06.04.2023 ANKARA
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in a meeting with Women and Young Entrepreneurs via video conference, asked for support from Women and Young Entrepreneurs for the ‘Business World Permanent Housing Campaign’ launched by TOBB.
In his speech at the
meeting, Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that they experienced two major earthquakes
centered in Kahramanmaraş and lost more than 50,000 lives, “Hundreds of
thousands of houses were destroyed or became unusable. I pray for the grace of
Allah upon our citizens who lost their lives and urgent healing to our wounded.
I wish patience to their relatives and our citizens who were exposed to the
earthquake. Our deepest condolences to our Nation.”
TOBB President said
that as in every national issue, after this earthquake, Chambers and Commodity
Exchanges, sector councils, women and young entrepreneur councils came together
and acted in a spirit of national mobilization.
Hisarcıklıoğlu, who
gave information about their aid to the earthquake region, said, “To date, we
have shipped 6 aircraft, 7 ships and 4,157 trucks and 725 trucks of relief
materials and approximately 6,000 tents, 4,000 containers, 551 construction
machines and mobile cranes to the region. With our Food Industrialists, we
established food kitchens at 24 points and distributed hot meals to 3.5 million
people. Currently, in 5 tents set up in the region, we continue to offer 4 hot
meals including iftar and suhoor. By meeting with construction material
manufacturers, we have committed to fixing prices for construction materials to
be used in the houses to be built in the earthquake zone.
We have started 4
projects to revitalize the region. We matched our companies that want to buy
goods from the earthquake region with the producers in the earthquake region.
Together with national food retailers, we have contributed to the purchase of
agricultural and food products that remain in the hands and fields. By agreeing
with e-commerce marketplaces, we ensured that commissions were not taken from
sellers in the earthquake area. We continue to provide Technical Support for
companies whose equipment have been damaged in the earthquake region.”
Reminding that they
organized a Disaster Workshop under the leadership of the Women Entrepreneurs
Council on March 8, International Women’s Day, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Within the
scope of the workshop, it was decided to institutionalize the Women
Entrepreneurs Disaster platform, to develop projects for the employment of
women affected by the earthquake in the region and to provide in-kind support
to our citizens in the villages with the Agricultural Village project.I would like to take this opportunity to thank
all our Women and Young Entrepreneurs who have provided all manner of
assistance to the fullest extent possible, who have supported our earthquake
victim provinces by producing projects.”
- “Our work is just beginning”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said,
“We will heal our wounds, we will restore our cities affected by the
earthquake. I just counted what we did. But our work is just beginning. Of course,
we cannot bring back the lives lost in the earthquake. However, we can
alleviate these pains that burn our hearts to some extent. We can show our
millions of citizens there that they are not alone. The only way to achieve
this is through unity and acting in solidarity. We want to make Ramadan-i
Sharif, a month of solidarity, an occasion to ease the burden of our citizens
in the earthquake region.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said
that they have launched a ‘Business World Housing Mobilization’ campaign for
the recovery of the earthquake zone and continued: “We have stopped or
postponed all our expenditures and investments in TOBB and our subsidiaries,
except for those that are mandatory. We have mobilized all our resources for
this good work. By contributing 1 billion liras in cash, we took the first step
in our campaign. In this context, we will build permanent housing for
earthquake victims. We will make our own tenders. Land allocation and
infrastructure will be provided by our state. The houses to be built will be 3
+ 1 in size in the TOKİ model. The building or site we will build can be named
after your Company / Association / City. The houses will be delivered to the
earthquake victims by lot. A certain quota will be allocated to our members and
employees whose homes have been destroyed.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu, who
asked for support from the Women and Young Entrepreneurs Councils in this
regard, said, “You, in 81 provinces and 160 districts, will undertake the
leadership of this work among women and young entrepreneurs and ensure that it
spreads locally. We will support the campaign with social media ads and
announcements. You will also be able to share them on your own accounts. We
expect you to promote and participate in our campaign both in our community and
in front of our citizens. The donation process will continue until the end of
June. Philanthropists will be able to donate any amount they want.
With the Virtual POS to
be established within the Chamber-Commodity Exchange of which you are a member,
it will be possible to collect donations via credit card. The whole process
will be carried out transparently. The donations made will be announced on the
basis of individual names. A separate Zakat account was also opened so that it
could also count towards Zakat. And all donations will be deductible from the
tax base. Our Women and Young Entrepreneur Boards should definitely work in
coordination with our Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in this process. You
should announce the campaign at every opportunity. You are often featured in TV
and print media, you can use these channels and give support. We have a total
of 15,000 members on the boards. Contact them and ask them to contribute. You
can also reach non-governmental organizations, universities and techno-cities
in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. You can also direct international companies
that you project with to this campaign. You can do donation activities together
with our Chambers and Exchanges”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said
“When we join hands, there is no difficulty that we cannot overcome” and said,
“This is the day of being one, being together, uniting. The day is the Day of
Unity. You and all benefactors can donate for a block, an apartment or a brick.
We need to get our cities back on their feet. As we stated in our campaign
slogan, ‘Let’s Build a House.’ With your support, let us be a hope for the
future of earthquake victims.”
- Nurten Öztürk
TOBB Women
Entrepreneurs Council President Nurten Öztürk stated that they would support
the project and emphasized that the aid provided in the first days of the
earthquake gradually decreased, and that they developed projects for those
affected by the earthquake to return to the regions where they lived. Öztürk
stated that agriculture has suffered great damage in the region and that a
serious food shortage may arise, and that they aim to ensure the continuation
of production by establishing Agricultural Villages to organize livelihoods.
- Ali Sabancı
TOBB Young
Entrepreneurs Council President Ali Sabancı said that they will support the
housing campaign. Emphasizing that Türkiye should not forget the fact that it
is an earthquake country and that lessons should be taken after the
earthquakes, Sabancı pointed out that studies should be carried out together
with the public, private sector, NGOs and universities on how to prevent the
loss of life and property in earthquakes.