LAHORE: A majority of the Turkish staff of the PakTurk schools, facing the deadline to leave Pakistan by Nov 20, may travel to other countries, and not Turkey.

A few Turkish families have already left Pakistan for other countries while some have applied for visas.

Up to 450 Turkish officials of PakTurk schools and their families, have been told to leave the country, according to a senior official of the PakTurk schools’ chain.

“We think we will not be treated well by the Turkish government as we will either be arrested or humiliated,” a Turkish official said, requesting anonymity. According to the official, several countries, including some in South America, allow visa-free entry to the Turkish nationals.

He said some Turkish teachers having US and UK visas might move to these countries. “Those having valid visa for other countries cannot be forced (by the Pakistani immigration staff) to return to Turkey under the law,” he said.

Such staffers and their families, who have no visas to other countries, were really upset these days, as leaving Pakistan was painful for them because they considered Pakistan like their homeland, the official said.

Another official said as soon as the court directed the Turkish officials to approach the interior ministry regarding expulsion orders, a few families had left Pakistan for other countries.

Also, scores of PakTurk school students staged a protest rally on Khayaban-i-Jinnah and chanted slogans against the government for forcing their Turkish teachers to leave Pakistan. They demanded withdrawal of the decision.

Officials of the PakTurk Educational Foundation had on Wednesday challenged the order to leave the country by Nov 20. They stated the schools were not part of Fethullah Gulen`s network. The Turkish government believes that the PakTurk schools are part of a network operated by Gulen, political rival of President Erdogan. Turkey declared Gulen`s organisation a terrorist entity after the July 15 botched coup.

In a recent statement, the management of the PakTurk schools chain had expressed concern over the government`s abrupt decision which required the Turkish teachers, management and their family members to leave the country.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2016