AST Reports

Turkey’s Maarif Foundation Poorly Performs in Afghanistan Mired in Scandals

January 2019 / (16 pages)

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For more than two years, Turkey’s aggressive policy to take over and shut down schools operated by opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan across the world has produced mixed results. In some countries such as Pakistan, Somalia, Gabon and Malaysia, the Turkish government’s relentless pursuit and sweetening financial offers swayed local governments’ positions and led to the takeover of Turkish schools previously ran by non-governmental organizations affiliated with U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, the arch-nemesis of President Erdogan. But not every country conceded to Ankara’s demands. And in some countries, Ankara led Maarif Foundation has shown signs of poor management and has failed to deliver success in education.

December 2018 / (16 pages)

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Erdogan’s government does not only target Turkish citizens but also people from other nationalities who reside legally in Turkey. The situation raises concern about the non-citizens’ human rights in relation to detention and arrest. Main principle of the rights of non-citizens has been seen as the principle of equality, meaning that state must treat non-citizens as same with their citizens. However, recently this understanding has started to change and there have been new and higher standards protecting aliens. This document will refer to human rights documents protecting the rights of non-citizens in terms of detention and then will include the stories of foreign citizens have been either taken into custody or arrested. In addition, arrested consular officials of the US Consulates will be mentioned despite the fact that they should have been treated with diplomatic respect.

A Predatory Approach to Individual Rights: Erdogan Government’s Unlawful Seizures of Private Properties and Companies in Turkey

November 2018 / (36 pages)

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Property rights in Turkey are no longer protected because of the disregard the Erdogan government has shown to the rights of its dissidents. Even though the anti-government Turks suffer from many different rights violations, the violations of the right to property should be separately noted since it is deemed a fundamental human right.
“Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions” reads Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Expulsion of Turkish Teachers from Moldova: The Whole Story

September 2018 / (28 pages)

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To the astonishment of the whole world last week, September 6, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and its Moldovan counterpart acted together in snatching six Turkish nationals affiliated with Gulen Movement from Moldovan territory, triggering a wave of international criticism and opprobrium against Moldova’s authorities for their acquiescence to Ankara’s demand for the expulsion of teachers. How the incident took place, the nature of international calls to stop the deportation of education officials working for Orizont High School, and the failure or complicity of the Moldovan political leadership generated a great deal of controversy, bringing their possible collaboration with the Turkish government in the whole drama into sharper international focus.

Erdogan’s Crackdown at a Glance

September 2018 / (12 pages)

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Under the state of emergency in place since July 2016, the president presides over the cabinet, which can pass decrees without parliamentary scrutiny or the possibility of appeal to the constitutional court. Many decrees adopted contained measures that undermine human rights safeguards and conflict with Turkey’s international human rights obligations.

The Confiscations and Smear Campaigns by Turkish Government through Maarif Foundation in Africa

July 2018 / (16 pages)

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Erdoğan government’s education policy consists of generalizing the imam hatip high- schools which provide mainly religious education, and forcing the students to choose one of these schools. In addition to this, it has been approximately 20 years since AKP (Justice and Development Party) took over the country, and the education system has been changing too many times within this period, only to end up with a more complicated system which has been far from providing any benefits at all.

Türkiye Develetinin Resmi Vakfı Maarif Üzerinden Afrika’da Yürütülen Gasp ve Karalama Kampanyası

Temmuz 2018 / (16 sayfa)

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Erdoğan, kurdurduğu Maarif Vakfı üzerinden yurtdışında bulunan Hizmet Hareketine bağlı okul ve bağlı kuruluşlara el konulması için Devlet destekli bir el koyma operasyonu başlattı. Bizzat Maarif vakfı başkanının da bir röportajda ifade ettiği üzere Maarif vakfı hedef olarak yurtdışındaki Türk okullarına hukuksuz biçimde el konulmasını belirlemiş durumda. Zengin imkanlarla donatılan Maarif vakfı bugüne kadar hukuksuzca el konulan Hizmet hareketi okulları dışında yalnızca bir okul kurabilmiş durumdadır.

Erdogan’s Long Arms Abroad and Recommendations to Governments

July 2018 / (24 pages)

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Since the attempted coup of July 15, 2016 the Government of Turkey Turkish government has engaged in illegal extraterritorial and extrajudicial actions been taking strict measures to silence dissidents in other countries from various ideologies recently. There are many examples of abductions and physical violence incidents in several countries as well as threats by pro-government people referring to the supporters abroad. This paper discusses these issues to conclude that individuals linked to the Movement cannot feel safe abroad either.

The Last Exit Before Illegal Legality: Snap Elections in Turkey as the Final Step on the Road to Authoritarianism

May 2018 / (16 pages)

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Following months of speculation about possible early elections, on April 16, 2018, the anniversary of the controversial 2017 referendum, Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), called for early elections to be held on August 26, the national holiday. One of the main reasons for early elections is to ensure they take place before the upcoming economic depression. There are concerns that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will commit electoral fraud. Following the April 18 announcement of the decision to hold early elections, on April 24 the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) recommended that Turkey postpone the elections.