Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday that Türkiye had significantly expanded its education infrastructure over the past 24 years, while the Turkish Maarif Foundation had helped extend the country’s educational presence across several continents.

Speaking at the foundation’s 10th anniversary event at the Presidential Library in Ankara, Erdoğan said reforms had improved access to education, expanded institutional capacity and introduced green and digital transformation in schools.

He also highlighted the foundation’s role in educating students abroad, saying its schools offered opportunities to young people across Asia, Africa, the Balkans and the Caucasus.

“We wholeheartedly believe that our youths currently receiving education at Maarif schools will successfully serve their own countries in every field, shaping the future of their homelands,” Erdoğan said.

The president said the foundation’s development reflected broader changes in Türkiye’s education system, including revised curricula and efforts to improve equality of opportunity.

Erdoğan also pointed to growing international interest in Turkish higher education. He said the number of international students in Türkiye had risen from around 48,000 a decade ago to nearly 380,000 this year.

He added that graduates of Turkish educational institutions were increasingly working in fields including medicine, politics, business, public administration, teaching and academia in countries around the world.

Erdoğan also referred to Türkiye’s performance in international education assessments, saying the country had recorded significant improvements in science, mathematics and reading. His remarks cited the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), although the specific ranking and score changes were not detailed in the speech.

Erdoğan also praised the Turkish Maarif Foundation for its role in efforts to take over or close schools affiliated with the Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation (FETÖ), which Ankara blames for the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

He accused the network of using schools abroad to expand its influence, recruit members and acquire financial resources while presenting itself as representing Türkiye.

“Abusing our nation’s good intentions and generosity, they served global imperialism and did Zionism’s bidding,” Erdoğan said.

He said cooperation between the Foreign Ministry, the Maarif Foundation and other Turkish institutions had led to the full or partial closure of FETÖ-affiliated schools in more than 50 countries.

According to Erdoğan, the foundation played a key role in transferring educational institutions previously linked to the network to Turkish management.

He added that the authorities had sought to ensure that students were not harmed and that their education continued without interruption during the transfer process.

The Turkish Maarif Foundation was established in 2016 to operate educational institutions abroad and promote Türkiye’s educational cooperation with other countries. (ILKHA)