The Turkish embassy in Abuja has denied that 50 students from Nigeria were detained in Turkey in connection with Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
In a Facebook post on the issue, the embassy said that there were “not any Nigerian students under custody in Turkey” nor were any Nigerian students deported from the country.
The embassy cited detention of four Nigerian citizens on September 27 on the Turkish side of the Turkish-Syrian border as they were trying to infiltrate into Turkey from Syria.
“These people are not students, they appeared in the court and the court decided to deport them to Nigeria,” embassy’s statement said.
The Turkish embassy noted that Nigeria and Turkey have “very cordial relations” and more than 3,000 Nigerian students are already studying in Turkey while the Turkish government granted scholarships to 29 Nigerian students just this year.
Nigerian media outlets have earlier claimed students, attending FETÖ-run universities in Turkey, were detained for links to the terror group.
Turkish authorities detained and arrested hundreds of FETÖ-linked suspects since the July 15 coup attempt by a small Gülenist junta but no foreigners were implicated in any investigations into the terror group. [myad]
