Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB Sivas Women Entrepreneurs Council President Kadın Derya Karataş stating during the opening speech that the founding purpose of TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council was to extend and improve woman entrepreneurship and she also said “We as the women entrepreneurs of Sivas also continue our works for such purpose.”

Karataş said “TOBB President Esteemed Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu always underlines the difficulty of producing entrepreneurs from a repressed generation raised by expression “do not start invention”. Likewise it is even harder to produce women entrepreneurs in a society where the perception of “Behind every successful man there is a woman”. Through this expression while paying respect to the women who contribute to the success of men at the same time the place where should be is being pointing out. Our objective is to achieve even bigger successes shoulder to shoulder – side by side together with the men side by side.”

Sivas Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Osman Yıldırım underlining the importance of entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurship, said that the first woman association in Turkey was established in Sivas.

The panel where the content of the research as TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council project “Entrepreneur Women Who Get Caught between Traditional Identity and Modern Identity” has been presented by council member Assoc. Prof Dr Sevda Mutlu and also the experiences of model women entrepreneurs has been attended as panellist by Sivas Deputy Governor Yeliz Yıldızhan, TOBB Kadın Girişimciler Kurulu Başkanı Evrim Aras, TOBB TOBB Women Entrepreneurs  Council Member Canan Özdemir and Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Literature Sociology Department Academic Member Assoc. Dr Sevda Mutlu.

Sivas Deputy Governor Yeliz Yıldızhan stating that students in public administration department choose to be there with dream of becoming district governor but only few manages to achieve such dream, said “We are not patient. I graduated when I was 23. They are in a hurry with the excuses such as “People have expectation from me. I have a responsibility towards my family. There is a life profile that I wanted shape. I need to get start with professional life straight away”. But I can say that I passed that period easily”

TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council President Evrim Aras stating that she worked on every level of the company as she experienced and got to know all the business from scratch, she overtook the company in debt which she could not pay the wages of the staff, she also said “I travelled all over Turkey with a female sensitivity. I personally contacted with our employees. I told them “I cannot pay your wages now and I will not be able to for a certain amount time but I will carry on my mission in good faith and pay it all.” People trusted me, put faith in me and protected their own labour. Our business picked up. We paid our debts. I believe by fighting off we created a success story. "

TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council member Canan Özdemir stating that she had a good job but by combining her education with discipline she planned to run her own business which she put her idea into practise with a small movement, she also said that being open to new ideas and teamwork were very important on the path to success.

Assoc. Dr Sevda Mutlu stated that as they gathered through the outcome of her research “Entrepreneur Women Who Get Caught between Traditional Identity and Modern Identity” which she carried out in coordination with Cumhuriyet University and Sivas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, based on one on one interview with 277 women, the advantages and disadvantages that women entrepreneur have, role conflicts arising from traditional identity and modern identity,problems that they experience with patriarchal individuals and how all those mentioned causes effected their entrepreneurship had been determined as well as with  poor education, insufficient capital and lack of procedure knowledge women experience the feeling of being stuck caused by many invisible obstacles, those women who are not within employment system see and prefer the entrepreneurship as the only way out.

At the end of the panel which was proceeded with the form of questions-answers by the popular attendance and attention of the university students, panellist received their plaques and also the students of Mood of the Day project hosted by Sivas Chamber of Commerce and Industry which was prepared by the young girls in Sivas TOBB under the cooperation of TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and Turkcell, granted to take place in the finals in İstanbul, Kübra Turan, Nimet Apaydın and Rumeysa Bingöl together with the one and only woman entrepreneur conducts business activities in Sivas Organised Industrial Zone Şeyda Haksever received their plaques personally form Sivas Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Osman Yıldırım.