Seventeen Turkish
schools in Nigeria were allegedly involved in the failed coup attempt in
Turkey, says the Turkish ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil.
The ambassador stated
this on Wednesday when he was paid a visit by Shehu Sani, vice-chairman, senate
committee on foreign affairs.
Cakil called on the
Nigerian government to shut down the school, noting that the discovery was made
by investigations conducted by the
Turkish government into the failed coup that saw the death of over 300 people.
He said, “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 the 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.”
“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 the 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.
“I will take the matter
up to the federal executive council. 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 United States.”
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