Turks, Rio de Janeiro gov’t sign agreement to further education efforts in Brazil


Date posted: November 13, 2015

YAVUZ UĞURTAŞ / RIO DE JANEIRO

The Brazilian-Turkish Cultural Center (CCBT) and the Rio de Janeiro state government signed an education cooperation agreement on Tuesday paving the way for the establishment of a long-anticipated “Brazil-Turkey Intercultural High School” by Turkish entrepreneurs sympathetic to the faith-based Gülen movement in Duque de Caxias, a city in southeast Brazil.

Brazilian Education Minister Antonio Neto said the deal was signed between “the people of the two countries” and expressed his gratitude to the Turkish entrepreneurs for their efforts to improve relations between the two nations.

“Thanks to this agreement and the planned intercultural high school, information pollution regarding the Middle East and Turkey will be cleared and our people will get to know more about Turkish people and culture,” Neto told Brazilian and Turkish press members after the signing ceremony on Tuesday.

The Brazil-Turkey Intercultural High School that will be established within the scope of the agreement will operate as a charter school and be run by people of Turkish descent. The school is planned to go into action at the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year, which kicks off in February of next year.

Volunteers affiliated with the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement — an initiative inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen that started out a quarter-century ago in the autonomous Azerbaijani region of Nakhchivan to support education for children abroad — now operate in 160 countries, with the founders of the movement and its volunteers welcomed with open arms around the world.

However, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently declared a war against the Gülen movement since a major corruption investigation that implicated him and many people in his government became public in December of 2013 and has pressed for the closure of Turkish schools in countries he visits. Most recently, Erdoğan campaigned for the closure of these schools in Albania, a request respectfully dismissed by top Albanian leaders.

Source: Today's Zaman , November 11, 2015


Related News

Gülen withdraws libel complaint after housewife apologizes

Prominent Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen on Tuesday withdrew a complaint of libel against a housewife who had insulted him with treason in one of her tweets but later apologized, saying she had been influenced by the language of the political leadership.

Gülen: Associating Hizmet with violent Kobani protests great slander

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has said the attempts to depict the Hizmet movement as being linked to the recent violent protests across Turkey, triggered by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, is a great slander, emphasizing that the movement has never been involved in any form of violence.

Turkey: Effort to Force Closure of Gülen Schools Falling Flat in Eurasia

The situation in Georgia illustrates the challenge for Turkish diplomats. A few days after the July 15 coup attempt, a translation of a TV interview began circulating that featured Yasin Temizkan, Turkey’s consul in the city of Batumi. In the interview, Temizkan urged the Georgian government to close the local Refaiddin Şahin Friendship School, a private institution considered part of the Gülen network. The justification, Temizkan said, was that the school was “serving terrorist groups.”

Turks Seen as Sympathetic to US-Based Muslim Cleric Say They Face Threats

More than a month after Turkey’s failed coup, which its government blames on a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, many Turks seen as his sympathizers say threats from government supporters are complicating their lives.

Albania: Erdoğan given appropriate response to ‘political’ request on Turkish schools

Albanian Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri has said his country’s relevant authorities gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the necessary responses to his recent request for the closure of Turkish schools in the country.

Gov’t keeps purging, dozens of police officials across Turkey have been removed

The government’s massive purge of members of the police and judiciary following the eruption of a corruption and bribery scandal continued across the country on Tuesday, with dozens more police officials being removed from their posts.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Turkey torture claims in wake of failed coup

Belgium ‘proud’ to be host as ‘Colors of the World’ rocks European capital

Fethullah Gülen’s books translated into Kurdish

Gülen urges patience over prep schools row

Gülen: Despite differences in method peace process in Kurdish issue should be supported

You Cannot Understand the Servants!

Does the Gülen movement securitize the Kurdish question?

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News