Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the opening of the meeting, expressed his greetings to the Turkish military and law enforcement forces fighting terrorist organizations at home and abroad, “May Heaven welcome our martyrs. We fully supported our government as a community in all operations with the latest being Operation Peace Spring. We met with the President of the Republic as well as the CHP and MHP leaders, our Minister of National Defense. We told our interlocutors and international organizations in 190 countries that the operation is legitimate and justified. As the president of The Turkic CCI, the joint business organization of Turkic-Speaking countries, we met with Turkic business organizations in Baku. We have their support. Together with you, we made simultaneous statements all over Turkey. Allah bless you for acting together and in unity on this national issue.”

“As your countryman, I am very happy to be with you in Edirne, my hometown,” Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Thrace is a center of agriculture and livestock with its fertile lands. Tekirdağ, with its industry; Edirne, with its history and culture; Kırklareli has very important values with its natural beauties. There's a port here, there's an airport, there's railways, there's a highway; Thrace is also the gateway to Europe and it's right next to a rich population of 500 million people.”

Noting that as TOBB, they’ve made significant investments in 3 areas of Thrace, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We have modernized the customs gates of İpsala, Hamzabeyli and Kapıkule in the field of logistics. Now we're increasing their capacity. The United Nations has registered this. They cite our projects as role models for the whole world. We also started to work on Dereköy. By building the Kapikule TIR Park, we have solved the problems experienced here. We've put an end to outdated practices.

Secondly, we have made significant investments in history and tourism. We finance the maintenance of the Selimiye Mosque, one of the greatest monuments in our history. By establishing the Sinan and Selimiye Foundation, we have ensured that this ancestral heirloom will be passed on to future generations.

Thirdly, we worked in the field of education. We built schools in our cities in Thrace. Today at noon we visited the faculty we have built for the Thrace University. We did all this on the requests of our Chambers and Commodity Exchanges. We did it together, with unity of power. Therefore, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”