Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

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 15^th, 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 15^th”

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 15^th, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “I travel over 360,000 kilometers every year. I visit each province at least once. This is my 11^th 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 15^th. 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 28^th. Of the 203m TRY collected in donations for the martyrs of July 15^th, 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.