of the movement. He is now based in the United States. His extradition is a legal matter between Turkey and the United States,” he said.
On the relations between Nigeria and Turkey, the ambassador said he was optimistic that the trade between the two countries, which declined due to the drop in oil price, would pick up soon.
The Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani, said Turkey had the legitimate right to be concerned about its security in view of the failed coup attempt.
He, however, urged the Turkish government to operate within the ambits of the law in bringing those responsible for the incidence to book. Meanwhile, the management of Nigerian Turkish International Schools, Nigerian Nile Turkish University and Nizamiye Turkish Hospital, under the name First Surat Group of Companies, said they are responsible to the Nigerian government alone. Speaking with New Telegraph in Abuja yesterday, spokesperson for the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Cemal Yigit, said the schools, hospital and the university owned by the Group are private and non-governmental entities are opened and functional, noting that there’s no way they can be shut or closed down by the ambassador. According to him, it
was laughable to associate political upheavals in Turkey with schools in Nigeria, stressing that Turkish businesses owned by private investors in Nigeria have nothing to do with the recently aborted coup in Turkey. He added that the directive by the ambassador was just a deliberate misinformation. His words: “What can I call it? Definite campaign on Turkish International Schools by Turkish government all over the world and that is what the Turkish Ambassador in Nigeria is doing.
“The Nigerian Turkish International Schools, Nizamiye Hospital and Nigerian Turkish Nile University, under First Surat Group of Companies, are private investments here in Nigeria owned by some Turkish investors and their responsibilities are to Nigerian authorities.
“They accountable to Nigerian government. This Turkish group of companies, schools, and hospitals have nothing to do with Turkish government. They are non-governmental and non-political entities. The Turkish schools are opened, the hospital is opened and the university is opened and functional. There’s no way they can be closed or shut down. “This is just a deliberate misinformation by the Ambassador of Turkey in Nigeria.”
Source: New Telegraph
