Two Turkish citizens and former teachers at Afghan-Turk schools, Yulmaz Aitin and Sami Yaoz, who were under house arrest in Kabul for at least 13 months, are granted asylum in Sweden and have left Afghanistan, an Afghan-Turk schools official confirmed. 
 
Back in December 2017, Afghan security forces raided an Afghan-Turk female high school in Taimani area in Kabul’s PD4 and surrounded the school for at least three hours. The teachers were arrested at that time. 

Afghan-Turk schools’ parents associations said two teachers had filed an asylum application to the UN office in Kabul over fear of prosecution in Turkey. 

The Turkish government had asked the Afghan government to hand over these individuals to Turkey. But there is no extradition agreement between the two countries.

“They are neither suspects nor accused of any crime in Afghanistan. They have not committed even a small violation and their freedom was taken for thirteen months because of an unjust demand,” said Ahmad Fawad Haidari, deputy head of Afghan-Turk schools directorate. 

“Their detention was in contravention of the law,” said Sediqullah Tawhidi, member of Afghan-Turk schools’ parents committee. 

Documents seen by TOLOnews reveal that the United Nations has provided asylum to one of the Turkish teachers in detention of the NDS and has asked for prevention of his extradition to Turkey.

In February 2017,  President Ashraf Ghani agreed to handover the Afghan-Turk schools, previously run by a pro-Gulen institution, to the Turkish Education Foundation which is a governmental organization.

Afghan-Turk schools have been supporting by Fethullah Gulen, head of Gulen movement. After the failed military cope in Turkey, tensions between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Gulen increased. Erdogan ordered all countries to handover the schools to Turkish government.

Afghan-Turk schools have built good reputation in Afghanistan and students from the schools have got with dozens of medals from international events. 

The schools have been active in Afghanistan in the last 20 years and nearly 8,000 girls and boy are enrolled in Afghan-Turk schools around the country. 

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has said that no case has been filed against the two teachers in the institution.