Turks in Pakistan challenge their expulsion order in court

Referring to an announcement of the ministry of Iinterior that all the 450 Turkish nationals including 108 teachers of the Pak Turk International Schools and Colleges would leave Pakistan, they said it was a one-sided decision proving that Pakistan has no solid foreign policy.

Students of the schools and colleges under PakTurk Educational Foundation on Thursday staged protests in various cities of the country against the government’s decision to deport its Turkish teachers and their family members within three days.

“However, these schools will remain functional under the Pakistani administration”, he said. Turkish officials have accused the school of being affiliated with the movement of USA based dissident cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Numerous teachers have apparently been in Pakistan for well over a decade and are struggling to pack up their lives by Sunday, the deadline for them to leave the country. He runs almost 2,000 educational institutions in countries around the world.

Gulen is the leader of a movement that operates schools around the world.

Erdogan landed in Islamabad on Wednesday, embarking on a two-day visit – his first to Pakistan since an attempted military coup failed to dislodge him from power earlier this year. He welcomed the cooperation extended by Turkey for improvement of Health Care System in Punjab.

School officials say the petition is being heard in court on Thursday.

“We will eliminate this terrorist organization before it harms Pakistan”, he said.

“Just like Turkey, Pakistan is carrying out a relentless fight against terror”.

“We have also started importing LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and we are setting up more LNG port terminals in private sector including the one being set up by our Turkish friends”, he added.

Turkey, which aspires to join the European Union, has dismissed or detained more than 110,000 civil servants, members of the security forces and other officials in a crackdown it says is justified by the gravity of the threat from the July 15 putsch.

He said now these schools have been operating under an NGO registered with the Pakistani government.

Other opposition parties oppose a stronger presidency. Sources claim that Khan has stakes in the PakTurk foundation. He said that after this visit of Turk President, Pak-Turk relations will touch new heights and a new era of relations will usher in between the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Germany and Belgium on Wednesday for their inaction against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Fethullah Gulen’s movement in their countries.

Pakistan’s proponents of secularism are angry about Ankara’s demands to crack down on Gulen institutions.

At a joint press conference, Erdogan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation, share their experience in fighting terrorism and complete a free trade agreement by the end of 2017.

Turkey is attempting to join the European Union, but the purge and the fact the country is set to vote to bring back the death penalty have stalled membership negotiations.

He also praised the support given by the people of Pakistan to the Turkish nation.

Some say that Pakistanis can share a thing or two with the Turkish people about their disastrous experience with Islamism. Pakistan underwent a similar transformation in the 1980s and is still struggling to come out of it.