Mustafa Bildircin
Nearly 30,000 foundations and associations were established during the AKP governments. The majority of associations and foundations established during the AKP period were also granted tax exemption rights. Numerous foundations, primarily TÜRGEV, TÜGVA and Ensar Vakfı, were characterised as ‘the foundations of the ruling party’ due to their activities.
Public resources were mobilised for TÜRGEV, TÜGVA and Ensar Foundation, which became symbols of the AKP government era. It was claimed that astronomical sums were transferred from the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) budget to these foundations, whose names were involved in numerous scandals, during the AKP era.
REACTION FROM ÖZEL
The 2018 NGO School-Dormitory Activity Report, allegedly prepared by the İBB, revealed the magnitude of the funds transferred to the foundations described as ‘the ruling party’s foundations.’
The report claimed that 51.5 million TL was transferred from the İBB budget to TÜRGEV, 29.7 million TL to the Ensar Foundation, and 74.2 million TL to TÜGVA. The report was once again brought to the agenda by CHP General Chairman Özgür Özel at his party’s group meeting on 4 November. Criticising the AKP for transferring money from the İBB budget to foundations, Özel said, ‘TÜGVA and TÜRGEV are taking from everywhere.’
EU FUNDS FOR FOUNDATIONS
Foundations receiving tens of millions of lira from the municipal budget turned to EU funds following the change in administration after the local elections on 31 March 2019. BirGün took a closer look at the EU funds received by the foundations that CHP leader Özel said were ‘taking from everywhere.’ It was learned that the total amount of grants received by the Ensar Foundation, TÜRGEV and TÜGVA from the Turkish National Agency was 1.2 million euros.
The National Agency, whose founding mission is to ‘implement EU programmes in the fields of education, youth and sport in the most effective way’ and to ‘ensure that citizens and institutions benefit maximally from the programmes,’ quickly became controversial. The distribution of grants by the Agency revealed that the largest slice of the EU funding pie went to foundations and associations close to the government.
Foundations and associations close to the government received the largest share of the funding pie through Erasmus projects and ‘Youth Mobility’ projects. The amounts of grants received by TÜGVA, TÜRGEV and Ensar Foundation from the National Agency for the 2021-2025 period are listed as follows:
• TÜGVA: 711,212 euros
• TÜRGEV: 420,237 euros
• Ensar Foundation: 31,760 euros
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled İBB musluğu kapandı: AB çeşmesi açıldı, published in BirGün newspaper on November 6, 2025.
