PESHAWAR - Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday passed a stay order preventing the government from deporting Pak-Turk school officials. A two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ikramullah heard a writ petition filed by students and parents of Pak-Turk schools.

The petitioners maintained that the federal government had ordered the expulsion of teachers due to a political issue which the teachers had no connection with. The writ petition mentioned that there were 26 Pak-Turk school campuses across the country, in which around 11,000 students were enrolled. The PHC issued a stay order on the federal government's earlier order of expulsion of staffers and issued a notice to the centre to clarify its stance on the issue.

The government had issued an order to the Turkish staff to leave the country ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Pakistan earlier this month.

The Turkish government believes that the Pak-Turk schools are part of a network operated by Fethullah Gulen, a political rival of President Erdogan. Turkey declared Gulen’s organisation a terrorist entity after the July 15 failed coup attempt in the country.

The next hearing at PHC will be held on December 1.