By: Dede August)*
Turkey coup on July 15, 2016, affects all the elements that cooperate with Fethullah Gulen, the alleged brains of the coup, one of which is Indonesia. The Government of Turkey, through a press release on July 28, 2016, asked the Indonesian government to close nine schools allegedly cooperating with Fethullah Terrorist Organizations (FETO). FETO is the name of the Government of Turkey for the followers of cleric Fethullah Gulen who fail to carry out the coup.
Those nine schools are private Bilingual Boarding School in Depok and Bandung. Then, Kharisma Bangsa Bilingual Boarding School in South Tangerang, Semesta Bilingual Boarding School in Semarang, and the National Unity Bilingual Boarding School in Yogyakarta. Then, Sragen Bilingual Boarding School in Sragen, Fatih Boy’s School and Fatih Girl’s School in Aceh, as well as BANUA Bilingual Boarding School in South Kalimantan.
So far, Indonesia has a lot of cooperation with Turkey. An explanation quoted from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Turkish-Indonesian cooperation covering economic cooperation, strategic industries, to counter-terrorism cooperation. Since 2011, Turkey is a strategic partner of Indonesia and in 2015, the value of trade between Indonesia and Turkey reached US $ 1.4 billion, which is the seventh largest in Western Europe. However, the Turkish government has to be aware that Indonesia is a freedom and independent country, nor has the right to determine their own fate. Thus, the Turkish government cannot arbitrarily regulate the internal affairs of Indonesia, moreover urges the Indonesian government to close the educational institution which is a forum to educate the nation’s children.
With the release, the polemic also had appeared among the parents of students in those nine schools. They are worried about the fate of their children’s education to be interrupted in the middle of the road if the schools are closed. However, with the steps of the Ministry of Education of Republic of Indonesia, the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Muhadjir Effendy balks Turkish government’s request, the parents must be calmed. “The mandate of our laws is to protect the whole Indonesian nation and the homeland of Indonesia”, said Muhadjir Effendy on Saturday (30/07/2016).
A similar response was delivered ex-chairman of Central (PP) Muhammadiyah, Ahmad Syafii that assess the actions were excessive. “That would be an overdose, should not have to like it,” said the man who is familiarly called Buya Syafii, Friday (07/29/2016).
Although it managed to stifle debate in the community, especially parents, the Indonesian government also needs to evaluate those schools, and communicate the results to the public, so no longer polemic that appears soon. In addition, tightening efforts towards cooperation by all educational institutions in Indonesia with foreign educational institutions also need to be done, because it is not demanding the likelihood that young people will be exploited by foreign parties through the educational path.
