20 of the Turkistan students to be freed: Al-Azhar

CAIRO – 12 July 2017: Dr. Abbas Shoman, Undersecretary of Al-Azhar University, informed Egypt Today on Wednesday that no foreign students were arrested from within Al-Azhar University or any other affiliated institutions.

“We can’t abandon our students; the grand Imam is looking after them himself as we consider them a great responsibility,” Shoman said.

This comes after following up with the security bodies regarding the 20 Turkistan students that are affiliated with the university.

Among the 20 Turkistan students, were three of students who got expelled for not attending their classes for long periods.

“The 20 student case is being followed by the Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, as their release is expected soon,” Shoman added.

Earlier this month, rumors that around 500 foreign students were arrested went viral on social media. However, these claims were denied by Shoman in statements made on July 6, “These allegations are not real and overrated.”

In his statements, Shoman said that it’s true that there was a problem regarding the number of foreign students in process with security bodies.

“It’s normal. Every country has the right to make sure that the foreign students living in it have the right papers and permissions from their governments,” Shoman added, “the same regulations are applied on Egyptians living elsewhere.”

On July 6, Shoman said that the Turkistan students’ case were not completely clear to the Al-Azhar board and that they were following up on the details with security bodies and the diplomatic embassies of which the students are affiliated.

While there has been wide-scale debates and confusion on social medial regarding the Turkistan cases, Al-Azhar denied, via an official statement, that any of the students was arrested from inside the university campus on July 8.

“There is no need for any bidding on Al-Azhar stance regarding its students. We are following the situation since the first moment,” Shoman added in his statements.

A large number of foreign students are admitted to Al-Azhar University every year from all around the world; 4, 000 of them are accepted through scholarships completely funded by the university and about 30,000 other students study at their own expense.