KABUL (SW): The Wolesi Jirga (lower house) on Wednesday discussed the fate of Afghan Turk Schools in the country.
Following the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey, the Ankara government asked Kabul as well as a number of other capitals around the world to hand these network of schools allegedly linked to the coup plotter Gülen movement, back to the Turkish government.
The Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani then formed a committee to review the request.
A member of this committee Syed Mohammad Hashim told the WJ that the study is underway, and soon the findings would be shared with the President. He added that the Turkish government has promised to invest up to $ 5 million to lift the quality of these schools. There are some 16 Afghan Turk schools in Afghanistan where an estimated eight thousand boys and girls enrolled. The schools are located in major urban centres like the capital Kabul, and Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalal Abad and Sheberghan cities.
Meanwhile, a number of parliamentarians called for separating the matters of politics from education. The members said people of Afghanistan are content with the Afghan-Turk Schools, and the government should pave way for more of its branches in different cities. A number of parliamentarians urged the government to acknowledge the request of Turkey.
However, Kamal Nasir Osoli, a member of the house, said that an Afghan non-government organization is running these schools now that has four local and three Turks its management. He feared handing over of these schools to the Ankara government violates the Articles 40 and 75 of the Constitution, and it would harm this local NGO.
At the end of the session, speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi asked the committee to share its final report with the house.
ENDS
