Staff of Pak-Turk schools to be deported before Nov 20th

The interior ministry has asked the Turkish nationals associated with Pak-Turk schools and colleges to leave the country by Nov 20.

The decision came a day before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Pakistan on Wednesday (Today).

The management of the educational network on Tuesday expressed concern over the “abrupt move” and assured the students and parents involved that it stood firmly against any proposal for “ingress of some other organisation into the teachers and staff of the schools”.

The Board of Directors also issued a public announcement on the official website, “PakTurk International Schools and Colleges are deeply concerned over the abrupt decision of the government requiring the Turkish teachers, management and their family members numbering to approximately 450 individuals including the school-going children, infants and ladies to leave the country within three days – an extraordinary time constraint – in consequence of non-approval of their requests for extension of visa.”

A senior official of the interior ministry said the visas of the educational chain’s staff had been cancelled and that letters had been sent to them on Sunday, informing them that they had only one week to leave the country.

The decision was in line with the advice of the foreign affairs ministry.

The number of teachers and other Turkish staff in the chain’s 28 schools and colleges stood at 108 and the total number of their family members at about 400, the official said.

Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin at media briefing on the developments in Turkey after failed attempt to topple the government had said that Turkey “called on all friendly countries to prevent activities of this (Gulen’s) group” and “close down institutions run by Fethullah Gülen.” Fethullah Gülen, a US-based religious leader was accused of masterminding the recent coup attempt in Turkey.

In a later development in August, the management of PakTurk International Schools and Colleges had replaced the Turkish nationals serving on administrative posts in its schools and colleges with locals but continued engaging them on teaching assignments.

The network of Pak-Turk schools and colleges was launched in 1995 under an international NGO registered with the Turkish government. “Initially, funding was made from Turkey to establish modern campuses in Pakistan. But for the last 15 years or so the chain has been generating its own funds here, offering free education and boarding facilities to 35 per cent of the students, besides awarding foreign scholarships to them,” the official said.