ANKARA 

Turkey’s Maarif Foundation is “undoing the destruction” wreaked by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), while also providing quality education around the world, the Turkish president said on Thursday.

Since its establishment in 2016, the foundation has worked with great devotion and sincerity in some of the world’s most challenging geographies, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video message played at the Istanbul Education Summit.

“The Maarif Foundation plays an important role not only in undoing the destruction caused by FETO’s evildoers, but also in ensuring equal opportunities in education,” he said.

Today, it serves some 50,000 students at 414 educational institutions in 47 countries, helping Turkey contribute to the goal of quality education part of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, he added.

Erdogan said Maarif schools are playing a role in global development and fostering friendships.

“As a country that has no trace of colonialism in its past, I believe that the Turkish Maarif Foundation will lead the way in strengthening a vision for education that puts people and nature at its center,” he said.

“I hope that the Istanbul Education Summit will be a turning point in determining the roadmap of our foundation and increasing its success rate.”

* Writing by Gozde Bayar