Turkish schools abroad victims of AKP-Gulen conflict
The struggle between the AKP and the Gulen movement threatens more than 2,000 Turkish schools abroad, which have been seen as the country's most "valuable export commodity" and a "source of prestige."
The fate of the Gulen movement’s schools — located in more than 160 countries — is being debated following Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's declaration of war in the wake of the Dec. 17 graft probe that targeted individuals associated with his government.
The fear that more than 2,000 schools could be shut down can be traced back to Erdogan’s statements at a Turkish ambassadors conference in January: “This organization has to be exposed. Responsibility for it is on the shoulders of every one of our ambassadors.” According to Gulenists, these schools, which until now had been called “the most successful export commodity of Turkey,” were targeted by the prime minister's directive. They say the Foreign Ministry is "lobbying to close down the schools," directing their accusations at Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
On April 10, Davutoglu responded to accusations. “There is no instruction to close them down. Where did this come from? There is no such decision by the Foreign Ministry, but there is one standing instruction: 'Should anyone, doesn’t matter who, insult the Turkish Republic in any manner or work against it, whatever needed to be done will be done.'” He added, "We toiled for every brick laid for those schools."
Davutoglu, who was in New York to rally support for Turkey to become a member of the UN Security Council, said letters had been sent to foreign missions denigrating the government of Turkey. He said, “When we saw the letters sent by some civil society leaders complaining about these schools operating in the United States, I asked myself whether it was necessary to find out what these schools are really doing.” Media outlets close to the Gulen movement interpreted these comments as an admission of the instructions that he denies having given.
