Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
A campaign launched by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist government against two French schools in Turkey transcends questions of sovereignty and reciprocity, aiming to energize the ruling party’s conservative nationalist base, pressure France to soften its stance on various disputes and push Paris to permit the establishment of Turkey’s political Islamist schools in France.
The rivalry between the two NATO allies, already intensifying over the past decade across Africa, the Caucasus and the Mediterranean in a bid to carve out spheres of influence, has now escalated to target two French high schools — Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in Ankara and Lycée Français Pierre Loti in Istanbul — both of which have been operating in Turkey since the 1940s.
Although the first official confirmation of the brewing crisis over the schools came on July 12 in a statement by Sylvie Lemasson, cooperation and cultural action advisor and director general of the Institut Français in Turkey, the behind-the-scenes standoff between Turkish and French officials had been unfolding for some time away from the public eye.
The first indication of what appeared to be a long-planned move by the Erdogan government was leaked to pro-government media outlets in early 2024, a classic tactic aimed at shaping public discourse ahead of the government’s action.
Meanwhile, government inspectors have been aggressively targeting the two French schools, demanding access to their records and student files and reportedly imposing fines and penalties based on politically motivated charges. Allegations have escalated to include demands for changes to the curriculum and the addition of government-employed public teachers to their staff.
On the surface, the dispute centers on the legal status — or lack thereof — of whether these two French schools, originally intended to educate the children of French Embassy and Consulate staff, are permitted to enroll Turkish students. In practice, due to their longstanding popularity in Turkey, these schools have accepted Turkish students for decades, with their diplomas recognized and certified by the Turkish Ministry of Education. Currently, about 90 percent of the student population at these schools is Turkish.
The Erdogan government claims that the two schools are operating without a proper license, violating both Turkish constitutional provisions — specifically Article 42 — and the fundamental law on national education (Law No. 1739). As a result, the government seeks to relocate these schools on embassy compounds, with guarantees that only the children of diplomatic staff will be allowed to continue their education there, effectively barring Turkish students from enrollment.
To resolve the dispute, French Ambassador Isabelle Dumon met with Minister of Education Yusuf Tekin in March. Tekin, a staunch Islamist figure, had previously been flagged during a counterterrorism probe into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force network, as reported by Nordic Monitor last year. During the meeting, the French ambassador proposed a swift agreement to prevent thousands of K-12 students from suffering due to the ongoing conflict.
In May of this year, a general director from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs visited Turkey to engage in discussions with officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Education. The French delegation presented a proposal aimed at resolving the dispute before the start of the 2024-2025 school year. However, while negotiations were still in progress, the Turkish side introduced a fundamentally different proposal in mid-June, addressing issues that had not been previously discussed.
On July 2 Turkey issued an ultimatum stating that if the French did not accept the terms of the new proposal, the schools would be prohibited from enrolling Turkish students for the upcoming school year and that Turkish students already enrolled would be required to transfer to other schools.
In his public remarks, Minister Tekin disclosed that the issue was on his agenda during his tenure as undersecretary at the Ministry of Education from May 2013 to July 2018. He had even sent a letter to the schools but was unable to pursue it further due to other pressing matters.
In his pursuit of the two French schools, Tekin was aided by two key Islamists. One was Kemal Şamlıoğlu, who was then serving as general director of private educational institutions and is now the deputy minister of education. A graduate of a religious Imam Hatip school, Şamlıoğlu had been a member of the advisory board for the Islamist organization Cihannüma Dayanışma ve İşbirliği Platformu Derneği (Cihannüma Association for Solidarity and Cooperation Platform) based in Istanbul. He was also active in the National Youth Foundation (MGV), a leading Islamist organization promoting political Islam with a strong network in Europe.
The other was Ömer Faruk Yelkenci, also a deputy foreign minister, who had served as general director of private educational institutions before being replaced by Şamlıoğlu in 2016. Yelkenci served as deputy chairman of the Cihannüma Association. He has the full backing of President Erdogan’s son, Bilal Erdogan, who has effectively been running Turkey’s national education ministry behind the scenes for years.
Between 2014 and 2018, acting on orders from President Erdogan, Tekin and his team of Islamists were preoccupied with shutting down thousands of private schools and educational institutions affiliated with the Gülen movement, a group critical of the Erdogan government.
During those years, Tekin also led the campaign to establish the Maarif Foundation, a flagship initiative of Turkey’s Islamist president designed to extend his regime’s influence through educational services as part of a proselytizing effort abroad. Established by law in 2014 as an official government entity, the Maarif Foundation’s management was composed of known Islamists with jihadist views. The foundation emerged after Fethullah Gülen, the US-based Turkish Muslim scholar who inspired the Gülen movement, rejected Erdogan’s proposal to utilize Gülen-affiliated schools abroad for political purposes.
The Maarif Foundation seeks to cultivate a new generation of Islamist political activists to support the Erdogan government, its political ideology and its expansionist vision of a single Muslim ruler acting as an Islamic caliph. Video footage from Africa and other regions has shown Maarif students chanting and praying for Erdogan during Turkish election campaigns. Currently, Maarif operates nearly 500 schools in 52 countries and aims to establish a presence in France. as well.
In his public comments, Minister Tekin claimed that Turkish students enrolled in the two French schools are flagged in their systems as school-age children who are not receiving any schooling, thus requiring follow-up. He alleged that the education inspectors he sent to these schools were denied entry. “The real question that should be asked is why these schools have been tolerated until now,” Tekin said.
Parents, however, dispute the minister’s allegations, asserting that they are required to register their children in local schools with an explanatory note stating that the children are already receiving education at French schools. This practice has been ongoing without issue in local school districts. Based on these registrations, authorities tasked with ensuring that school-age children are enrolled in the mandatory education system do not take action against the parents.
Another comment by the minister highlights the ideological mindset of the Erdogan government that may have contributed to this dispute. “Which Turkish citizens do you think send their children to French schools?” he asked, implying that those who do not align with Erdogan’s Islamist ideology are choosing to enroll their children in these schools.
The minister also stated that Turkey would have demands for Turkish children living in France. A key condition for resolving the dispute is Turkey’s insistence on signing a comprehensive educational cooperation agreement that would enable Turkey to influence the curriculum in French schools, particularly regarding Turkish language, religion, culture and history.
According to the pro-government media, a tentative deal was reached in mid-August to avert the crisis for now. Under the terms of the agreement, two French schools have agreed not to admit any new Turkish students, to share information on currently enrolled Turkish students, to have teachers sent by the Turkish Ministry of Education teach Turkish language, literature, culture, history and geography and, most importantly, to have permanent government inspectors of the school premises for continuous monitoring.
Moreover, as part of the anticipated bilateral agreement, Turkey is seeking to establish two Turkish schools in Paris and Strasbourg, make Turkish language courses mandatory and push for the removal of anti-Turkish content from French textbooks.
The pressure on the Charles de Gaulle and Pierre Loti schools appears to be a test run for the Erdogan government. If successful, it could set a precedent for targeting other French schools or foreign institutions in Turkey that have so far been spared. Although other schools benefit from a stronger legal standing under the 1924 Lausanne Treaty, there is no guarantee that the Erdogan government will not infringe on their rights.
This government has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to manufacture crises, disregard the rule of law and fabricate criminal charges to achieve its political objectives.
How far the French government is willing to go to appease the Erdogan administration remains to be seen. However, history suggests that Erdogan responds more effectively to firm pressure and a tough stance, as he tends to understand and respect the language of force, especially when he perceives it as a potential threat to his authority.
