The TURKEN Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit jointly established in 2014 by two Turkish charities closely associated in public debate with the family network around Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reported total assets of more than $117 million in 2025, alongside more than $50 million in spending during the same year. The foundation’s declared asset base has expanded quickly over the past decade, rising from about $24 million around its founding to $99,212,722 in its 2024 filing and $117,368,470 in 2025.
In disclosures tied to the Foreign Agents Registration Act reporting framework, TURKEN Foundation Inc. listed $50,199,355 in 2025 expenditures, with $26,299,712 routed through the Ensar Foundation and $23,899,643 routed through the TÜRGEV, the two co-founding entities. The filings have intensified attention on the scale of the organization’s activities in the United States and how those activities are characterized under U.S. disclosure rules. Critics argue that the network’s footprint functions as an influence and patronage ecosystem—linking education, housing, scholarships, and career access to pro-government circles—while the organizations describe their work as charitable, educational, and oriented toward public benefit.
The 2025 spending figures also appear within a broader pattern of sharply rising reported outlays in recent years, with 2025 representing a particularly large jump compared with the preceding two years. That surge has fueled questions about what, specifically, drove the increase and which activities were financed at this higher level. Inquiries seeking clarification about the spending spike and its breakdown have not been publicly answered in a detailed, itemized manner by the foundations involved, and recent filings do not provide donor names in a way that would allow the public to map funding streams with precision.
One of the foundation’s most visible holdings is a 21-story tower in Manhattan, located a short distance from United Nations Headquarters. The project began after the foundation purchased an older building on the site in 2018 and launched a redevelopment that it presents as student housing. Descriptions of the property emphasize hotel-like amenities: the ground and first floors are expected to include retail and restaurant space for commercial use, and the tower’s 82 apartments are described as having fully equipped kitchens as well as bundled internet and cable service. Reported monthly rents range from roughly $1,300 to $3,000, and several upper floors—specifically the 15th, 17th, and 21st—have been described as reserved for VIP guests. The foundation also reported paying $53,322 in property taxes for 2024.
Regulatory filings in the United States have added another layer of scrutiny. The reporting requirements associated with political-activity disclosure include standardized questions about whether an organization is controlled, financed, or supervised by a foreign government, political party, or other foreign principal. In the referenced documentation, that question was answered “No,” a response that has drawn attention given the political controversy surrounding the organizations in Turkey and the scale of their U.S. assets and spending. TURKEN is incorporated in Delaware and maintains offices in New York and Pennsylvania.
Beyond New York real estate, the foundation also holds a large rural property in Michigan: an 81-acre farm purchased for $2.5 million from the family of Muhammad Ali. The purpose of the site has not been publicly clarified in a way that resolves open questions about whether it is intended as a retreat, an educational facility, or another type of institutional asset. The property is reported to carry annual taxes of $30,467.
The attention on TURKEN has also coincided with broader questions about high-value Turkish institutional real estate acquisitions in the U.S. capital. A separate entity, Yunus Emre Foundation, described as operating under Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and incorporated in the United States, is reported to own a luxury apartment unit used as office space in a prime building near the White House, purchased for $5.3 million. The organization defines its mission as promoting Turkey, the Turkish language, and cultural and artistic activities.
Taken together, the asset growth, the rapid rise in reported spending, and the scale of marquee real-estate holdings have kept transparency and governance questions in the spotlight. The core issues remain the same: how the foundations are funded, how decisions are made, what activities were financed by the dramatic increase in 2025 outlays, and whether public disclosures provide enough detail for meaningful oversight—especially when critics allege political networking and patronage dynamics, and the organizations maintain that their programs are educational and charitable in nature.
