Private schools leave mark on Science Olympiad


Date posted: May 6, 2015

İzmir’s private Yamanlar, Ankara’s private Samanyolu and İstanbul’s Fatih colleges all left their mark on the 20th National Antalya Mathematics Science Olympiad, organized for primary and secondary schools by Akdeniz University and held on May 3 and 4.

Yamanlar College ranked first among all competing schools, winning five gold medals, six silver and eight bronze. Attended by 700 students across the country, Samanyolu College won four gold and two silver medals, while Fatih College followed Samanyolu with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze in the math olympiad.

Akdeniz University Rector İsrafil Kurtcephe and İlham Aliyev, the university’s foreman, gave out the medals at the competition’s award ceremony, which took place at the university.

Yüksel Demir, one of the teachers of the winning students, said at the ceremony that these students are also representing Turkey abroad at the national team and they are also winners of numerous similar competitions organized by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). He added: “I congratulate all of them on their achievements.”

However, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has conducted a smear campaign against the private schools on the grounds that they are linked to the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Erdoğan has falsely accused the movement of plotting against and trying to bring down himself and the government.

Erdoğan has claimed that the movement is behind the revelation of the Dec. 17, 2013 graft scandal, which implicated high-ranking government officials, former ministers and Erdoğan’s inner circle, and launched a witch-hunt to eliminate all institutions linked to the movement.

Numerous foreign countries also host Turkish schools affiliated with the Gülen movement and Erdoğan’s repeated calls for the closure of these foreign schools have fallen on deaf ears and been rejected.

Erdoğan’s unrelenting denunciation of such schools and calls over the past two years for their break up are yet to yield any results. The schools are considered a source of national pride because of their contribution to improved educational chances to students in many countries such as Africa and Central Asia.

Source: Today's Zaman , May 06, 2015


Related News

Zaman newspaper: Turkey police raid press offices in Istanbul

Turkish police have raided the offices of Zaman, the country’s biggest newspaper, hours after a court ruling placed it under state control. Police entered the building in Istanbul late on Friday, firing tear gas at protesters who had gathered outside. Zaman is closely linked to the Hizmet movement of influential US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey […]

Fethullah Gülen says Turkey’s involvement in a war would bring mass destruction

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has warned against the dire consequences of Turkey’s possible involvement in a war in Syria or Iraq, saying Turkish authorities should avoid any action that may cause the Turkish people to experience sorrows similar to those of World War I.

The Commissioner for Political Affairs opened the 14th International Festival of Language and Culture

The International Festival was organized by the Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools in collaboration with the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Kimse Yok Mu distributes aid to Syrian refugees

As Turkey is trying to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have taken shelter in Turkey from the war in Syria, charity organizations have scrambled to launch massive aid campaigns to lend a hand to the embattled refugees, with Kimse Yok Mu providing food and aid for 2,500 Syrians in İstanbul every week.

European court says Turkey’s Ergenekon arrests legal

EMRE DEMİR, STRASBOURG Europe’s top court has said the arrest of chief Ergenekon defendant Tuncay Özkan is legal, rejecting the plaintiff’s complaint that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) accepted Özkan v. Turkey despite the fact that Özkan had not exhausted all domestic judicial […]

Kimse Yok Mu opens education complex in Kenya

Kimse Yok Mu, one of the largest charity organizations in Turkey, has opened an education complex in the town of Malindi in Kenya comprising a dormitory, school and public kitchen.

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

Germany Declines Turkish Request to Freeze Gulen Assets

Monday Talk with Michael Rubin on Trump, Iran and Turkey

Pakistan – Staff expelled from Turkish-backed schools on Erdogan’s demand

Gülen asked government to be more careful on the language they use: Deputy PM Arınç

The Crisis in Turkey?

Lawyer put behind bars along with 3-month-old baby

Victims of forced disappearance in Turkey

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News