Summary The court while halting the extradition has sought reply from Federal government and police.
LAHORE (Daily Dunya) – Lahore High Court has stayed the deportation of Pak-Turk Schools Regional Director and his family.
Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza conducted hearing over the Regional Director’s petition. His lawyer Asma Jahangir argued that the court has stayed the deportation of Turkish teachers and their families however; it is now feared that the family will be expelled from Pakistan.
The court while halting the extradition has sought reply from Federal government and police. The next hearing is due on October 6.
Last November, Pakistan deported dozens of Turkish teachers tied to Pak-Turk schools after a visit from Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, sparking small demonstrations in major cities.
However; after court’s orders the centre was restrained from deporting Turkish nationals till November 2017.
The private PakTurk International schools are allegedly backed by US-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen’s Hizmet group.
Ankara accuses Gulen of masterminding a coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016 -- an allegation the cleric strongly denies -- and is seeking his extradition from the US. Turkey has also accused the schools of alleged links to Gulen but the PakTurk schools deny such links.
The schools educate more than 10,000 students in Pakistan.
--- with inputs from AFP, Reuters.
