Pak SC declares Pak-Turk International Cag Education Foundation as terrorist body

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday declared the Pak-Turk International Cag Education Foundation (PTICEF) a terrorist organisation, directing the Government to ban the Turkish charity linked with US-based Muslim cleric and educator Fethullah Gulen and hand over its schools to a pro-Turkish government organisation.

A three member bench of the apex court announced the verdict, comprising 15 pages and written by Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The court had conducted the hearing of the case on December 13.

It said the PTICEF is declared a terrorist organisation in the light of the decisions of Organisation of Islamic Conference and Asian Parliamentary Assembly, noting that Turkey has also declared the aforementioned organisation a terrorist group, Geo News reported.

The top court after hearing the petition in its verdict asked the Interior ministry to include the name of PTICEF in the first schedule to Section 11-B of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, which listed the banned extremist entities.

PTICEF was established in 1990 and the 28 schools of the foundation in Pakistan kept functioning with the cooperation of Turkish government, the verdict read.

The petitioner also asked the court to give control of educational institutions of PTICEF to Turkiye Maarif Foundation.

The administration of 28 schools functioning in Pakistan under PTICEF should be rearranged in the light of bilateral agreements between Pakistan and Turkey, the court ordered.

Gulen was once an ally of Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan but fell from grace and later was accused for botched coup of July 2016.

He lives in the US and blamed for plotting the overthrow of government of Turkey, a charge he denied.

The court also ordered to freeze the bank accounts of PTICEF and give their custody to Turkiye Maarif Foundation.