Turkey's Maarif Foundation to open school in Kyrgyzstan

By Serife Cetin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Maarif Foundation -- founded to replace terrorist-linked schools abroad in the wake of a defeated 2016 coup attempt -- will open in Kyrgyzstan its first school in Central Asia, Turkey's foreign minister announced Wednesday.

"The Maarif school will be the first Maarif Foundation school to open in Central Asia. This is a sign of the importance we place on Kyrgyzstan," Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a joint press conference in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek with his counterpart Ruslan Kazakbaev.

The schools that the Maarif Foundation will replace schools that allegedly had links with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which Cavusoglu said, is a threat not only for Turkey but also for Kyrgyzstan as well.

For his part, Kazakbaev underlined that Kyrgyzstan and Turkey are two brotherly countries with no political problems between them.

The Turkish government set up the foundation soon after the 2016 defeated coup, orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), in order to administer overseas schools linked to FETO.

Over the last five years, the foundation has also established schools and education centers around the world, from Africa to Asia.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

FETO also has a considerable presence outside Turkey, including private schools that serve as a revenue stream for the terrorist group.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, including schools, the military, and police.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan