Turkey taking over FETO Schools in Africa

Turkey has continued to pile up pressure on countries around the world to shut down or hand over control of schools linked to Fethullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO). The US-based 76-year-old cleric, Fethullah Gulen was accused of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey that left 250 people dead and 2,200 injured. Also, the influential cleric runs FETO and has built a financial empire in Turkey that included banks, media, construction companies and schools. He is reported to have 3 million to 6 million followers in Turkey, including high-ranking government and military officials. The schools began expanding internationally in 1993, and at one point there were Gulen-linked schools, cultural centers or language programs in more than 100 countries. In the United States, it’s the largest group of so-called charter schools, which receive tax funds. It has about 140 schools in 28 states, taking in more than $2.1 billion from taxpayers. In Africa, FETO has a lot of schools and other investments worth billions US dollars. In Nigeria, 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. 

Recently, President of Turkey, Recep Erdogan, advised parents in Nigeria and other countries in Africa to withdraw their children from Turkish-run schools across the continent because the schools are run by those he described as terrorists. In an exclusive interview with AllAfrica.com prior to his three-country official visit to Sudan, Chad and Tunisia, Mr. Erdogan said the schools are run by an organisation that uses education as a façade to hide their real intent. According to him, the schools are linked to United States based Cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Mr Erdogan turn arch-rival. Erdogan said “Without any further ado, I will like to mention something. Whether your nephews, nieces and your children, do not send them to either one of these network schools. “Education is just a disguise for the terrorists working for these organisations, even religion is a disguise for the Fethullahists. In the Quran, Allah condemned those who are using prayers as disguised as they will never be conscientious to the practice of prayer that is why we would remain alert. We would never be manipulated. The coup plotters are the Fethullahists. “They have all been identified and some of them have been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. These Fethullahists came to kill me and my family members but Allah protected us and in a matter of minutes we were saved from their bombs, their attacks but two of my security guarded were killed… there are 29 martyrs around the presidential complex which was attacked that night as well. “We are warning all our brothers in Africa not to be deceived because the Fethullahists have great sums of money out of their actions. In 1999, the Chief terrorist, fled to the United States to live in Pennsylvania. We have demanded his extradition immediately. “The Turkish government has established an education foundation to take control of the schools linked with Mr. Gulen. Many African countries, including Nigeria have, however, turned down Mr. Erdogan’s requests to either take control or close schools linked to Mr Gulen. “Soon after the attempted coup, the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, called on the Nigerian government to close 17 Turkish schools. His request was however turned down by the government.” However, a Turkish state-run education foundation has taken over control of schools in Chad that once belonged to FETO. Turkey’s Maarif Foundation (TMF) took over the institutions in line with a protocol signed between the Turkish and Chadian governments recently. Among these institutions are a kindergarten, a primary school, two secondary schools, two high schools, and a dormitory. The institutions will continue operating with administrators and teachers sent by Maarif. President Erdogan said in Ankara that Turkey was determined to clear Africa of FETO, saying that FETO fooled people through “sham” education and aid services. 

The Maarif Foundation has recently assumed control of numerous schools previously run by FETO around the world, including 32 in Africa, according to Turkey’s National Education Ministry. Also, TMF is working round the clock to be in charge of schools once run by FETO in Nigeria, as it visited the country last year to establish its presence. A member of the Board of Trustees of the Turkish Maarif Foundation and Special Adviser to Turkish Prime Minister, Prof. Cahit Bagci, said that TMF is a not-for-profit public body constitutionally authorized to run schools outside Turkey, adding that their visit was to ensure robust relations on education with Nigeria. Meanwhile, irate President Erdogan said that Turkey would not extradite any suspects to the United States if Washington doesn’t hand over Fethullah Gulen, who allegedly orchestrated a failed 2016 military coup. Ankara accuses U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the putsch and has repeatedly asked Washington for his extradition. But US officials have said courts require sufficient evidence to extradite the elderly cleric, who has denied any involvement in the coup. “We have given the United States 12 terrorists so far, but they have not given us back the one we want. They made up excuses from thin air,” Erdogan told local administrators at a conference in his presidential palace in Ankara. “If you’re not giving him [Gulen] to us, then excuse us, but from now on whenever you ask us for another terrorist, as long as I am in office, you will not get them,” he said. Gulen, 76, lives in rural Pennsylvania. The influential Sunni Muslim cleric fled Turkey for the U.S. in 1999 and was subsequently granted permanent resident status. Turkey is the biggest Muslim majority country in NATO and an important U.S. ally in the Middle East. But Ankara and Washington have been at loggerheads over a wide range of issues in recent months, including a U.S. alliance with Kurdish fighters in Syria and the conviction of a Turkish bank executive in a U.S. sanctions-busting case that included testimony of corruption by senior Turkish officials. 

