Turkish Schools Discussed at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University


Date posted: October 26, 2004

In a conference at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) at the Johns Hopkins University, Turkish schools in Central Asia were closely analyzed.

In a conference titled ‘Turkish way of Islam Educates Central Asians’, which Dr. Bayram Balci from the French Institute of Anatolian Studies in Istanbul attended as lecturer, the educational movement initiated by Fethullah Gulen and its activities in the region were discussed.

Speaking in the conference, which was opened by the director of the Institute, Professor Charles Fairbanks who is also recognized as one of the authorities on Central Asia, Dr. Balci expressed that he finds the schools ‘very successful’. Balci, who researched the region and Turkish schools there between 1996 and 1999 for the French Grenoble University, submitted his studies as a dissertation which has been published as a book in France. According to Balci, schools in countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are magnets for people as well as the elites of the region due to their high rates of success in student matriculation in the university entrance exams, as well as the prizes they win in the Science Olympics. The underlying factors for this achievement are listed as: modern education and equipment; highly motivated teachers; a dormitory system; weakness of local education; the absence of corruption.

Indicating that the schools were admired by both Turkish diplomatic representatives in the related countries and the local administrations, Balci announced that in these schools education in positive sciences is in English, Turkish, Russian, and local languages and the curriculum is secular. Which prompts the question of where Islam stands in these schools. Balci said: “The first principle of the schools is not to convert people to Islam, but to turn them into qualified people.” He went on to say that students are educated as decent and patriotic individuals and added that the religious activities should be evaluated within the framework of the moderate ‘Turkish way of Islam’.

Source: Today’s Zaman, 25 October, 2004

Tags: USA, Turkish schools

 


Related News

Parents slam Pak-Turk Schools possible handover to Maarif Foundation

Parents of students of Pak-Turk schools and colleges blasted the Pakistan government for handing over the education system to a Turkish nonprofit organization called Maarif Foundation. They said that the schools and colleges would suffer if handed-over to the “poorly-equipped and infamous” Maarif Foundation.

Minister thankful to Fethullah Gulen for backing the peace process

Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, thankful to Fethullah Gulen for backing the ongoing peace process in Turkey’s Kurdish issue, said, “The peace process is a process in which the entire nation feels the honor of being equal citizens of the same state under the same flag. So I would like to […]

Gülen-inspired schools and SMOs

Muhammed Çetin In an attempt to distract the public from Fethullah Gülen’s acquittal by Turkey’s top court and perturbed by his top ranking in Foreign Policy magazine’s poll, elements of the Turkish media are using a lawyer’s wording in an attempt to engineer a setback for Gülen. In the brief submitted by US Citizenship and […]

Parents Of Afghan-Turk Students To Lodge Complaint Against National Directorate of Security

Students’ parents said they will lodge complaint at the Attorney General’s Office against the National Directorate of Security (NDS) over detaining the teachers of Afghan-Turk schools.

Kyrgyz president: Those calling Turkish teachers terrorists should see a doctor

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has said those who view as terrorists teachers working at the Gülen-linked SAPAT educational institutions in the country need treatment and should see a doctor.

Reflections on my first trip to TÜRKIYE

Last week I had the pleasure of accompanying a group of Jewish community leaders on a Niagara Foundation sponsored trip to Türkiye (Turkey). Our mission: to provide the group with windows into the Jewish experience in Turkey. One of the trip participants would describe this as, “not a Jewish trip to Turkey but a group of Jewish people traveling to Turkey.”

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Ivory Coast authorities call on Kimse Yok Mu for more aid

Can Washington Ever Welcome a Nonviolent Muslim?

Dr. Esposito: The Gulen Movement Introduces Turkey To The World

Interview: Professor Greg Barton, counter terrorism expert with Deakin University

Fethullah Gulen: Violence can not be a remedy for violence

Will Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Allow Kidnappings In His Country?

Criticism rains down on gov’t for insisting on closing prep schools

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News