Armenian private schools in Istanbul will continue admitting children from families in Armenia as “guest students,” allowing them to study in Turkey, the Istanbul Armenian newspaper Jamanak reports.

For nearly fourteen years, Armenian schools have accepted students from Armenia under this arrangement, though they are not allowed to issue diplomas to them.

According to the paper, Armenian MP Sevan Sıvacıoğlu of the ruling Justice and Development Party announced the decision after discussing the matter with Türkiye’s Minister of National Education, Yusuf Tekin.

Sıvacıoğlu conveyed the minister’s statement that “there are no new regulations concerning guest students studying at schools belonging to the Armenian community.”

As a result, children whose families emigrated from Armenia and secured the right to work or reside in Turkey will be able to continue attending local Armenian schools as usual.

For more than a week, Istanbul’s Armenian community had discussed reports that Turkey’s Ministry of National Education had issued a directive barring children from Armenia from enrolling in local Armenian schools and requiring them instead to attend Turkish public schools.