SHC suspends deportation orders for Pak-Turk school staff

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday suspended orders to deport staff of Pak-Turk schools.

The court also suspended orders of the interior ministry which had refused to extend visa requests of the Turkish staff.

The court has sought reply from Deputy Attorney General and Interior Ministry on December 13.

Students and teachers of Pak-Turk school have staged protests in several cities against deportation of its Turkish staff from Pakistan.

Turkish staff at the school had been ordered by the interior ministry to leave Pakistan.

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.

In July this year, Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan Sadik Babur Girgin at a media briefing on the failed coup attempt called on all friendly countries to prevent activities of 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.