27.10.2016 Kahramanmaraş
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his address during the Kahramanmaraş Chamber/Exchange Joint Meeting at the Kahramanmaraş CCI, said, “Domestically and internationally, everyone must know that this nation will not allow the country to be torn apart. We will continue to invest and produce despite terrorism. No-one can stop us.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
extended his condolences to the families of the 5 soldiers who were martyred in
Diyarbakır, Bingöl and Hakkari; praying for the grace of Allah upon the fallen.
Stating that the
nation has shown that it stands with its country in the wake of July 15th,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Those who resort to terrorism should know that we will
overcome these times. Domestically and internationally, everyone must know that
this nation will not allow the country to be torn apart. We will continue to
invest and produce despite terrorism. No-one can stop us. Even though these are
quite busy days for our country, the Prime Minister has not forgotten about the
economy. A prosperous roadmap for the country will be drawn up. We’ve come to
Kahramanmaraş for auspicious deeds.”
“These offices which
we hold are entrusted unto us. Allah charges us to be fair,” said
Hisarcıklıoğlu and went on, “There are 365 chambers affiliated with TOBB. We’ve
fulfilled our promise to build schools in all 81 provinces. Next, we will build
schools in 162 counties. Once the constructions of the schools in 81 provinces
are complete, we will build schools in 162 counties.”
- “Everyone stood shoulder to shoulder on July 15th”
Stating that TOBB was
the first civil society organization to object as soon as the declaration of
coup was announced on TRT on the night of July 15th, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “I travel over 360,000 kilometers every year. I visit each province at
least once. This is my 11th Kahramanmaraş visit since I came to
office. There is an underlying reason for the dynamism Kahramanmaraş exhibits.
There is unity. There is coordination between institutions. The Turkish private
sector and the Turkish nation showed what they are made of to the world on the
night of July 15th. May Allah bless you all. As soon as the
declaration was read out at 00:22, I tweeted out to 140,000 people -first among
all civil society and business organizations- that I stood firmly by democracy
and the will of the people. We reached out to 85,000 people via SMS. I saw that
chamber presidents, members and the general populace pouring out to the street
in support and it brought a tear to my eye. I am what you are. We acted exactly
as you did. We proved that we are a nation that stands together, all 80 million
of us.”
- 53m TRY collected in donations
In a first as the
Turkish private sector, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We stood firm against the coup.
We cleansed the shame of this institution for February 28th. Of the
203m TRY collected in donations for the martyrs of July 15th, 53m
TRY of this sum was donated by our 365 chambers and exchanges. Among those,
Kahramanmaraş is among the top 10 donators. I would like to congratulate
Kahramanmaraş CCI Council Chair Hanifi Öksüz. He donated the most as KİPAŞ. On
Tuesday, we presented the cheque for the donations to the President of the
Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan along with Kahramanmaraş CCI Chair
Serdar Zabun. This was an honor suitable for Kahramanmaraş.” Stating that
during the hearing which lasted for twelve hours, the needs and complaints of
Kahramanmaraş were relayed directly to the Prime Minister, stressing the
importance of cotton –urged by Kahramanmaraş CE Chair Ahmet Duran Balsuyu to be
included in the list of strategic products.
- Kahramanmaraş’ high export rate
TOBB President
Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that Kahramanmaraş’ growth rate is above even that of
Turkey with 5% increase of insured employment compared to the 1% national
average; Kahramanmaraş’ rates of women’s employment, exports, ISO
qualifications are all above the national average by a wide margin while the
number of protested cheques are below the national average, decreasing from the
previous year’s figures. There is also 4.3bn TRY in bank accounts in
Kahramanmaraş.
Also attending the
meeting with TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu were, TOBB Board Member Şahin
Bilgiç, Kahramanmaraş Governor Vahdettin Özkan, Kahramanmaraş Mayor Fatih
Mehmet Erkoç, Kahramanmaraş CCI Chair Serdar Zabun, Council Chair Hanifi Öksüz,
Kahramanmaraş Commodity Exchange Chair Ahmet Duran Balsuyu, Afşin CCI Chair Bekir
Sıtkı Can and Elbistan CCI Chair Mustafa Paksoy.