By Grant Hermes

While Americans saw a harmless visit to a Tulsa school, the country of Turkey saw a nod to terrorism during the First Lady’s visit to Oklahoma last week.

 

In the days after First Lady Melania Trump visited the Dove School of Discovery in Tulsa, Turkish state run media and the Turkish government began criticizing the visit saying it was a tacit stamp of approval of the school’s leader, whom the government there considers to be a terrorist.

 

Dove Academies have ties to the Muslim cleric Fetullah Gulen. The 77-year-old, Gulen leads a secretive religious movement fled to the US and lives in Pennsylvania.

 

Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan accuses Gulen of leading a failed coup against him in 2016. Erdogan has asked the US to allow Gulen to be extradited back to Turkey, but US authorities have asked for more evidence of a direct link to the coup.

 

Erdogan has also targeted Gulen’s outspoken supporters in the US. In one of the most high-profile cases, Erdogan placed an arrest warrant out for former Thunder player Enes Kanter. Kanter, a follower of Gulen and outspoken critic of Erdogan, had to stay behind during this year’s NBA season while his former team, the New York Knicks, played in London for fear of being arrested.

 

One of [the charges] was insulting the president on twitter. I think that shows there’s no freedom of speech in Turkey,” Kanter told CBSN in January. “If you speak out against Erdogan. That means you’re a terrorist.”

 

Kanter’s father was arrested and jailed for several weeks in 2017 in an alleged attempt to lure Kanter back to Turkey. Kanter did not return and his father was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018 for his alleged connection to Gulen.

 

The First Lady’s visit also left Turkish experts scratching their heads.

 

OU professor of International Studies Joshua Landis said the visit opened “an ongoing wound” between the US and Turkey. He added it didn’t do anything to improve a relationship which has “soured” in recent years as the US has continued to back Kurdish forces in the region, which Erdogan also views as a terrorist organization. He added the First Lady and her staff likely walked into a situation they didn’t realize was so sensitive.

 

In response to criticism, the First Lady’s office told the Washington Post the Dove school was recommended, vetted and chosen because of its recent national charter school award. Dove schools did not comment on the Turkish government’s backlash.  Dove schools has five campuses located in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

 

Source: News 9