Afghanistan Detains Turkish Teachers Affiliated With Erdogan Rival

The Afghan authorities have detained one Afghan and three Turkish teachers on Tuesday as its president was heading to Turkey to attend an Islamic Summit.

The teachers were affiliated with an organization critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The latest move against Afghan-Turk CAG Educational (ATCE), the umbrella organization that runs a number of schools across Afghanistan, appeared to be an overture to Ankara at a time of President Ashraf Ghani‘s visit to Turkey.

President Erdogan’s government has long pressed for handover of the schools linked with Gulen Movement.

Ankara is zealously courting countries in Asia and Africa to persuade them to shut down Gulen-linked schools and extradite teachers. It made headways in several countries.

Kabul long refused to heed Ankara’s demands. On Tuesday, it finally acted in what seems an effort to appease President Erdogan ahead of an Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul.

“Around 7 a.m., four of our teachers traveling in two different cars were picked up by (Afghan intelligence),” Reuters quoted Human Erdogan, the chairman of ATCE, as saying.

Those who carried out the arrests presented themselves as members of National Directorate of Security (NDS). Neither Afghan government nor its security agency was available for comment.

In line with Turkey’s earlier demand, the Afghan government transferred the Turkish schools into a foundation approved and assigned by Ankara.