Ankara Urges Kabul to Close Afghan-Turk Schools

The Government of Turkey claims that Afghan-Turk schools must be closed in Afghanistan because its main office in Turkey has been closed by Turkish government.

While an official from the Afghan-Turk schools in Kabul on Thursday rejected the claim, adding the institution never had an office in Turkey.

“The dialogue to hand over the management of [the schools] is in contradiction with the constitution, the law on Non-Government Institutions, and the MoU signed between the organization and the Ministry of Education. This is a claim without any documentation and the organization never had an office in Turkey,” Ahmad Fawad Haidari, deputy director of Afghan-Turk schools said.

Currently, Turkish teacher Yilmaz Aytan and Turkish restaurant owner Sami Yavuz are under house arrest in Kabul.

The Afghan-Turk Parents’ Committee is worried about the individuals handover to the Turkish government, adding that their life would be in danger in Turkey.

“This is not fair to handover a teacher to the Turkish authority to put him in the jail for their political desires,” Parents’ Committee member Abdul Shakor Dadras said.

“We are calling on the government not to commit a historical mistake by returning Yilmaz to his country,” another member Kabir Ranjbar said.

Meanwhile, Yavuz attorney claims that he had been unable to understand Yavuz’s offence yet.

The Ministry of Education says if the Afghan and Turkish governments reached to an understanding, the management of the schools may be handed over to Turkish government, but the schools will never be closed.

This comes as earlier reports emerged that President Ashraf Ghani has agreed to hand over the Afghan-Turk schools, previously run by a pro-Gulen institution, to the Turkish Education Foundation which is a governmental institution.

By Hesamuddin Hesam & Lyda Niazi