olitical developments in Turkey will have consequences for the Pakistani students enrolled in the Pak-Turk schools as the government has asked Turkish teachers at these schools to leave the country by Nov 20.

A day before the arrival of Turkish President Erdogan in Islamabad, the government issued a directive to Turkish teachers at the Pak-Turk schools to leave the country. The chain of schools is linked to Fathullah Gulen, a former ally of President Erdogan.

Teachers and parents say that instead of asking Turkish teachers of the schools to go back to their home country, the government should have tried to convince Turkey that these teachers have been providing quality education to hundreds of Pakistani students.

The chain of schools has been operating in Pakistan since 1990 and has provided education to thousands of students and has provided scholarships to many deserving students, most of whom are from remote and underdeveloped areas of the country, who now fear that their scholarships may be taken back.

`We belong to working class families and almost all of us have witnessed sectarian based killings in our home towns. This institution gave us a place to learn and study in this peaceful city, said a student residing in a hostel of the schools H-8 girls` campus.

There are also rumours that the Turkish government will be allowing an NGO from a Gulf country to take over the management of these schools around the world.

Dozens of students staged a protest demonstration in front of the National Press Club against the government`s decision of sending back Turkish teachers. They tried to move towards parliament house, but were not allowed in the Red Zone by the police.

Speaking to Dawn, head of the School of International Relations at the Quaid-i-Azam University Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal said that the Pakistani government had no option but to honour the request of the Turkish government for sending back the teachers.

`Our government has made a rational decision because the Turkish government was upset with these schools. In international politics, you have to address the concerns of friendly countries,` he said, adding that the issue of Pak-Turk schools had become an irritant between the two countries.

`Turkey is the only country which has openly supported the Kashmir issue and it also supports Pakistan in the Nuclear Supply Group,` he said, adding that Pakistan had taken the right decision by asking the Turkish teachers to leave.