The Feyziye Mektepleri Vakfı (Feyziye Schools Foundation) is an institution originally established in Salonika in 1885, one that has borne witness to a historically significant period stretching from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey. After the Republic was founded, the Işık Schools operated by the Foundation were among the first that taught western [i1] languages starting with preparatory classes, removed Arabic and Persian from the curriculum before state schools had done so and replaced them with such courses as philosophy, sociology, logic, and commerce, implemented co-educational classes, and most recently introduced the Socrates Comenius program into Turkey.