Erdoğan claims Turkey has closed or seized Gülen-linked schools in over 50 nations

Speaking at an Ankara event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the state-run Turkish Maarif Foundation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that Turkey has either closed or assumed control of Gülen-affiliated schools in more than 50 nations and vowed to press on with the initiative. He praised the foreign ministry, the foundation and other agencies for intensifying the drive after the July 2016 coup attempt, describing the Gülen movement as a “network of treachery” and its schools as “dens of sedition.”

While Erdoğan gave no specifics on the countries or numbers, a July 2026 Solidarity with Others report recorded the closure, confiscation or transfer of at least 162 institutions in 29 countries, with 131 taken over by the Turkish Maarif Foundation and roughly 7,800 employees impacted. The campaign is part of broader transnational repression, with documented cases of educators being abducted or forced back to Turkey from places such as Kosovo, Pakistan, Malaysia and Myanmar. Human-rights groups and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have highlighted Turkey as a leading perpetrator of physical transnational repression.