Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The TOBB President emphasized the importance they attach to women entrepreneurs and said, “I have a request from our women. Follow your dreams; be the hero of your own story. I believe that by working together, we will write new success stories.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan attended the Final and Award Ceremony held at Turkcell Plaza and those successful in the project were presented awards. Hisarcıklıoğlu said in his speech that they were experiencing moments of happiness and pride for the country's future. Borne out of the synergy from Turkey's leading technology company Turkcell and Turkey's largest network of women entrepreneurs, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, a great success has been achieved Hisarciklıoğlu said, “We have added thousands of women to business life; we have made entrepreneurs.

Now we're going to reward the top three. But in my eyes, all of our women who are bravely got involved deserve this award. For you have not only struggled with these harsh living and working conditions. And many of you have come here, over the men who stand in your way. I am proud of all of you individually and I applaud you.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu also expressed his thanks to the project partner Turkcell, “They have made many contributions both materially and spiritually. They invested in Turkey's human resources. They brought the ideas produced by our female entrepreneurs to life. They've made a great success story that's a voice in the world; won awards. This is the vision of the modern private sector.  I congratulate the entire Turkcell family in the presence of Mr. Ahmet Akça, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkcell and Mr. Murat Alkan, General Manager.”

- The achievements of TOBB Women Entrepreneur Council

Stating that the TOBB Women Entrepreneur Council is working diligently to increase the number of women entrepreneurs and to support existing women entrepreneurs, Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

“In 81 provinces, they mobilized for this purpose. They encouraged our women to participate in this project. Hatice Kal, President of the Istanbul Board of Women Entrepreneurs, believed in this project from the very beginning, gave effort and made it happen. I heartily congratulate all of our Women Entrepreneur Council, especially President Hatice Kal. Our chamber and commodity exchange presidents in the provinces involved in this project also contributed greatly; they supported our women and hosted trainings. TOBB University of Economics and Technology, İstanbul Gedik University, İzmir Democracy University, İzmir University of Economics and Konya CC Karatay University provided support by opening the classes to us. May Allah grace you for your efforts.”

Today, it is with great pleasure that we present these awards together with such precious individuals.

Our Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan is a successful entrepreneur and a respected businesswoman. The Minister and I have fought a great battle for 12 years. In our Women Entrepreneurs Council, we have implemented many projects, including this project. 10 years ago, the number of women entrepreneurs in our country was only 75,000, now it is 130,000. Our Women Entrepreneur Councils, especially with her support, have a large share in this.

We are especially proud of our Minister, a member of our community.

Our Minister of Labour, Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, has both a successful academic background and private sector experience. She has successfully taken on high-level tasks in many national and global organizations, someone our young girls should follow. With the Ministry of Labour, she has taken on one of the most difficult tasks, enabling the implementation of historical support for employment. She has launched many new incentives for young people and women. We would like to thank our Minister for all her efforts and accomplishments.

The very dear lady Mrs. Emine Erdoğan has honored our meeting with her presence. We know their sensitivities about women very well and follow their work closely.  She inspires us by saying that politics, economy and bureaucracy without women are incomplete. I would like to express our gratitude to them for their beautiful vision which guided us. With the support of Mrs. Erdoğan, we will achieve much greater success from now on.”

- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's wife Emine Erdoğan

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan stated in her speech that designing technology is not only a concession area belonging to a certain urban class, stating “Every confident woman with an idea can see that they can contribute to the future of the. I hope that all institutions of our country will compete in the inclusion of women's intelligence in their work. Because it's the only way to achieve great success. It is a fact that we have a future where the female spirit will be more effective in the world.”

Emine Erdoğan, in her speech at the “Women Writing the Future” Award Ceremony held at Küçükyalı Plaza organized as a part of the “Women Writing the Future” project implemented by Turkcell and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), expressed what a joy it is for her to meet with women who have rolled up their sleeves to design a beautiful future.

Describing the women participating in the project as ‘stars shining in the sky,’ Erdoğan said the growing interest in the “Women Writing the Future” project shows that women have a lot to say about the future.

Erdoğan stressed that close to 3,000 women applied for the project based on coding writing, “All the women who apply have great ideas. Women believe they can change the world. So I'm sure the interest in this area will grow like an avalanche in the coming years. We will soon be able to see the signature of women behind the practices that make life easier.”

Stating that she congratulated Turkcell and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey at all levels for giving them this joy, Erdoğan said, “You have seen with a sharp eye the need for women in the field of technology. You have achieved success in the international platform with this project focusing on women's empowerment. You were referred to the world as an exemplary project.”

- Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan

Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said, “We don't just want our women to be entrepreneurs anymore, we expect them to be producers, not just beneficiaries, in high-tech product production.”

Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, Minister Pekcan stated that important efforts are being carried out in regards to women’s entrepreneurship, they care about every initiative in this regard, noting the importaqnce of sustainability for projects.

Pekcan, pointing out the importance of “Women Writing the Future”, stated that the project continues to strengthen and went on:

“Some international funds are preparing to support the project. When we said 'We will teach women coding,’ they did not take it very seriously, especially the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, but this project has taken off with the efforts of women. About 3,000 women have applied for the project so far. Each participating project has economic value and feasibility.”

- Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk

Family, Labour and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk stated that it is as important to increase the qualification of existing potential as it is to increase women's employment and labor force participation rates, “We strive to make our women more qualified through our on-the-job training programs, vocational training courses and entrepreneurship training programs. Women make up 65% of all participants in our on-the-job Training Programs.”

Stating that they appreciated TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and Turkcell’s cooperation in this regard, Selçuk said they saw the need for new projects and pioneering initiatives to mobilize production potential in all areas.

- Turkcell General Manager Murat Erkan

Turkcell General Manager Murat Erkan said, “Turkey must also use technology to move up economically. Women account for 50% of the total potential. So we designed Women Writing the Future to elevate 50% of Turkey's potential.”

Turkcell General Manager Murat Erkan, in his speech at the ceremony, said that Women Writing the Future shows what can be done towards becoming a producer of, not consumer technology.

- Top three

According to the information given at the ceremony, the winners of 2019 were Şahika Betül Yaylı and Eda Nur Ersu with their projects named Look.

Second place was taken by the team consisting of Gamze Hatice Bilen, Derya Uzmay Okutan and Hazal Çelik, while the third prize went to Büşra Göral with the DIGI-TAR project.

Ayşe Sena Kayalı was awarded the Special Jury Prize for her Marine Cleaning Vehicle project. The winners were presented with their awards by Emine Erdoğan.

This year, 1,600 women applied for Women Writing the Future, which is being carried out with the goal of unlocking the potential in the IT sector.

141 projects of women who completed their education competed in the provincial final, 55 in the semi-finals.

The 10 finalist projects were selected from among the original, commercially generating ideas that made life easier and made the world look a different way.