The head of Turkey's recently established Maarif Foundation, Professor Birol Akgün gave an interview to Daily Sabah in regards to the objectives the foundation aims to achieve in the near future, more specifically in five years. Underlining that the educational mechanisms which stand for the Turkish-style of education is aimed to be put into practice at the education centers in different corners of the world, Akgün elaborated on the farsighted purpose of the institute, which was established in June 2016, not only to eliminate the terror threats posed by Gülenist schools abroad, but also to take place in the international community as well as to represent Turkey's values and improve its presence in the global arena.The head of Turkey's recently established Maarif Foundation Professor Birol Akgün said they aim to be active all around the world within five years and underlined that the foundation will create educational mechanisms that represent a Turkish vision and promote the Turkish language.Maarif Foundation, established five months ago, was named after an Ottoman-Turkish word for education that comes from the Arabic word for knowledge or wisdom. The foundation addresses the educational needs of the Turkish community abroad, offering Turkish-style education in other countries. Pointing out that the foundation was not founded simply to fight Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) schools and organizations abroad, Professor Akgün said that would have been a shortsighted aim; on the contrary, they want to have a presence in the international community in the long-run.Daily Sabah: Why was the Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMV) founded? Which fields is the foundation active in?Birol Akgün: The TMV is an education foundation that was established in June 2016 as a public entity. According to the law it was founded upon, the TMV exists to provide formal education on all levels, based on the universal values of the humanity. There are several reasons for its existence. Turkey is now an emerging actor and a rising star in the international arena. It cannot only rely on improving its economic relations with other countries; people-to-people relations are as important as intergovernmental relations to render the interactions between the countries sustainable. Education is an important component of this integration process and thus Turkey aimed to create a mechanism that would further its philosophy of education. The TMV was founded for this reason.Its establishment also has to do with the issues Turkey faced in recent years. Especially during Dec. 17-25, 2013, we have observed a group that claimed they were opening schools all round the world for Turkey's sake. It became politicizing after it attempted a coup by exploiting the judiciary and the security apparatus of the state. This group transformed from an asset for the country into an adversary. It's true that they opened schools in regions of the world where education was a dire need with donations from Turkish people. Moreover, while the existence of schools of Turkish origin were required, it was being done by the wrong people, which prompted the government to move quickly. Discussing how to address the issue, it was decided to establish a semi-public foundation, the TMV, to handle these schools, allowing it to represent Turkey more responsibly in the international arena. The necessity for Turkey to step into the education sector was also shaped by these political developments.DS: Were there any preparations for the foundation of the TMV before the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 process?BA: Yes, it was sought. Abroad, the education was being provided by Turkish schools that acted under the embassies through the Ministry of National Education (MEB). There are still around 65 schools that operate in this way; however, they're not considered international schools. They are only able to partially meet needs and they provide education to the children of Turkish citizens living abroad. Our aim transcends this. We aim to make Turkey a prominent brand in education, while appealing to different walks of life; the schools abroad must have a certain quality, so that the people of the concerned countries could send their children to these schools. This is what the TMV aims to do; to create a reputable and trustworthy international brand in education with Maarif Schools.DS: So, are you saying that the TMV wasn't founded solely to fight FETÖ schools and organizations abroad?BA: That would have been a shortsighted aim; on the contrary, we want to be present in the international community in the long-run. Furthermore, we want to represent Turkey's values and presence in the international arena.There are rising tensions in the Islamic world due to sectarianism and between the West and the Islamic world. As a country that has a consolidated middle class and is knowledgeable on both the West and East, we need to create an exit strategy for the tensions between the Islamic world and the West. We need a new perspective.Turkey is a country that is both a part of the West's modernization and the Islamic world. With this identity, we represent a unique model. Turkey doesn't breed radical movements; even though such organizations like Daesh are in the same region with Turkey, we're resistant to their influences. This should be carried into the international community. Turkey's accumulated social, economic, religious and educational knowledge may help different civilizations of the world in understanding each other. The TMV will contribute properly to international peace. We believe that we are the successors of the peaceful coexistence tradition that has existed since the Ottomans and we want to instill this in our educational endeavors. We want to become an institution that can convey the pluralist approach through education.DS: More than half a year has passed since the foundation of the TMV. Can you tell us about your activities in the course of this period?We have formed our teams and started to work. Firstly, we are important in fighting against FETÖ abroad. Even though the schools are managed by FETÖ, their human and financial resources are based on the material and spiritual abundance of the Anatolian people. While Turkey has to fight FETÖ, which became a criminal network with the July 15 coup attempt, it also has to create solutions to the issues.Embassies are working on transferring the control of these schools to Turkey. During this process, some friendly countries either seized the schools or contacted Turkey regarding their transference. As the TMV, we were in contact with the nearby countries, especially with African ones. To date, we have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 12 countries. Some of these countries requested the schools be managed by our foundation, while there are some other countries that requested Turkey open new schools. Countries including Guinea, Somalia and Niger have transferred the schools to Turkey. On the other hand, we are currently in contact and negotiations with countries like Sudan, Senegal, Chad, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Similarly, we are talking terms with Balkan countries like Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.Therefore, the foundation provides a resolution to countries that don't harm relations. After the initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have formally visited 35 countries and we will continue to do meet more. We are holding meetings with officials such as the ministers of national education, foreign ministers and ministers of finance, and expressing our perspective. We are working on the necessary regulations that will allow us to legally establish ourselves as a legal entity in respective countries. Moreover, if there is a FETÖ school in the country, we explain how the control of the school could be transferred to Turkey without harming relations between the two countries. African countries clearly understand Turkey's position. Regarding the other countries, many countries have recently become more attentive to Turkey's demands. These processes are politically neither simple nor easy, of course.DS: What challenged you during this process?Firstly, we have to clarify this: FETÖ is not an ordinary organization. This organization has close connections with education, while it also infiltrated the intelligence agencies and the military to seize power. When all failed, they resorted to violence and tried to depose the government with a coup. In this sense, it is not easy to express the trauma Turkey suffered to other countries all around the world, as this organization had founded schools in those countries years ago and established prominent networks. On the other hand, the organization is also involved in violence and terrorism.Explaining all of these is primarily the duty of diplomats, however; not ours. We usually step in as a solution partner after the diplomats achieve a certain level of understanding with the country's officials. Especially in the West, they have hard time in understanding our reasons. The transfer of schools that are spread all around the world requires legal, political and diplomatic endeavor.DS: How do you resolve the human resources issue after the country agrees to transfer the school? How do you find suitable teachers who should probably speak the local language as well?It might seem like a tremendous issue when you are not knowledgeable about managing international schools; however, in reality, it's not much of a problem. These schools usually tap into the local teacher resources. When we visited Turkish schools abroad, we saw that most of the employees were locals. Therefore, there are only a handful of teachers and administrators that are of Turkish origin; they consist only the 7-10 percent of the total employees. Therefore, in our meetings, we tell the officials of the countries that we don't want to aggrieve the children, their families and the employees.On the other hand, to manage the transition, MoUs are signed between the governments. With this agreement, the TMV become entitled to manage the school which includes hiring and firing teachers. All of these processes require all to stay calm, which we do. We replace the teachers and the administrators accordingly, sometimes sending personnel from Turkey, thus completing the transition without a hitch. The most Turkey will require is a couple thousands of teachers during the transfer of FETÖ schools. The bylaw of our foundation allows us to assign any civil servants to these schools. Moreover, we are cooperating with the Turkish Ministry of National Education, which has 1 million teachers working under it. We have several thousands of teachers who are qualified to educate anywhere in the whole world. Similarly, there are many other foundations, associations and NGOs abroad which work in education. We employ a pool consisting of the reliable members of these institutions who have an affinity with the field, know the local language and have a local network.Furthermore, when we have to assign people to, say, an African country where French is dominant, we employ people who live or work in French-speaking countries of Europe. We didn't have any significant issues in this regard and I don't believe we will have any; we have cooperated with certain universities abroad and sent some of our teachers there to learn the language, in order to create our own human resource.We also have an amazingly altruistic population in Turkey; we have many people who want to travel to the other side of the world in order to serve their country. We receive dozens of CVs each and every day from civil servants and private sector employees. There are 450,000 teachers qualified in different fields in this country, who couldn't be appointed due to various reasons. Currently, we are working on a system which will allow us to create a human resource pool by tapping into this potential. Even though we are using the resources of MEB now, we will have our own teacher training strategy in the midterm.DS: FETÖ schools presented themselves as Turkish schools. Was the Turkish government able to explain that these schools belonged to a terrorist organization?It mostly tried to accomplish this through initiatives by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the July 15 coup attempt. There are ministerial statements which were covered by the media, urging the Turkish embassies to explain this issue to their official contacts. Our representatives abroad expressed that the schools run by this terrorist organization don't represent the Republic of Turkey and its people. In this regard, we know that it's not allowed for these schools to use the Turkish flag or the phrase "Turkish School" removed from their names; however, we don't have a concrete list of results.DS: You said that some countries requested Turkey open schools in their countries. Can you name some of them?Actually, almost all the countries near our country want Turkey to be active in the field of education. The opening of these schools in the name of Turkey and with instructions from our ministries and embassies were what made FETÖ-affiliated institutions attractive. The same need continues to exist today. All around the world, from the Middle East to the Balkans, from Africa to Australia, there are requests for Turkey to open formal education institutions such as Turkish schools or Turkish universities even. There is definitely interest in Turkey.Moreover, Turkey is not the same country it was 10 years ago; Turkey has become more powerful and influential in the international community. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in learning Turkish. People are becoming more interested in the Turkish language and culture, including the peoples of South America even. The Yunus Emre Foundation works to sate these interests and when we need their help or when there is something they can do, we guide people to them.DS: What are the levels of these schools: Primary, secondary or higher education? Which is demanded more?There is an educational system called K12, which includes primary and secondary education. We have to have an integral structure if we are to open Maarif Schools and represent a certain perspective; education methods, aims and the curricula must all be consistent. Currently, we have this structure, more or less. Opening a university is a completely different process. As it became increasingly universal, you have to open a university appealing to everyone, which has to be located in a suitable country for transportation and residence permit purposes. We are working on this. Our long-term aim is to create a reputable and world-renowned brand and spread it all around the world. We are analyzing different examples of this model around the world. In our workshops, which are on what kind of education must be provided, we are trying to address these issues and create new models. Thus, we want to create a new school model that is combined with Turkey's traditions and universal values.

