The Turkish ambassador in Tajikistan called the closing of Turkish schools and making them public in Tajikistan “the right thing”.
Umut Ajar, the ambassador of Turkey, spoke about this at a press conference on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey and said that the “Feto” organization, which attempted a coup d’état in his country in 2016, was invested from the income of Turkish schools in foreign countries. . But those whose children studied in these schools say that it is unlikely that the small amount they paid for their children’s education brought a lot of income to these schools.
The ambassador added that Turkey “made a mistake” by supporting this school. “We thought that these schools would introduce Turkish culture to others. But it turned out that this organization was not working for our national interests. The state of Tajikistan showed its solidarity in the fight against this organization. That is, they closed these schools and made them state-owned. The employees of these schools were released.” – said Umut Ajar, the ambassador of Turkey in Dushanbe.
In 2015, the Government of Tajikistan, by signing a decision, officially turned the joint Tajik-Turkish lyceums related to the Fethullah Gülen movement, which were considered prestigious educational institutions, into “Lyceum for gifted students”. Until then, six joint Tajik-Turkish lyceums were active in Dushanbe, Khujand, Kulob, Tursunzoda and Kurghonteppa.
Regarding the activity of these lyceums in the Tajik society, there were different opinions. Some accused these lyceums of spreading pan-Turkist and Turkic ideas, but some other observers described the quality of education in these lyceums and praised the level of knowledge of its students.
Graduates of the joint Tajik-Turkish school are proud to remember studying in those schools. Laila, a graduate of the joint Tajik-Turkish school, says, “This was the first and best school in Tajikistan. It trained many good people. People who studied at this school are working in high positions. One of them is me. I am very happy.” that I studied at this school.”
“Shalola”, the founder of Turkish schools in Tajikistan, is considered one of the most influential institutions of the Hizmet movement in Turkey.
The founder and leader of the Hizmet movement is the fugitive Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in America since the 1990s. He was initially named as an aide to the current Turkish leader, Recep Erdogan, but in recent years he has had problems with the government, and he has been accused of organizing terrorist groups and a “parallel government” at the expense of his school students.
Faridun Hadizoda, a Tajik expert, says that Turkish schools outside Turkey, including in Tajikistan, have become victims of disagreements between the country’s leadership and its opponents:
The Tajik expert added: “In my opinion, these schools were not bad, they were good. In this school, patriotism was brought up a lot. For example, every morning classes began with the national song and the raising of the Tajik flag. Secondly, of course, there was religious propaganda in this school. .”
According to Faridun Hadizoda, there is no doubt that the small amount that parents paid for their children’s education brought a lot of income to these schools. On the contrary, the schools themselves paid the largest part of the tuition fees.
The activity of Turkish lyceums began in 1993 with the conclusion of a contract between the company “Shalola” and the government of Tajikistan. Then, in 2003, the term of this contract was extended for another 10 years, that is, until 2013.
In 2016, after a failed coup in Turkey, the work of these schools in most foreign countries, especially Central Asian countries, was completely closed and renamed.
Source : Радио Озоди