Ethiopia to hand over Fethullah Gulen Schools to Turkish foundation

Fethullah Gulen School in West Shewa

ESAT News (February 8, 2017)

Turkish media reported that all schools linked to the Gülen movement  in Ethiopia will be handed over to a Turkish education foundation.

The official announcement was made on Tuesday by Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome who is in Turkey for a five-day official visit.

Mulatu after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara said all Gulen linked education institutions in Ethiopia will be transferred to Turkey’s Maarif Education Foundation.

Turkey has asked several countries worldwide to shut down dozens of schools, colleges and businesses linked to the Gulen network in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt, according to Anadolu News Agency

The ruling party in Ethiopia has said last month that the transfer of power of schools linked to the Gulen movement  to Turkish authorities will be through a legal process in ways that do not affect the operations of the schools, according to Anadolu News Agency.

“The schools were established with the consent of the Turkish government in the first place,”  Ethiopia’s premier Hailemariam Desalegn said last month in response to an Anadolu Agency question as to the position of the Ethiopian government on Gulen-owned schools.

The Turkish government accused Fetullah Gülen, a resident of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, as being the mastermind behind the foiled July 15 coup attempt last year that left 248 people dead and over 2,000 wounded.

So far, over 80 Gulen organizations operating worldwide, including schools and training centers, have been shut down or transferred to the Turkish government, the report said.