Report: Turkey called on Netherlands to close controversial schools

On August 22nd Turkey asked the Netherlands to close all schools believed to be affiliated to cleric Fethullah Gulen in the country, the Dutch government said in a letter to parliament on Monday, Het Parool reports. This request came 10 days after Turkey sent the Dutch government lists with the names of organizations and companies they believe have ties with Gulen - who seen as the main rival of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish government blames Gulen for an attempted military coup in the country in July. The Netherlands will ignore the lists for the time being, the government wrote, according to the newspaper. “The Netherlands took note of the information handed to us, but will not act on it as long as there is no evidence that these organization were directly involved in the attempted coup. We have no ‘guilt by association’, and so far the Turkish authorities have no evidence of direct involvement of these Dutch organizations in the events of 15 July in Turkey.” De Witte Tulp is an Amsterdam school on a Gulen-list. So far 170 pupils left the school. Thirteen of them haven’t been registered at a new school yet. A total of 46 pupils left primary school Cosmicus Impuls. And middle school Metis Montessori Lyceum lost 10 students.