Read More at: https://leadership.ng/2018/01/13/turkey-taking-feto-schools-africa/

Erdogan visits Nigeria encourages people to pull their children out of Gulen Schools

https://www.360nobs.com/2017/12/terrorism-erdogan-warns-nigerians-withdraw-wards-local-turkish-schools/

President of Turkey, Recep Erdogan, has advised parents in Nigeria and other countries in Africa to withdraw their children from Turkish-run schools across the continent because the schools are run by those he described as terrorists.

In an exclusive interview with AllAfrica.com before a three-country official visit to Sudan, Chad and Tunisia this week, Mr. Erdogan said the schools are run by an organisation that uses education as a façade to hide their real intent.

According to him, the schools are linked to United States based Cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Mr Erdogan turn arch-rival.

http://www.guleninvestigation.com

Erdogan said “Without any further ado, I will like to mention something. Whether your nephews, nieces and your children, do not send them to either one of these network schools.

“Education is just a disguise for the terrorists working for these organisations, even religion is a disguise for the Fethullahists. In the Quran, Allah condemned those who are using prayers as disguised as they will never be conscientious to the practice of prayer that is why we would remain alert. We would never be manipulated. The coup plotters are the Fethullahists.

“They have all been identified and some of them have been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. These Fethullahists came to kill me and my family members but Allah protected us and in a matter of minutes we were saved from their bombs, their attacks but two of my security guarded were killed… there are 29 martyrs around the presidential complex which was attacked that night as well.

“We are warning all our brothers in Africa not to be deceived because the Fethullahists have great sums of money out of their actions. In 1999, the Chief terrorist, fled to the United States to live in Pennsylvania. We have demanded his extradition immediately.

“The Turkish government has established an education foundation to take control of the schools linked with Mr. Gulen. Many African countries, including Nigeria have, however, turned down Mr. Erdogan’s requests to either take control or close schools linked to Mr Gulen.

“Soon after the attempted coup, the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, called on the Nigerian government to close 17 Turkish schools. His request was however turned down by the government.”

Gulen Schools in Mali to close, President of Mali to cooperate with President Erdogan

President and First Lady of Mali with President Erdogan and Ermine

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has pledged to take precautions in his country against the activities of the Gülen Movement. Erdoğan thanked Mali for contributing to the war against the movement for its alleged attempt to topple the government by exploiting power it had in key institutions that its members had secretly infiltrated in order to spy.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Keita in the capital Ankara, Erdoğan said that Mali is one of the countries where the Gülen Movement is widely active with schools and trade activities.

Erdoğan also said Turkey wanted to boost ties with Mali and all African countries through principles of "equal partnership" and "win-win," seeking to increase the trade volume between the two countries to $500 million by 2023.

Extending his appreciation to Keita, Erdoğan said Mali vowed not to give an opportunity to those who run counter to the Turkish government, alluding to Gülen schools operating in Mali.

"On both education and trade, we will carry on joint efforts on this issue," Erdoğan said, adding that the necessary steps will be taken to this end.

The irregularities and offenses that the movement is allegedly involved in have begun to unsettle countries around the world where there are dozens of schools owned by the movement. Members of the movement, who are currently accused of attempting to oust the government after orchestrating the Dec.17 and Dec. 25 operations by using their alleged power within the police and judiciary, have become a matter of unease among officials of countries that permit the operation of these schools in their countries. The group's alleged purpose of expanding their area of influence to serve their own benefit has gradually become public knowledge as a result of top Turkish officials' ongoing struggle with the "parallel structure," a term used for members of the Gülen Movement in key government institutions.

The Gülen Movement, led by Fethullah Gülen, has over 140 private schools and charity organizations around the world, including the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa. Countries that have Gülen schools have begun to question their mission, deeming its shadowy structure problematic. Erdoğan has emphasized in no uncertain terms that schools affiliated with the movement should be shut down, citing their alleged illegal activities, and has vowed to replace them with new schools supported by the Turkish National Education Ministry.

During his visit to Africa in late January, Erdoğan called on African leaders to close down schools affiliated with the Gülen Movement. He pledged to open new schools to replace them, while speaking at a joint press conference with the prime minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn.

Earlier in the month, Tajikistan announced that it would not extend the agreement it had made with the Gülen Movement for permission to operate schools in the country, since they consider the mission of the schools belonging to the group "shadowy."

The issue has also led to a loss of trust in the schools both in Turkey and abroad. This year has seen a sharp drop in the number of students attending the schools in Turkey's 81 provinces, with many families transferring their children to other private or public schools.

Erdoğan, who was then prime minister, had called on families to stop enrolling their children in Gülen schools following a string of scandals involving the movement, which is accused of running a "parallel structure" via its members in the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

Upon these developments, the government came up with a new solution to shut down schools operated by the movement abroad. Officials introduced a project whose preparations were kicked of last year, after the movement's alleged offenses became public and the decision to replace their schools with ones attached to a foundation was made.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç on Monday said that the government has agreed to transform Gülen schools abroad into civil foundations that operate on donations with partial financial support from the Turkish state.

"The system we will set up will definitely be a foundation and will operate on a volunteer basis," Arınç said at a press conference held after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Gulen and The NEW WORLD ORDER: Gulen New World Order Azeribaijan-Azerbaycanlı öğr...

Gulen and The NEW WORLD ORDER: Gulen New World Order Azeribaijan-Azerbaycanlı öğr...: Azerbaijan Turkish Festival Baku Oil, Turkey is the main partner for pipelines in partnership with Republic of Georgia Turkey&#39...

Turkish investor linked to Gulen Schools in Zimbawae swindled out of $100K

https://www.newsday.co.zw/2014/07/22/turkish-investor-swindled-100k/ This Gulen Educational fund in Zimbawae Africa uses SAME name as the Horizon Schools in Ohio, Illinois Turkish Schools in Zimbawae A TURKISH investor, Yuksel Bayrak, was allegedly swindled of over $100 000 in a fraudulent land deal by local prominent business people in a matter that has sucked in the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and stirred a nasty diplomatic tiff between Harare and Istanbul. CHARLES LAITON Bayrak, who is Horizon Educational Trust director, was allegedly duped into buying a non-existent piece of land for the construction of a primary and secondary school by businessman Louis Chidzambwa and chairman of the Harare West Development Trust Michael Mujeyi. Bayrak is regional representative of the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkiye, Tuskon and also a representative of Turkey’s biggest non-governmental organisation, KimseYok Mu, accredited by the Economical and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Chidzambwa and Mujeyilast week appeared before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei charged with fraud and were remanded out of custody to August 26 on $500 bail each. Allegations against the two men are that in early 2012, Bayrak met Mujeyi after he was introduced to him by one Marah Hativagone, former president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry (CZI). The State alleges Hativagone told Bayrak that Mujeyi could assist him in obtaining a piece of land to build primary and secondary schools in the Westgate area. Chidzambwa and Mujeyi, it is alleged, took the Turkish investor to Stamford and Goodhope Farms owned by Duncan Lawrence Annott along Lomagundi Road in Harare where they asked him to choose from two pieces of land measuring 20 hectares each and he chose one at Goodhope Farm. The two men then asked Bayrak to pay $50 000 for the land and $10 000 to Mujeyi for facilitating the deal. Mujeyi, it is alleged, then produced a document he titled “Proposed Funds Disbursement Plan” and promised that the agreement and title deeds for the land would be ready in two months. Bayrak, it is alleged made the payment through the two men’s personal accounts between September 12 and October 19, 2012. The State alleges, early March last year, Chidzambwa and Mujeyi again approached Bayrak and told him the land needed to be surveyed first before any development took place. They asked him to pay $40 000 into the UZ’s Department of Geo-informatics and Surveying to facilitate the land survey to which he allegedly complied on March 5 last year. The alleged offence came to light on May 24 this year when Bayrak made follow-ups and Arnott informed him that the land in question had never been put up for sale.

Gulen Turkish School in Nigeria, Africa closed Turkish International School

We are told that the Gulen population operates more than 1 Turkish school in Nigeria.  So this information is rather vague.  But it seems the boys have not been following the rules of the country (surprise surprise)  and was closed along with 29 other schools.

http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/index.php/news/news/national-news/5155-kano-shuts-down-turkish-international-school-29-others

The Kano state Private Schools Task Force constituted by the state government has closed down the famous Nigerian/Turkish International Schools and 29 others for violating the rules and regulations governing the educational activities of the state.

The taskforce committee chairman, Alhaji Baba Umar, announced the closure of the schools while briefing newsmen in Kano yesterday.

He explained that the closure of the schools became necessary because the management of the affected schools refused to comply with government regulations governing the operation of private schools in the state.

He said other reasons for the action include indiscriminate increase of school fees without following the approved processes and lack of well-stocked laboratories/libraries in case of secondary schools.

Others are non-functional academic records, log book, register, visitors’ book, syllabus and scheme of work books among others.

He warned that the schools would not be reopened until they fully comply with the directives.

Baba also hinted that most of the affected schools were operating without provisional approval/ certificates