Özcan Yıldırım
18 October 2021•Update: 18 October 2021
ANKARA
Turkey’s Maarif Foundation is providing education to over 17,500 students through its 175 institutions in 25 countries in Africa.
With Turkey's Ministry of National Education, the foundation is the state's sole entity authorized to provide educational services abroad.
It has significantly increased the number of educational institutions in Africa in the last five years – from 18 in 2016 to 175 now.
Besides, it also operates 18 dormitories in the continent to meet the accommodation needs of the students.
According to the foundation, it has 45,000 students in 378 schools, one university, and 14 education centers in 47 countries around the world.
The foundation was established on June 17, 2016, but is moving beyond its original mission of running schools obtained from FETO, the group behind the defeated coup of July 2016 in Turkey, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.
Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar
