TIRANA, September 23 – The Turkish College ‘Mehmet Akif Ersoy’ and the ‘Zubeyde Hanim’ kindergarten, the latter part of the Turgut Ozal network, have both been forced to close in the capital of Albania, Tirana due to a decisions made by the government this week.
Both are allegedly linked to an organization backing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, fiercely opposed by Erdogan and accused of being a terrorist group for their alleged role in the 2016 failed coup d’etat. Gulen lives in the US, which has not accepted his extradition. In the meantime he has denied any links with the coup d’etat.
It is reported by the local media that the Albanian government closed the school and kindergarten under the pressure of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Students of the College held a protest in front of the building of the school while there are reports that officials of the College and kindergarten said they would pursue legal procedures against the closure of their educational institutions.
After public criticism of the decision, the Minister of Education, Evis Kushi, on Friday said their licence was revoked because the location of the building of Mehmet Akif College had been changed without permission, and so it no longer met the conditions.
“They started the 2022-2023 academic year in another location and environment not approved by the Ministry of Education and Sports, which is without relevant legal certification in terms of building standards,” Kushi said in a post on FB.
The Mehmet Akif Ersoy college on Thursday said it only learned about the closure order from the media and it would take legal steps to challenge it.
“The non-public High School ‘Mehmet Akif’ has been part of the Gulenist Foundation for 26 years in Albania, meticulously implementing the country’s legal framework, while enjoying a great history of success, as it has been consistently ranked at the top of the list of best schools,” the college said.
It added that on September 14, an inspection was carried out by the Ministry of Education and on September 22 it was then notified by post that the institution does not meet the criteria to continue working.
“Faced with such a decision, we are fully convinced that justice will speak its word. The Gulenist Foundation will follow all legal procedures to enable the normal continuation of the educational activity,” it added.
Turkey’s state-led Anadolu Agency also reported that a Zubeyde Hanim kindergarten that is part of Turgut Ozal Education Company, which also had ties with the Gulen Network-affiliated college, was also ordered to close.
In July 2020, United Nations rapporteurs found that the Turkish government had signed a number of “secret agreements” with various states to enable systematic “extraterritorial abductions and the forcible return of Turkish nationals”.
At the time, they reported more than 100 people had been subject to “arbitrary arrests and detention, enforced disappearance, and torture” under such agreements, including those with Albania and Kosovo.
A few days ago Turkish citizen Emre Olsur was deported by Albania to Turkey where he is wanted for a series of crimes. Olur, press adviser to mafia boss Sedat Peker, also a whistleblower against the government, was arrested at Tirana International Airport on Sunday and deported to Istanbul. /Argumentum.al
