Alleged Turkish Coupists Own Schools, Hospitals In Nigeria — Envoy

Nigerian-Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) in Nigeria have schools located in Yobe, Kano, Kaduna, Ogun, Lagos States and Abuja

The Government of Turkey on Thursday said it had alerted the Federal Government to the existence of schools allegedly owned by suspected terrorists and want them shut down.

The Punch report continues:

Turkey said it had officially notified the Nigerian government “to the existence of 17 of such schools in Nigeria, which bear the name of Turkey” but were not owned by the European country.

People react after they take over military position on the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. Photo: AFP.

The country said the institutions, which ranged from schools to hospitals, were allegedly owned by the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization allegedly founded by Fethullah Gulen.

The Turkish government, which stated that the country did not own any school in Nigeria, said similar schools established in Turkey had been shut down.

A document released by the Turkish embassy listed the indicted schools and institutions as Surat Educational Limited, Abuja; Nigerian-Turkish International School, in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Yobe, Ogun and Lagos; and the Nigerian-Turkish Nile University, Abuja.

Others, according to the embassy, are The Association of Businessmen and Investors of Nigeria and Turkey/Abinat, Abuja and Lagos; Ufuk Dialogue Foundation, Abuja; Nigerian-Turkish Nizamiye Hospital, Abuja; and Vefa Travel Agency, Abuja.

The Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, Mr. Hakan Cakil, while speaking to the Vice- Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Shehu Sani, when the latter paid the diplomat a visit at his Abuja office, allegedly that the owners of the schools sponsored the recent coup in Turkey.

Sani was there in company with select journalists, including our correspondent.

According to the ambassador, confessions by the coup plotters, who are currently under investigation, have indicated that the same syndicate which hatched the botched July 15, 2016 coup, own the schools in Nigeria.

Cakil said the organization and its investments had enjoyed wide acceptance by the public in Turkey until suspected coupists confessed to using the organizations for terrorist activities.

The ambassador said, “You may be aware that the Government of Turkey has started to investigate the sponsors of the coup and it is now very clear that Gulen was behind the coup. There are some testimonies we have taken from the military officials.

On the schools in Nigeria, the envoy said, “In Nigeria, they have 17 schools; some of them are in Kano, Abuja, Lagos, etc., and they are offering scholarships to their graduates. They are not Turkish government schools. The schools bearing “Turkish” are schools belonging to Fethullah Gulen.

“We are starting a legal process to take the name “Turkish” out of the name of the schools. They are not the schools of the Turkish government; they are misleading the public.

The ambassador alleged that the universities were used to indoctrinate international students including Nigerians by the group.

He added, “I have already contacted my counterpart in Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I have already requested officially, both orally and written, for the closure of these schools. Also, I have informed Mr. Geoffrey Onyema and Mr. Abba Kyari on this subject, requesting their support on closing down the schools,” he said.

The diplomat noted that his country had attached “too much importance” to the issue.

Sani, in his response, said the Nigerian government would first investigate the allegations before acting on them.

He said, “Those issues you raised are issues someone like me will like to pursue to the end. We cannot claim to be a democracy and harbour people who will overthrow government in another country.

But when contacted, the Director of Press and Public Communication, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Clement Aduku, said he was not aware of the letter by the Turkish mission.

“I have not seen any such of communications yet, but will find out from our principals if they have seen or received any update on the matter,” he said in an SMS.

Turkey Asks Nigeria To Shut Down Turkish Colleges

Daily Trust The Turkish government has asked the federal government to close down all the Nigerian-Turkish International Colleges (NTIC) in Nigeria, saying they belong to Fetullah Gulen, who it accused of sponsoring the July 15 failed military coup in that country.
The country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, disclosed this while hosting the vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central).

“We have formally and verbally made our demand to the Nigerian government through the Foreign Affairs Minister. My country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has spoken to Mr. Geoffrey Onyema on this. We are requesting for the close down of all the 17 schools,” he said.

Cakil, who described Nigeria as his country’s strategic partner, alleged that the schools belonged to Gulen’s movement, “a cult of personality that runs a secretive transitional network aiming to overthrow the democratic secular regime in Turkey.”

He said the confessions of the suspects arrested over the failed coup had shown that the movement is a terrorist group.

“All the schools in Nigeria belong to the Gulen movement and not the Turkish government. They are using the schools to recruit followers for terrorism. This is threatening the peace in our country as they are using funds they are generating in Nigeria for terrorism,” he said.

He said his country had closed down 15 universities and all other schools belonging to the movement in Turkey.

“Gulen is a terrorist organization using rhetoric of dialogue, peace and partnership to deceive people. It is being presented as a kind of Muslim missionary but they are abusing the religion.

“They misled the public by putting Turkey in the name of their school. We don’t have schools in Nigeria, we have in other countries but not in Nigeria. Gulen movement staged a coup and they failed, he said. ”

He added: “Investigations prior to the coup attempt had revealed that the followers of the Gulen group infiltrated into various state structures including the police, army and judiciary.”
Responding, Senator Sani, who said he was at the embassy in his personal capacity, urged the federal government to look into the demand of the Turkish government.
“I’m here in my personal capacity as a friend of the Turks. The resistance of the Turks and mass protests that trailed the coup has become a source of inspiration to other countries to stand up and defend democracy whenever it is facing threats,” he said.
He said if the coup had succeeded in Turkey, democracy would have been under threat in other countries.

It’s a smear campaign against us – NTIC

When contacted by telephone, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC), Mr. Cemal Yigit, said there was a deliberate attempt by the Turkish government to smear the image of the colleges by linking them to the failed coup plotters in Turkey. He said he was not aware of any move by the Nigerian authorities to shut down the colleges.

“I am not aware of the information but it is possible since that is how they do the defamation campaign. It is so unfortunate that the smear attack is even reaching Nigeria. Nigeria is a sovereign country and is as if the Turkish Ambassador has the luxury of giving Nigerian authorities instructions on the place which employed about 2,000 Nigerians.”

He said the colleges and all other business ventures affiliated to them in Nigeria were functioning.
“Let me say that the NTIC, Nizamiye Hospital, Nigeria Turkish Nile University under the First Surat Group of Companies are privately invested here by private investors. These groups of companies have nothing to do with the Turkish government and they are non-governmental and non-political companies. Their responsibility is to the Nigerian authorities.

“The schools and hospitals are open; there is no way they could be closed. This is just misinformation disseminated by the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria.”

He said the colleges haven’t received any letters concerning the matter from any Nigerian institution so far.