Mustafa Deveci
July 14, 2022•Update: July 14, 2022
ANKARA
Since its coup attempt in Türkiye on July 15, 2016, the Fetullah Terrorist Organization's (FETO) exploitative network of education facilities has been met with Ankara's effective diplomacy and schools of the Turkish Maarif Foundation.
According to diplomatic sources, FETO's education structure has weakened significantly since the defeated coup attempt as Türkiye has responded by opening international schools, particularly through the Maarif Foundation, founded in 2016.
Before that year, FETO had spread to dozens of countries through its schools by exploiting Türkiye's international image, but has gradually lost its grip in this field as Maarif has opened educational institutions across 49 countries.
The terror group has since lost the majority of its schools in Asia and Africa, isolated from the non-Western world and stuck in Europe and America.
Thanks to diplomacy pursued in close coordination with the Turkish government, 20 countries so far have closed down FETO-linked schools, including 234 schools handed over to Maarif.
The foundation is undertaking an important role in the fight against FETO's leg in the education sector. Today, it is identified as an international brand built on humanity's common values and based on transparent, scientific, local, and international official curricula.
With 46 countries, 92 different protocols were signed with the aim of transferring FETO-linked schools and opening new ones under Maarif's banner.
From teaching the Turkish language to opening education centers for the children of Turks living abroad, Maarif has left no quarter to the terrorist organization.
- 172 schools in 32 countries
Maarif has opened 172 new educational institutions in 32 countries to meet the educational needs of nations that are strategically important to Türkiye or where a large Turkish diaspora lives.
As a result of Türkiye's reliable foreign policy and successful diplomacy, and especially with the quick acceptance of Maarif schools on six continents, the FETO-linked institutions have lost their credibility in the eyes of parents and officials around the world.
In all its international initiatives, Ankara has continued to express that it expects greater cooperation from the US, Canada, and EU countries
Meanwhile, the terror organization's "charter schools," especially in the US, constitute its most important source of income abroad.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan
