Föderation Türkischer Elternvereine in Deutschland

The Föderation Türkischer Elternvereine in Deutschland e.V. (FÖTED; Turkish: Almanya Türk Veli Dernekleri Federasyonu e.V.) is a Germany-wide umbrella organisation of non-profit parents' associations founded mainly by Turkish immigrants, whose primary concern is the education of their children. It was founded on 5 November 1995 in Berlin, where it also has its seat. The federation describes itself as having been committed since its founding to multilingual, intercultural education and to improving the educational success of children of Turkish origin and the equal participation of their parents within the education system. FÖTED emerged from the wave of Turkish parents' associations that were founded in various cities and municipalities of the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1980s onwards. These local associations were a response to the deteriorating educational situation of children and young people of Turkish origin in the German school system; parents wanted to contribute actively on their own initiative to improving their children's education through information and awareness-raising among other parents and in cooperation with teachers. As a merger of these parents' associations, FÖTED was founded in 1995. It sees itself as the voice of parents of Turkish origin and works nationwide with more than 80 member associations to improve the opportunities of children of Turkish origin in the fields of upbringing, education and vocational training. Since its founding FÖTED has acted as an education-policy actor and a reliable point of contact for politics. It has been involved in the integration summit meetings and the Islam Conference and works in various education- and family-policy bodies. Its tasks include personal parent counselling, arranging bilingual tutors, organising numerous information evenings and intercultural events, and supporting parents with school-related official procedures when language barriers make it difficult for them to assert their children's school interests. FÖTED is one of the four major German-Turkish umbrella associations that carry the education campaign Bildung für die Zukunft, initiated in the second half of 2006, which aims to improve the educational opportunities of children and young people with a migration background in Germany. FÖTED is a registered non-profit association (eingetragener Verein) and is not a commercial company; it is funded through membership, project partnerships and donations. It has received recognition including the Integrationspreis 2024 and is a project partner of the mentoring programme Menschen stärken Menschen. Its federal board was elected at an ordinary members' meeting held on 22 November 2025 in Hanover.

The Föderation Türkischer Elternvereine in Deutschland e.V. (FÖTED) was founded on 5 November 1995 in Berlin, where it has its seat. It emerged from the wave of Turkish parents' associations that were established in various cities and municipalities of the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1980s onwards. These local associations were a consequence of the deteriorating educational situation of children and young people of Turkish origin in the German education system. Parents wanted to contribute actively on their own initiative to improving their children's educational situation through information and awareness-raising among other parents, but also in cooperation with teachers. As a merger of these parents' associations, FÖTED was founded in 1995. From 1995 it united over 60 such associations throughout Germany and had around 6,000 individual members in 2006. Today 24 associations are members of the federation. The federal chairs were Berin Arukaslan and Ali Sak as of 12 September 2015. FÖTED has seen itself since its founding as the voice of parents of Turkish origin and works nationwide with more than 80 member associations to improve the opportunities of children of Turkish origin in the fields of upbringing, education and vocational training. Since its founding FÖTED has been active as an education-policy actor and a reliable point of contact for politics. It was actively involved in the integration summit meetings and the Islam Conference and works in various education- and family-policy bodies. FÖTED is one of the four major German-Turkish umbrella associations that carry the education campaign Bildung für die Zukunft, initiated in the second half of 2006 and accompanied by German and Turkish media, to improve the educational opportunities of children and young people with a migration background in Germany. The background was a special PISA study published in 2006 according to which in no other comparison country were the success chances of students with a migration background even approximately as poorly guaranteed as in Germany. The goal of FÖTED has always been to activate German-Turkish parents at federal, state and municipal level in order to advance the solution of the upbringing and education problems of Turkish migrant children and young people. Experiences of local parents' associations are evaluated by the umbrella organisation for their general validity and disseminated in order to provide local associations with suitable strategies for their work. Furthermore, FÖTED provides personal parent counselling, arranges bilingual tutors, organises numerous information evenings and intercultural events, and supports parents with school-related official procedures when language barriers make it difficult for them to assert their children's school interests. FÖTED is a registered non-profit association and is funded through membership, project partnerships and donations. It has received recognition including the Integrationspreis 2024 and is a project partner of the mentoring programme Menschen stärken Menschen. Its federal board was elected at an ordinary members' meeting held on 22 November 2025 in Hanover. As of 12 June 2024, Mehtap Çağlar served as co-chair, with Necla Marangoz as vice chair, Turgut Hüner as general treasurer and İsmet as general secretary.

• Turkish parents' associations founded in various cities and municipalities of the Federal Republic of Germany in response to the deteriorating educational situation of children of Turkish origin.

• FÖTED founded in Berlin as a merger of Turkish parents' associations.

• FÖTED had around 6,000 individual members and united over 60 associations; it became one of the four major German-Turkish umbrella associations carrying the Bildung für die Zukunft campaign.

• Berin Arukaslan and Ali Sak were federal chairs.

• FÖTED leadership met with the Education Counsellor of the Turkish Embassy in Berlin.

• FÖTED received the Integrationspreis 2024.

• Ordinary members' meeting held in Hanover; new federal board elected.

Non-profit umbrella federation and education-policy advocate for Turkish-origin parents and students in Germany.

• Parent counselling

  Personal counselling for parents on education and school-related issues.

• Bilingual tutoring placement

  Arranging bilingual tutors for students.

• Information evenings and intercultural events

  Organising numerous information evenings and intercultural events.

• Support with school-related official procedures

  Supporting parents with school-related official procedures when language barriers hinder them.

1. 1Startseite - Föderation Türkischer Elternvereine in Deutschland e.V.tuerkische-elternfoederation.de
2. 2Geschichte der FÖTEDtuerkische-elternfoederation.de
3. 3Föderation Türkischer Elternvereine in Deutschland – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
4. 4Föderation Türkischer Elternvereine in Deutschland – Wikidatawikidata.org