Recollecting his experiences in the Philippines, Ahmet Yamakoglu, former Principal of the Phillipines-Turkish Tolerance School, recalls a meeting of Kayseri philanthropist businessmen with Governor of Zamboanga Mrs Maria Clara Lobregat.

Ahmet quotes the governor as saying, “You have changed the misconceptions formed in our minds owing to the unfortunate clashes between the Muslims and Christians, and you made us love Muslims and Islam."

On occasion of the Philippines National Day, Ahmet recollects, “When our students were parading before her, she stood up and announced to the public: And now my new children are passing out before us!"

This success did not come in platter for the Turkish educationists. Long after submitting papers for opening schools in Manila, the Turks received no results owing to the deep-seated suspicions of the central government about Muslims.

Only in 2001, the final decision for opening the school was passed; however then slow-moving bureaucracy still had question marks about presence of Muslims educationists in the conflict zone. Until Mrs Maria assigned her parliamentarian son Celso Lobregat to facilitate her Turkish friends with the processes, hopes were dim.

Celso Lobregat told his politician colleagues, "We fought with Muslims for many years in the Mindanao region. There might have been no bloodshed in the south if we had them many years ago.”

Thus, the Turkish NGO got permission in style to open more branches back then.

Before dying Mrs Maria bequeathed her wish to Celso Lobregat to be the beneficiary of the Turkish schools in the Philippines. Lobregat became the Governor of Zamboanga and Turkish school quitely spread their message of co-existence and tolerance.

Such experiences have borne fruit in Turkey as well where Kurdish militants are attacking civilian and security personnel indiscriminately, alleged at the behest of external factors.

Abdullah Aymaz, a Turkish educationist, recalls a touching incident involving two Kurdish-speaking students who went on rampage in school 15 days after enrolling and lodging in the school.

Realising sensitive nature of the region, the principal treated the students with affection.

One of the students, whose name has been kept anonymous, is quoted as saying: “We were told so many negative things about you that we hated you and we came to burn the school, but we couldn’t.”

In another incident, a student from Cizre - a Turkish town near the Syrian border - wrote to the principal, "Until recently, I used to see Turks as our sworn enemies but now I loved you all. If you had come here earlier, terrorism might not have been here." The youngster regretted about his uncle who has adopted Kurdish guerilla lifestyle in the mountains.

The bar of expectations from the Turkish schools’ peacebuilding role is rising world over as many Muslim and non-Muslim geographies too long for tranquility and peaceful coexistence.

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