Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In addition to Erdoğan and Hisarcıklıoğlu, Minister of Commerce Ruhsar Pekcan, Minister of Education Ziya Selçuk and Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk also attended the meeting. The Women Writing the Future Project aims to educate women about software and increase women's employment capacity and entrepreneurship through the cooperation of Turkcell, TOBB and TOBB Women Entrepreneurship Board. The project aims to support participants in developing mobile applications.

TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the launch, stated that the project initiated by the Istanbul Women Entrepreneurs Board, has spread all over Turkey through the support of Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they have achieved great success through this synergy between private sector and civil society.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that more than 200 applications were developed at the end of the training and that a hundred trainees started to work as software control specialists at Turkcell.

- “More women's hands will touch technology”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they will achieve much greater success in 2019 with the support of Emine Erdoğan and added, “This time we have increased the number of provinces we will carry out the project.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that women have started giving direction to business life and the efforts of TOBB Women Entrepreneurship Council cannot be overstated. “Praise be to Allah, the seeds we’ve sown have taken hold, but we have a long way to go yet. Our guide is the Prophet Muhammad. Khadījah, the wife of our Prophet Muhammad, was the biggest merchant of the time, so we have to support our women who want to emulate the example of the Sunnah, the life of the Prophet and the path of the Messenger of Allah.”

Stating that technological progress has changed the way business is done, Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

“Technology is perceived as a male-specific field all over the world. The success of Women Writing the Future proves how wrong this perception is. It breaks down prejudices. If you know how to develop software, you can work in companies that will grow the fastest in the future. You can set up companies as well. The more software developers, the higher the probability that the billion dollar start-ups will come from us.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the times when everything was expected from the state were far behind, “If the leaders of the chamber and commodity exchanges in the provinces involved in the project did not take up our project, this success would not have been achieved.”

- Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife, Emine Erdoğan, said, “I invite the young girls and women with intentions to write the future to a world of technology which does not enslave, but serves man.”

I am very pleased to see our young people here, the architects of our future. You thrill us with your presence. When your dynamism is combined with the experience of adults, I believe that the future will be much more promising."

Stating that they want young people to be a step ahead, Emine Erdoğan urged them to not deny the past, but at the same time to not be stuck in the past; to have robust self-confidence, with a firm grasp on the times.

Emine Erdoğan stated that they expect to see women, who at one time were held back through various misconceptions, as active players.

Emine Erdoğan pointed out that the world has changed with a speed never seen in history. “Every morning we awaken to a new world. Not to be left behind, to keep up with the times has become a race. Science and technology change our values ​​and life interpretation ways as it changes and facilitates our lives.”

Emine Erdoğan stated that information technology now constitutes the new face of the world and that a digital transformation lacking women's voice is an incomplete future.

Erdoğan continued her speech by saying that a process in which women are designing, producing and taking part in information technologies will open the door to a stronger future.

“There are more than 4 billion internet users in the world today, spending more time in the virtual environment. Learning, entertainment, shopping needs are provided here, and in a sense, life is digitalized. For this reason, the importance of information and communication sector cannot be ignored in policies to increase women entrepreneurship.”

- Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan

In her speech, the Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan said, “Sine qua non for Turkey to make the jump from medium income to high income level league is increasing the number of women taking part in export-oriented business life.”

Minister Pekcan stated that the project in question with the Istanbul Women Entrepreneurs Council Chairwoman Hatice Dinçbal Kal with, “Address for Mobile Solutions: Women,” and thanked Emine Erdoğan for her support of their work on women entrepreneurship during that time.

Stressing that the project was very successful in Istanbul, Pekcan reported that they have decided to expand the project throughout all of Turkey, under TOBB’s leadership and with the support of Turkcell.

Pekcan reported that the first implementation of software development training was organized in 18 cities with approximately a thousand women participating; more than 200 projects were developed by the end of the training.

Pekcan expressed their aims to further spread the project throughout Turkey, “We are aiming for 5,000 women in 21 provinces. 5,000 women means, 5,000 families. This project is one of the biggest investments for Turkey's future. Sine qua non for Turkey to make the jump from medium income to high income level league is increasing the number of women taking part in export-oriented business life.”

- Turkcell Chairman Ahmet Akça

Turkcell Chairman Ahmet Akça stated that Turkcell works day and night to contribute to society and peace.

Stating that they are the only company in the world that allocates 1 percent of the company's revenue to benefit society, Akça reported that Turkcell supports students at all levels including those with disabilities as well as extraordinary abilities.

Akca said that women who participated in the project contributed to Turkcell's products, and that 100 of the women receiving training were employed in Turkcell. Akca said, “In order to provide an institutional structure to good, love, respect, compassion, we established Turkcell Foundation. Turkcell Foundation focus on these endeavors more intensely.”