Levent Kenez/Stockholm
Turkey and the United Nations signed an agreement to establish a regional office of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in Turkey to serve Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but provisions in the deal have triggered debate over the inclusion of organizations linked to the family of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The agreement, signed on December 14, 2024, between the Turkish government and UN-Habitat, sets out the framework for a regional hub that will coordinate urban development policies, disaster resilience, climate action and post-earthquake recovery across a wide geographic area stretching from the Balkans to Central Asia.
However, an article of the agreement goes beyond general policy areas and explicitly names specific initiatives and partner organizations that will be hosted and coordinated by the office in Turkey. Among them are the “Zero Waste” initiative and cooperation with the World Ethnosport Confederation on youth and traditional sports.
The “Zero Waste” initiative is led by the Sıfır Atık Vakfı, whose honorary president is first lady Emine Erdogan. The foundation is run by figures close to the Erdogan family. The World Ethnosport Confederation is chaired by Erdogan’s son Bilal, who has played a visible role in promoting traditional sports and educational events domestically and internationally and is widely described in political circles as a potential successor to his father.
The agreement states that the UN-Habitat office will host and coordinate all ongoing and future initiatives in Turkey in cooperation with government institutions and relevant stakeholders, explicitly including these entities. The list also covers smart city strategies, national urbanization policies, local climate action, efforts combatting desertification, disaster-resilient urban planning and recovery in earthquake-affected regions.
The inclusion of named organizations in the agreement was raised during discussions in the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on April 1, 2026, where lawmakers questioned why specific foundations were referenced in a multilateral treaty rather than described in general terms.
During the session İsmail Tüzgen, director general for the EU and foreign relations at the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, said the reference to ethnosports was intentional and tied to regional engagement goals.
“Ethnic sports, especially ethnosports, are an important issue for this region and for us,” Tüzgen said. “We specifically included ethnosports because we want them to become more widespread in this region. We aim to carry out joint activities and initiatives, particularly in Central Asia, targeting young people.”
Tüzgen did not address why the World Ethnosport Confederation was named directly in the agreement text rather than being included under a broader category of civil society or cultural partners.
The World Ethnosport Confederation organizes international festivals featuring traditional sports such as horseback archery, oil wrestling and other heritage-based competitions. These events have been attended by foreign officials and have been funded by the government.
Bilal Erdogan has solidified his influence over Turkey’s social and educational landscape through an expansive network of foundations that critics increasingly describe as a “foundation empire.”
While Bilal Erdogan holds no official government office, he maintains a high-profile role in public life by chairing or serving on the boards of nearly a dozen influential organizations. These entities, ranging from education and youth development to traditional sports, have become central pillars of the government’s project to raise a “pious generation.”
Among the most popular organizations under his stewardship are TÜRGEV (Turkey Youth and Education Service Foundation) and TÜGVA (Turkey Youth Foundation). According to public records and investigative reports, these Islamist foundations, along with others such as the Ilim Yayma Foundation and YETEV (New Turkey Education Foundation), benefit significantly from state resources. This support often includes the allocation of valuable public lands, government-funded building projects and direct financial transfers from municipal and national budgets.
The scale of these organizations, combined with their access to public funding, suggests a parallel structure to the state’s education ministry. His portfolio also extends into the promotion of national heritage through the Archers Foundation along with the World Ethnosport Confederation, both of which receive substantial backing from government ministries and state-run banks. Most recently, he became a founding member of the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Foundation, established in 2023 to preserve the president’s legacy through museums and libraries.
The close ties between these foundations and the Turkish government have long been a point of contention for opposition leaders, who argue that public funds are being diverted to private organizations to consolidate political power rather than serving the general public interest.
In parliament, lawmakers also pointed to the inclusion of the Zero Waste initiative, which has been promoted globally by Emine Erdogan and presented at international forums, including at the United Nations. The initiative focuses on recycling, waste reduction and environmental awareness. Although the inclusion of the Zero Waste initiative can be seen as relevant within the scope of urban policy, the explicit naming of a specific foundation attracted attention.
The agreement’s wording assigns a coordinating role to the UN-Habitat office in Turkey for these initiatives, raising questions among lawmakers about how international cooperation projects will intersect with domestically affiliated foundations and whether other civil society organizations will have equal access to such frameworks.
The foreign affairs committee discussions did not result in amendments to the agreement text, and the government proceeded with the process of ratification.
The debate comes amid scrutiny of how international funding and cooperation programs are implemented in Turkey, particularly in sectors such as education, youth and civil society.
A 2024 Nordic Monitor investigation reported that European Union funds allocated to Turkey under programs such as Erasmus, designed to support education, youth and civil society, were directed to organizations linked to networks aligned with President Erdogan and his political base, including entities with close ties to government circles.
The report said funding from the EU’s Erasmus program, part of a broader 26.2 billion euro budget for 2021 to 2027, was distributed in Turkey through the Center for European Union Education and Youth Programs, known as the Turkish National Agency. That body operates under government oversight and has been led by officials with past roles in the presidential administration.
According to the findings, funds were transferred through layered and opaque distribution systems involving intermediary institutions, making it difficult to trace final beneficiaries. In multiple cases documented by Nordic Monitor, grants were either directly awarded to or indirectly routed to organizations supportive of the government, including groups operating within pro-government civil society networks.
The report said EU funds intended to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and independent civil society instead helped sustain structures closely aligned with the government, with funding flows benefiting organizations that shared political or ideological proximity to those in power. It found that this pattern redirected international resources toward reinforcing existing networks rather than expanding independent civic participation.
Nordic Monitor also reported that the complexity of the funding mechanisms, including subcontracting and secondary distribution through accredited entities, limited transparency and public oversight, obscuring how funds were ultimately used.
Text of the agreement to establish a regional office of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in Turkey:
