Ambassador Links School to Coup

Khmer Times
Tin Sokhavuth

Turkey’s Ambassador Ilhan Kemal Tug meeting with Chheang Vun (center left), president of the National Assembly’s Committee for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Supplied

During a meeting at the National Assembly yesterday, Turkish Ambassador to Cambodia Ilhan Kemal Tug said it was “possible” the Zaman schools have a link with the group that organized the failed coup in Turkey last month, according to an assembly press release.

Mr. Tug, who met with Cheang Vun, president of the assembly’s Committee for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said he had already told the government about the matter.

Mr. Vun expressed his concerns, saying he would discuss the issue with related government institutions.

In response to the ambassador’s comments, Hakan Atasever, the director of public relations for Zaman schools, said he would repeat what he told Khmer Times last month in an interview in Phnom Penh.

He said that Zaman was a private local company and as a result, it was under Cambodian laws and regulations. If authorities found that Zaman had any links to terrorist organizations then it would face the law. Otherwise, he said, his company had the right to seek legal action over the accusations.

“We are inviting His Excellency Ambassador to show the evidence, any court decision and whatever proof he has to blame us, to the public and the authorities. We would like to announce that we will seek our legal rights as this accusation is an attempt to defame our company,” said Mr. Hakan.

According to a statement issued by Zaman Group last month, the company condemned the coup attempt in Turkey and strongly supported democratic values, saying free and fair elections were the only way to form a government.

The statement added that although the founders of the Zaman schools were spiritually motivated by Fethullah Gulen, he never had a link to the school.

On Monday, the Mekong Dialogue Institute (MDI), another organization run by Zaman Group, also denied any link to terrorism, although it acknowledged Mr. Gulen was the institute’s source of inspiration.

Hamza Kissac, director of the public relations department at MDI, wrote to Khmer Times saying that Mr. Gulen had inspired the institute’s creation and hence, it felt it must share Mr. Gulen’s ideas.

To prove that the MDI and the Turkish preacher did not have links to terrorism, Mr. Kissac pointed to an op-ed written by Mr. Gulen, published in the French newspaper Le Monde last week, where Mr. Gulen said he condemned the coup and urged the government to set up an international investigation to find out who was behind it.

The Turkish government has accused the Hizmet movement of attempting to create a parallel state in the country, but Mr. Gulen said the movement was peaceful and complied with the law.

He also said the fact that the Turkish government has labeled the Hizmet movement a terrorist organization could cause many institutions created by this movement around the world, such as schools and hospitals, to close their doors.