15.10.2026 18:10
While debates continue in Azerbaijan over banning teachers and students from entering state schools wearing headscarves, a noteworthy statement came from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Speaking at the Turkish Maarif Foundation's 10th Anniversary Program, Erdoğan drew attention to the distance Turkey has covered in education and to freedom of dress.
President Erdoğan, speaking at the Türkiye Maarif Foundation's 10th Anniversary Program, made a striking statement referring to freedom of dress in education. These words of Erdoğan brought to mind the headscarf ban in Azerbaijan.
In his statement, Erdoğan said, “For a country that for years forced its own children to go abroad because of their clothing, beliefs, or political views, our becoming a country that not only provides first-class education to its own children but also attracts tens of thousands of students from abroad every year is, of course, a great success for Türkiye. It is the clearest symbol of the historic transformation in education.”
Highlights from Erdoğan's statements; “Dear representatives of countries, esteemed teachers, beloved young brothers and sisters, I greet you with my most heartfelt feelings, respect, and affection. First of all, I wish a quick recovery to my brothers and sisters affected by the heavy rainfall, floods, and flash floods yesterday in Antalya and Istanbul, and I ask God's mercy for our three citizens who lost their lives. All our state institutions, especially AFAD, are working in coordination; while issuing the necessary warnings to our citizens, they are simultaneously taking all measures in the field. It is understood that it will continue today and tomorrow in different regions of our country. To prevent new problems, we ask our people to carefully follow the warnings of our official institutions.
HE DID NOT FORGET DÜNDAR ZİYA GÜLTEKİN Today, unfortunately, we received sad news as well. Our brother Dündar Ziya Gültekin, Deputy Mayor of Üsküdar, passed away in a traffic accident he had in Kaynaşlı while coming to Ankara. We wish abundant mercy from Almighty God for our brother Ziya, whose diligence, sincerity, and love for Üsküdar we witnessed firsthand, and I wish patience and condolences to his grieving family, relatives, the AK Party community, and the people of Üsküdar. May God make his resting place paradise, God willing.
“I ESPECIALLY OFFER MY GRATITUDE TO OUR YOUTH” My dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to be with you at this meaningful program organized on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of our Türkiye Maarif Foundation. Welcome to our Presidential Complex, the home of the nation, and to the Nation's Library, Türkiye's largest library; you have brought joy. I especially offer my gratitude to our dear guests and young people from different parts of the world who have joined the program. I wish that the 10th year of our Türkiye Maarif Foundation may be auspicious for our country, our nation, our heartland, and all humanity. On behalf of myself and my nation, I thank all my brothers and sisters who have served and taken responsibility within our foundation over the past ten years and who have brought Türkiye's educational vision together with the world. At present, under the roof of the Türkiye Maarif Foundation, I embrace with gratitude once again today each and every one of my brothers and sisters who work day and night to offer Türkiye's accumulation to the service of humanity, sometimes taking risks, sometimes being separated from their family and loved ones, and sometimes suffering the longing for home. Again, here, I kiss one by one the eyes of all our children who just now touched our hearts with their unique melodies.
“OUR TÜRKİYE MAARİF FOUNDATION TODAY OPERATES ON 6 CONTINENTS AND IN 66 COUNTRIES” A short while ago, we all watched the introductory film together. We remembered once again the paths our foundation has taken to reach today. Praise be to God, our Türkiye Maarif Foundation, which set out ten years ago with great goals, today operates on 6 continents and in 66 countries. We congratulate once again our foundation, which offers quality and qualified education opportunities to more than 75,000 students in 611 institutions worldwide. Undoubtedly, this success achieved in 10 years is a source of pride for us all. However, for us, the matter is not limited only to numbers. Our real success is the human stories behind these numbers. What matters to us is the values we add to the lives of our children studying in Maarif Foundation schools. What matters is the contribution that the children entrusted to us make to the future of their own countries as virtuous, qualified individuals with vision and mission. For this reason, we see international education as a long-distance marathon. Our Maarif Foundation offers new opportunities to children and young people living in different parts of the world, from Asia to Africa, from the Balkans to the Caucasus. It equips them with knowledge. It prepares them for life in every aspect. At the same time, it enables these children to establish strong and sincere bonds with different cultures. With its schools, dormitories, universities, research and education centers, it carries Türkiye's education experience to different continents. I sincerely believe that our young people who are now receiving education in Maarif classrooms will, God willing, very soon serve their own countries successfully in every field and shape the future of their homelands. I particularly express that I find it very appropriate that the 10th anniversary program was organized under the title '10 Years Building the Future'.
“WE ENSURED ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY” Distinguished guests, this level that our Türkiye Maarif Foundation has reached in 10 years is also a reflection of the historic revolution we have achieved in education during our governments. Over the last 24 years, we have improved our education infrastructure. We ensured access to education and equality of opportunity. We increased our institutional capacity many times over. We reorganized school curricula in line with new needs. We carried out the green and digital transformations of our schools. Praise be to God, we have succeeded in reaping the fruits of all these efforts. As per the latest PISA 2025 results, we have become the country among OECD countries that increased its score the most in science, mathematics, and reading. In higher education as well, interest in Turkish universities has increased exponentially every year. Our number of international students, which was around 48,000 ten years ago, has approached 380,000 this year. Encountering Turkey-graduate doctors, politicians, businesspeople, bureaucrats, teachers, artists, and academics in the countries where you serve has now become commonplace. In many countries of the world, we come across many people who speak Turkish, know and recognize Türkiye, and follow Turkish culture with interest.
EMPHASIS ON DRESS I express this with great satisfaction. For a country that for years forced its own children to go abroad because of their clothing, beliefs, or political views, our becoming a country that not only provides first-class education to its own children but also attracts tens of thousands of students from abroad every year is, of course, a great success for Türkiye.It is the clearest symbol of the historical transformation experienced in education. Undoubtedly, what is much more pride-inducing is that this vision has been carried to different corners of the world through our Türkiye Maarif Foundation. Look, today, on the one hand, we provide quality education to more than 24 million students from preschool to higher education; on the other hand, we offer the strong capacity we have built in international education to the benefit of our friends and brothers through our institutions such as the Maarif Foundation. This, I say openly, is a success that could not even be imagined 25 years ago. Those who target our Maarif Foundation may not know what this means. But we and you know very well what this vision corresponds to.
"TÜRKİYE IS A GLOBAL PLAYER" Even if those who look at the world and Türkiye through others' windows still fail to realize it, our country is today a global player. We are now in a new league not only in the defense industry, not only in diplomacy, tourism, and foreign trade, but also in terms of our international education vision. God willing, with your efforts as well, we will continue to rise in this league.
"WE ARE A NATION WITH NO SHAME OF COLONIALISM IN ITS HISTORY" Dear friends, I believe it is useful to emphasize the following here as well. In none of our activities within either the Türkiye Maarif Foundation or the Yunus Emre Institute do we adopt a one-sided approach. On the contrary, we are aware that every country has its own history, language, culture, and educational tradition. We conduct our work along these principles. I always say, look, we are a nation with no shame of colonialism in its history. We once ruled over an area reaching 24 million square kilometers. Today there are more than 45 countries on the lands we directly governed. Because our ancestors did not interfere with people's language, culture, or customs, these peoples preserved their own identities. However, societies that fell into the clutches of Western imperialists both suffered enormous pain and were subjected to cultural genocide. Today, in the regions governed by countries that preach pluralism to us and respect for differences without looking at their own past, hundreds of local languages have disappeared. Cultural traces were destroyed. Social memory was erased. Customs that lived for centuries among local peoples became museum pieces. I believe many of you have seen this in the countries where you serve. But we, as stated in the 22nd verse of Surah Ar-Rum, accept the difference of colors and languages as a manifestation of the infinite power of Almighty Allah in His creation. Therefore, we do not concern ourselves with anyone's language, culture, skin color, ethnic origin, disposition, or sect. We love the Creator, we say because of the Creator, we do not distinguish any human being on earth from another, and we do not look down on anyone. Yesterday as today, we act with the same sensitivity. In Maarif schools, we take into account the education legislation, curriculum, and cultural characteristics of the host countries. We see Turkish not as replacing other languages, but as a means that opens new doors for people and grants them new horizons. God willing, we will preserve to the end this approach that makes us who we are, that makes us different, and that distinguishes us from others.
"FETÖ SERVED IMPERIALISM AND PLAYED THE LACKEY TO ZIONISM" Dear guests, 10 years ago, in the establishment of our Türkiye Maarif Foundation, our goal of bringing our country's education activities abroad into a strong, reliable, and institutional structure played a leading role. Overcoming with the least damage the problems caused by FETÖ's educational structuring abroad was also among our foundation's duties and responsibilities. As you know, for years FETÖ used the schools it opened in different countries to develop its own structure, recruit members for the organization, obtain economic opportunities, and gain international influence. Moreover, this network of treason tried to do all this by creating the impression that it was supposedly acting on behalf of Türkiye. They fed from Türkiye. They exploited our nation's goodwill and magnanimity. But they served global imperialism. They acted as lackeys to Zionism.
"WE FOCUSED ON DISMANTLING THE NESTS OF SEDITION" After July 15, we accelerated the all-out struggle against FETÖ. While cutting off the organization's arms and legs within our country, we focused on dismantling the nests of sedition it operated abroad under the mask of educational institutions. Thanks to the intense efforts of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our Maarif Foundation, and our other institutions, we ensured that FETÖ-linked schools in more than 50 countries were completely or partially closed. Our Türkiye Maarif Foundation assumed important responsibilities in taking over educational institutions belonging to FETÖ. We showed utmost sensitivity to ensure that students in these schools were not victimized and that their education was not interrupted. As a result of our joint efforts, we covered very serious ground in a very short time. FETÖ, which in the past made Türkiye's image and reputation a shield of legitimacy for its dirty and dark ambitions in different parts of the world, is today not even mentioned in many countries. With new confessions triggered by conflicts of interest within the organization, our foreign friends have also begun to see the true face of this dissimulating organization. Tomorrow they will become even more pitiable and more wretched. God willing, they will pay the price for their treason against this nation and this country both in this world and in the Supreme Tribunal. We too will not let them go on the basis of law and democracy.
Of course, I also want to underline the following here. In reaching this point, the efforts of the devoted members of our Türkiye Maarif Foundation—who turn exile into homeland and carry the air of home to every point they reach, that is, you—are much greater. You bore the burden in difficult times, you did not give up in the face of obstacles, and without hiding behind excuses, you courageously took responsibility. You did not betray the trust of either our noble nation or our families who entrusted their children to us. I sincerely congratulate you and, in your persons, all members of the Maarif family working with love in different corners of the world, from Amman to Prizren, from Caracas to Kinshasa, from Lahore to Jakarta. I thank each and every one of you for carrying our crescent-and-star flag, whose color comes from the blood of our martyrs, and the messages of friendship, brotherhood, solidarity, and love it represents to all four corners of the world. Remember, this blessed journey has only just begun. God willing, we will together achieve much greater successes. I expect you, without forgetting that you are members of a great nation not only with its history but also with its goals, to represent Türkiye in the best possible way in the countries where you are. I trust you, and I say may God make your path and fortune open. With these thoughts, I wish once again that the 10th anniversary of our Türkiye Maarif Foundation be a means of goodness, and I pray to God for outstanding success for all our students, teachers, and colleagues.I also extend my gratitude to the heads of state and government, educational institutions, and everyone who supports our joint efforts, contributing to the countries in which our foundation operates becoming richer through these efforts. I congratulate our students and teachers, to whom we will shortly present the Maarif awards, and I greet you all with love and respect. Thank you, may you be well, take care. "
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