Despite repeated requests by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan remains reluctant to shut down the Gülen Movement-affiliated PakTurk Schools, which campaign and brainwash thousands of students against the current, democratic, Turkish regime.
Gülenists have an influential network in Pakistan in the form of PakTurk Schools, colleges, likeminded groups and big business companies. Like the recently failed coup by Gülenists in Turkey, Gülenists are planted everywhere in Pakistan to get ready for any kind of revolt.
Erdoğan has vowed to root out the coup virus by arresting plotters and planners of the foiled takeover. However, in Pakistan, there are supporters of the coup in the form of thousands of PakTurk students, teachers and management who were shocked to see this plot fail.
Pakistan strongly supported the Turkish government during the coup attempt and social media initiated an interesting trend in support of the democratic government in Turkey and against the coup. Gülen circles in Pakistan are most likely depressed.
The 21 PakTurk Schools in Pakistan are the hub of conspiracy hatching and producing students that are brainwashed and ready to rise up with the Gülen Movement.
Erdoğan repeatedly asked Sharif to close down the PakTurk Schools and Colleges, but Pakistan did not take any action against the schools. There are hundreds of applications against PakTurk Schools filed by parents in the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) and the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) in Islamabad but no action has been taken so far possibly due to the strong influence of the Gülenists in Pakistan.
After the recent failed coup attempt in Turkey, relations between Pakistan and Turkey could get tense because of Pakistani authorities' reluctance to close the schools and colleges. According to high-level sources in Islamabad, PakTurk Schools have decided to change their name to avoid any legal action or possible closure.
However, PakTurk Schools are also establishing a university in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab province, to extend the network. It is pertinent to mention here that Gülenists already run an entertainment TV channel.
Gülenists are working along a similar line of action to get maximum followers and influence in Pakistani society. They are planning to launch the Gülen revolution by exploiting poor and needy students through Gülen's preaching and emotional speeches.
PakTurk Schools pose a serious threat to the brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkey and the recent failed coup could make them tense. After a series of reminders and requests, Pakistan might take action against these schools before the start of any tense relations between Ankara and Islamabad.