DS: What are your mid-term goals? In how many countries do you aim to open schools within five years?

Our mid-term goals include becoming a reputable brand in education, as I have expressed before. This might take time, but we aim to be active all around the world within five years. We want to create educational mechanisms that represent a Turkish vision and promote the Turkish language. Moreover, we want to improve relations with prominent universities abroad. We also have to work on Turkish Studies programs becoming more spread. Currently, we are in cooperation with institutions like the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Yunus Emre Foundation to achieve these goals. The main aim is to open Turkish Studies programs especially in universities in G20 countries and other strategically crucial countries, along with signing mutual agreements.

We also want academics who conduct their academic research through these institutions. We want to have a healthy flow of information through academics that directly monitor local media channels during events like the July 15 coup attempt. In the midterm, we want to open Turkish Studies programs in at least 10 countries, which will teach Turkish politics, art, literature and language.

DS: What kind of strategies will you employ against the countries that do not transfer or close down FETÖ schools?

From now on, they will not be able to brand themselves as Turkish schools. The schools that were not transferred are being sold to international corporations or local entrepreneurs. If there is a need to open an educational institution in the name of Turkey, we may create our own alternatives. For instance, the schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina were sold to a corporation based in the US. As the institution is no longer a Turkish brand, Turkish citizens living there demanding an alternative. To satisfy this demand, we are opening our own schools. We have started these initiatives in other countries as well. There are certain countries especially in Europe where significant Turkish populations live. We will not be able to satisfy all the educational needs of our citizens there; however, we will support programs reinforcing Turkish culture and identity and teaching the Turkish language. These are demands from our Turkish citizens living abroad.

DS: From how many countries have you received these demands?

I'm not sure about the exact number, as there are individual demands from our citizens there. Sometimes they write petitions addressed to our embassies. Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent us a report that stated that our citizens abroad were demanding the opening of schools, courses or centers. For instance, we have recently opened three schools in Syria, as there was a need for education in regions that are now secure. This need is partially sated by local actors and NGOs; however, we wanted to contribute and opened three schools in Jarablus in an initiative by the Prime Ministry. There are more than 3,000 children being educated in these schools. Thus, we have transformed into a foundation that provides extensive education.

DS: Lastly, what do you aim to achieve by the end of 2017?

We want to ease the burden on the political will that established this foundation and to satisfy the demands of the institutions that want to transfer schools to Turkey. On the international level, we want to accomplish the transfer of FETÖ schools as a part of the fight against the terrorist organization without harming relations with other countries. Moreover, we will establish institutions in Europe that will at least satisfy the most basic needs of our citizens there.