Gulen-affiliated university closed in Azerbaijjan

By Ruslan Rahimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s Education Ministry announced on Wednesday that a Gulen-affiliated university in Baku has been shut down.

The closure of Qafqaz University comes a few days after a failed coup attempt in Turkey which the government says was organized by followers of U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen.

Qafqaz University was known as Gulen’s first university abroad and established in 1993.

In a statement, the ministry said: "The founder of the university applied to the ministry to submit the university board’s decision to close down.

“After receiving the documents regarding closure from university, it will create a working group in order to ensure the continuation of education of the Qafqaz University students and will carry out the process of their placement," it added.

Azerbaijan also closed the Gulen-linked Zaman-Azerbaijan newspaper and Zaman.az web page.

Azerbaijan's Press Council issued a statement saying: "Azerbaijan's Press Council calls for the Azerbaijani media to show sensitivity on the vital incident in [our] sister country Turkey."

"The person or people who create social unrest in Turkey and act to break the state tradition should not make any propaganda in Azerbaijani media," the statement added.

In 2014, Azerbaijani authorities closed 13 education centers and 11 high schools following Turkey’s crackdown on the Gulen movement.

*Anadolu Agency correspondents Emin Avundukluoglu and Ahmet Sait Akcay contributed to this report from Ankara.