Interference?

The Turkish delegation visiting Mozambique could ask the Maputo authorities to take action against schools set up by the Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen, the Anadolu news agency says.Gulen network schools include the Willow International School, with facilities in Maputo and Matola, where students are mostly children of the local upper middle class.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads the delegation visiting Mozambique, accuses Fetullah Gulen of having mentored the failed coup in July 2015, and his government has placed Gulen and his organizations on the terrorist list.

A request for Gulen’s extradition was rejected by the US authorities. Maputo authorities have already been warned about the supposed risks posed by the Gulen network, and Turkish sources believe that “they will make the necessary assessment”, promising to “continue our fight on this issue”.

The Gulen network has hundreds of schools worldwide. Eighty have already been closed or have seen control transferred since the attempted coup attempt. Turkey last year launched the Maarif Foundation to create schools and education centers abroad.Turkish ambassador Zeynep Kiziltan says that in addition to areas such as energy, agriculture and tourism, her country intends to cooperate with Mozambique in Education, Culture and Health.