Proprietors of the Nigeria Turkish International College (NTIC) have told the Federal Government of Nigeria to ignore the call by the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Hakan Cakil, to close its schools in the country.
The school administrators said the ambassador’s statement was faulty and with clandestine motives.
Managing Director of NTIC, Orhan Kermit made the call on Friday in a statement he personally signed.
Kermit said the school is independent of the Turkish government. NTIC is a privately funded institution by a group of Turkish investors, he added.
He described the school as only Turkish in Name but Nigerian in deeds. He said the school was founded in 1998 with a philosophy hinged on dialogue, love and tolerance.
“The general public is at the moment urged to ignore and disregard the statement by the Turkish ambassador. Our school is fully functional and would continue to be,” Kermit wrote in the statement.
On Thursday, while hosting the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Shehu Sani, the Turkish ambassador had said the Government of Turkey alerted the Nigerian Government to the existence of schools owned by suspected terrorists.
The ambassador had called on the country to shut down the schools, just like the Turkish government did in Turkey.
The ambassador had held that there are 17 of such schools in Nigeria, which bear the name of Turkey” but were not owned by the European country.
Cakil said the institutions, which ranged from schools to hospitals, were allegedly owned by the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organisation.
A document released by the Turkish embassy had 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.
It had also indicted 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.
Following the July 15 failed coup, President Recep Erdogan of Turkey and the government had blamed Fethullah Gulen, a cleric and opposition leader, of being behind the coup.
Gullen, who is currently on self imposed exile in the US, has since denied the accusation.
When the Director of Press and Public Communication, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Clement Aduku, was contacted to confirm if the Turkish Government had actually issued the warning, the director said he was not aware of any letter by the Turkish mission.
“I have not seen any such of communications yet, but will find out from our principals if they have seen or received any update on the matter,” he said in an SMS.
