Islamist network accused of indoctrinating children in Turkish-occupied Cyprus

A Turkish investigation into the Islamist Suleimanji network has cast new light on its long-reported activities in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus, where a network of student residences and educational facilities is alleged to provide religious instruction to minors outside the official education system.

Turkish authorities are investigating money movements exceeding 100 billion Turkish lira (approximately €1.8 billion) involving individuals and companies linked to the network, including transfers abroad. The investigation is also examining allegations of transactions with a connection to Israel, although no direct link has so far been established between the funds under investigation and Suleimanji activities in the occupied territories.

The latest developments have brought renewed attention to a network that Turkish and Turkish Cypriot media have been documenting for years, spanning student residences, flats, villas and educational facilities from Trikomo and Lefka to Famagusta, Nicosia, Kyrenia and Karavas.

Several of the sites are reported to accommodate children under 18, with complaints that religious lessons are provided without the supervision required under the official education system of the Turkish-occupied north.

On 13 August, Turkish security forces launched an operation against the religious community known as the Suleimanji. The operation was part of a financial crime investigation led by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and covered Ankara and 17 other provinces across the country. Arrest warrants were issued for 49 suspects, 30 of whom were detained.

Among those detained was Alihan Kuriş, the leader of the community. According to the pro-government newspaper Sabah, the investigation is focused on suspicions that the organisation operates as a hierarchical criminal group driven by financial interests.

The Suleimanji are an influential religious and social community in Turkey with Islamic roots. The movement takes its name from its founder, Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan, who was born in Silistra, Bulgaria, in 1888. The community is known for its extensive network of foundations, student dormitories and Quran study courses.

A network from Trikomo to Kyrenia

At the centre of the reported activities in the occupied territories in Cyprus is the Tahsil Çağındaki Talebelere Yardım Derneği, or “Association for Helping School-Age Students”, which the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Bugün Kıbrıs has linked to the Suleimanji organisation.

Journalist Emine Yuksel began documenting the association’s premises in 2023, revealing that its activities extended well beyond one or two student dormitories. Initial investigations identified facilities in Trikomo, Lefka and Famagusta. The inquiry was subsequently expanded to occupied Nicosia, Kyrenia and Karavas.

In Famagusta, the newspaper reported seeing schoolgirls entering a building associated with the network. In Nicosia, another building was identified under construction opposite an already operating residence.

The same association’s name appeared on a list connected to Hale Sultan in Kyrenia. In Karavas, one of the facilities was reportedly closed twice by the local “municipal authority”. When it was inspected in 2023, however, those responsible said the luxury villa was no longer operating as a residence but as an “assignment office”.

Photographs published by Bugün Kıbrıs raised further questions. The newspaper described buildings surrounded by high walls, with closed curtains and round-the-clock camera surveillance, where minors were reportedly staying.

Religious education outside official oversight

The most serious allegations concern what takes place inside the facilities. According to Bugün Kıbrıs, children under 18 were staying at residences in Trikomo, Lefka and Famagusta, some only during the summer and others throughout the year. The newspaper reported that religious lessons were provided to them.

It also claimed that some of the lessons were taught by imams assigned to mosques by the Turkish “embassy” office in Nicosia. The allegation prompted strong reactions from Turkish Cypriot education organisations. The then “education minister”, Nazım Çavuşoğlu, rejected claims that the Religious Services Office of the Turkish “embassy” was involved in education, saying its role was limited to coordinating imams serving in mosques.

The education unions KTÖS and KTOEÖS have repeatedly raised concerns about religious boarding facilities operating outside the required “state control”. They have demanded information on who teaches children, what curriculum is used, where the lessons take place and under whose supervision.

Children as young as four

Reports have also pointed to activities involving children well below secondary-school age. In November 2023, Bugün Kıbrıs reported on a pre-school facility in the Karmi area called Büyük Destan Eğitim Kurumları. The site was attended by children aged between four and six and displayed insignia associated with the Association for Helping School-Age Students.

Residents cited by the newspaper said religious hymns could be heard from the premises in the morning. A woman was allegedly heard reciting phrases in Arabic, which the children then repeated collectively.

In January 2025, another facility was identified near the Nurettin Ersin Paşa Mosque in Kyrenia. According to Bugün Kıbrıs, the dormitory had been operating for around five years and housed more than 10 secondary-school students.

The children were allegedly taught the Quran. The newspaper also reported that the facility did not use the official religious education books of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, but materials produced by the Suleimanji network itself.

The reported use of internally produced religious material has become another focal point in concerns over the network’s activities in the occupied territories.

The case of 60 children in Karavas

Concerns over the association’s activities date back at least to 2020. According to the Turkish newspaper BirGün, a villa in Karavas was being used to accommodate around 60 children and provide what the newspaper described as unauthorised religious lessons.

The site was presented as a “hostel”, but neither the local “municipal authority” nor the “Directorate of Religious Affairs” was reportedly aware of the use. The building was subsequently sealed because it lacked the necessary permits.

BirGün also reported an allegation that an educator had physically punished a child for buying a New Year’s present for a friend, on the grounds that celebrating the New Year was not religiously permissible.

In Trikomo, Bugün Kıbrıs reported that a building licensed in 2021 as a “village-style residence” was being used as a student dormitory, despite its permit stating that it could not operate as a hostel or boarding facility. Following the revelations, Turkish Cypriot education unions filed a complaint with the “police”.

The Suleimanji presence in occupied Cyprus does not appear to be a recent development. BirGün has traced the presence of organisations linked to the network back to the 1980s. Earlier Turkish reporting on religious organisations also singled out the Association for Helping School-Age Students, raising concerns over organised religious education for young children outside the official education system.

Sources: The original article by EUalive’s partner Politis can be found here

Caption: Alihan Kuriş, who was taken into custody as part of the investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, has been arrested and sent to prison [undated photo of Alihan Kuriş circulating on X]