Students of Pak-Turk school stage protest in Lahore

LAHORE: Students and teachers of Pak-Turk school staged a protest against deportation of Turkish staff from Pakistan.

The protest was staged inside their boy’s campus at Raiwand Road.

Turkish staff at the school has been ordered by the interior ministry to leave Pakistan within one week.

Turkish staff members of the Pak-Turk school moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against orders of the Interior Ministry to leave the country by November 20.

It is pertinent to mention here that in July this year, Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin at media briefing on the developments in Turkey after failed attempt to topple the government had said that Turkey “called on all friendly countries to prevent activities of this (Gulen’s) group” and “close down institutions run by Fethullah Gülen.” Fethullah Gülen, a US-based religious leader was accused of masterminding the recent coup attempt in Turkey.

In a later development in August, the management of PakTurk International Schools and Colleges had replaced the Turkish nationals serving on administrative posts in its schools and colleges with locals but continued engaging them on teaching assignments. 

A chain of 28 schools and colleges is functioning under the PakTurk Education Foundation International Schools and Colleges in Pakistan in different cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Jamshoro and Quetta. The education system, from pre-school to ‘A’ levels, has a student body of around 11,000 while there are 1,500 staffers of which around 110 are Turkish.