Pakistan has deported a former director of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) schools along with his family, former school officials said on Monday.
Turkey believes the PakTurk Schools, set up in 1995, have links to FETÖ ringleader Fethullah Gülen, who orchestrated Turkey's July 15 coup attempt and is the mastermind behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Pakistan, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made several state visits as the two countries forged close ties in recent years, ordered its Turkish teachers to leave the country last November. The schools remain open, run by Pakistani staff.
Mesut Kaçmaz, his wife and two daughters were flown out of Pakistan after having being detained since Sept. 20 in the eastern city of Lahore, the former school officials said.
"The daughters called us and said they had been deported today, and the father and mother were in Ankara for interrogation and they believe they will be jailed afterwards," said one former school official, who asked not to be identified.
"They were blindfolded and boarded an unmarked flight for Istanbul in the morning," said former PakTurk employee Hasan Hüseyin, citing the telephone call by the daughters from Turkey
The deportation was confirmed by a Pakistani government official who asked not to identified.
"The Turkish family was taken into custody by a team of security officials," the official added. "On Saturday, they were deported to Turkey from Islamabad on a special plane sent by the Turkish government."
The Turkish embassy in Pakistan has refused to renew the passports of former PakTurk employees living in the country, or issue documents for newborn children, he added.
PakTurk educates more than 10,000 students in Pakistan but has employed no Turkish nationals since the South Asian nation asked them to leave.
Since the failed coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary as well as in state institutions across the country to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETÖ.
The terrorist group is also known for its network comprised of hundreds of schools around the world.
