ISLAMABAD – Turkey’s Maarif Foundation has taken over the management of eight more schools linked to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in Pakistan.
Maarif Foundation country director Selahattin Batur along with other officials took over the schools in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, on Monday.
“The school students and staff warmly welcomed us and we assured them that we would provide more facilities in these schools and improve the standard of education there,” Batur told Anadolu Agency.
The foundation has already taken over FETO-linked schools in capital Islamabad.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the government to declare FETO a terror group and to ban its affiliated schools in the country.
A bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, also ordered to hand over FETÖ’s “all the movable and immovable assets”, schools, colleges, education centers and other similar entities to Turkiye Maarif Foundation.
“We are in no manner of doubt the government of Pakistan has international obligations towards the government of Turkey to declare Fethullah’s Terrorist Organisation (FETO) as a terrorist organisation”, says the verdict authored by Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/supreme-court-labels-feto-a-terror-group-orders-to-ban-affiliated-schools-in-pakistan/
The Supreme Court’s verdict also directed police and other law enforcement agencies to extend full support to Turkiye Maarif Foundation in taking control of the education institutions.
Currently 28 schools are running under the FETÖ-linked organization in Pakistan.
Anakara, which accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, said it welcomes the Pakistani court’s order.
Turkey established the Maarif Foundation in 2016 after a coup attempt to take over the administration of overseas schools linked to FETO. It also establishes schools and education centers abroad.
FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
