Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB Board of Directors Treasurer Faik Yavuz, who attended the iftar dinner, referred to the earthquake disaster in his speech and said, “As you know, we experienced two major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş. We lost more than 50,000 lives. Our Psychology student Beste Kavlak, who was a part of our family, also passed away in Hatay in this disaster. Many of our graduates and their relatives were also affected by this disaster. I wish mercy from Allah to all the souls we have lost and patience to their relatives.”

Yavuz stated that students and graduates worked together in the relief activities held at TOBB ETU and that they mobilized as a community since the first day of the earthquake. Faik Yavuz said, “As the TOBB family, we have started a housing mobilization campaign in earthquake regions with the name of “Lend a Hand, Let's Build a House.” We expect support for our campaign from our esteemed graduates. You can contribute, no matter how big or small.”

Giving information about the establishment process of TOBB ETU and its arrival to today, Yavuz said: “Youth means innovation. Youth means change. Youth means energy. Youth means new horizons. I am a very big believer in youth. Youth is not the future, it is the present. You use a computer better than I do. You know more languages than I do. You have people around you from all over the world. You were born into technology. This is your day. You graduated from Türkiye’s most innovative university. You have been educated both in the classroom and in the field with the cooperative education model. You have learned a second foreign language besides English. You have grown up according to the priorities and needs of the Turkish business world. Look, as of this year, we have 9,754 graduates, including master's and doctoral degrees. Our graduates have founded more than a thousand companies by this time or have begun to take part in the management of existing companies. This is the most concrete proof that we are an entrepreneurial university. Why entrepreneurship is important, because entrepreneurship means wealth.Now anyone with a good idea and perseverance can become rich. We used to complain about bureaucracy. Fortunately, we also have bureaucrats from TOBB ETU. Now, when I go to the ministries, I see our TOBB ETU graduates.”