Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his speech at the meeting, Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that they experienced two major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş and lost more than 50,000 lives, “Hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed or became unusable. I pray for the grace of Allah upon our citizens who lost their lives and urgent healing to our wounded. I wish patience to their relatives and our citizens who were exposed to the earthquake. Our deepest condolences to our Nation.”

TOBB President said that as in every national issue, after this earthquake, Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, sector councils, women and young entrepreneur councils came together and acted in a spirit of national mobilization.

Hisarcıklıoğlu, who gave information about their aid to the earthquake region, said, “To date, we have shipped 6 aircraft, 7 ships and 4,157 trucks and 725 trucks of relief materials and approximately 6,000 tents, 4,000 containers, 551 construction machines and mobile cranes to the region. With our Food Industrialists, we established food kitchens at 24 points and distributed hot meals to 3.5 million people. Currently, in 5 tents set up in the region, we continue to offer 4 hot meals including iftar and suhoor. By meeting with construction material manufacturers, we have committed to fixing prices for construction materials to be used in the houses to be built in the earthquake zone.

We have started 4 projects to revitalize the region. We matched our companies that want to buy goods from the earthquake region with the producers in the earthquake region. Together with national food retailers, we have contributed to the purchase of agricultural and food products that remain in the hands and fields. By agreeing with e-commerce marketplaces, we ensured that commissions were not taken from sellers in the earthquake area. We continue to provide Technical Support for companies whose equipment have been damaged in the earthquake region.”

Reminding that they organized a Disaster Workshop under the leadership of the Women Entrepreneurs Council on March 8, International Women’s Day, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Within the scope of the workshop, it was decided to institutionalize the Women Entrepreneurs Disaster platform, to develop projects for the employment of women affected by the earthquake in the region and to provide in-kind support to our citizens in the villages with the Agricultural Village project.I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Women and Young Entrepreneurs who have provided all manner of assistance to the fullest extent possible, who have supported our earthquake victim provinces by producing projects.”

- “Our work is just beginning”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We will heal our wounds, we will restore our cities affected by the earthquake. I just counted what we did. But our work is just beginning. Of course, we cannot bring back the lives lost in the earthquake. However, we can alleviate these pains that burn our hearts to some extent. We can show our millions of citizens there that they are not alone. The only way to achieve this is through unity and acting in solidarity. We want to make Ramadan-i Sharif, a month of solidarity, an occasion to ease the burden of our citizens in the earthquake region.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they have launched a ‘Business World Housing Mobilization’ campaign for the recovery of the earthquake zone and continued: “We have stopped or postponed all our expenditures and investments in TOBB and our subsidiaries, except for those that are mandatory. We have mobilized all our resources for this good work. By contributing 1 billion liras in cash, we took the first step in our campaign. In this context, we will build permanent housing for earthquake victims. We will make our own tenders. Land allocation and infrastructure will be provided by our state. The houses to be built will be 3 + 1 in size in the TOKİ model. The building or site we will build can be named after your Company / Association / City. The houses will be delivered to the earthquake victims by lot. A certain quota will be allocated to our members and employees whose homes have been destroyed.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu, who asked for support from the Women and Young Entrepreneurs Councils in this regard, said, “You, in 81 provinces and 160 districts, will undertake the leadership of this work among women and young entrepreneurs and ensure that it spreads locally. We will support the campaign with social media ads and announcements. You will also be able to share them on your own accounts. We expect you to promote and participate in our campaign both in our community and in front of our citizens. The donation process will continue until the end of June. Philanthropists will be able to donate any amount they want.

With the Virtual POS to be established within the Chamber-Commodity Exchange of which you are a member, it will be possible to collect donations via credit card. The whole process will be carried out transparently. The donations made will be announced on the basis of individual names. A separate Zakat account was also opened so that it could also count towards Zakat. And all donations will be deductible from the tax base. Our Women and Young Entrepreneur Boards should definitely work in coordination with our Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in this process. You should announce the campaign at every opportunity. You are often featured in TV and print media, you can use these channels and give support. We have a total of 15,000 members on the boards. Contact them and ask them to contribute. You can also reach non-governmental organizations, universities and techno-cities in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. You can also direct international companies that you project with to this campaign. You can do donation activities together with our Chambers and Exchanges”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said “When we join hands, there is no difficulty that we cannot overcome” and said, “This is the day of being one, being together, uniting. The day is the Day of Unity. You and all benefactors can donate for a block, an apartment or a brick. We need to get our cities back on their feet. As we stated in our campaign slogan, ‘Let’s Build a House.’ With your support, let us be a hope for the future of earthquake victims.”

- Nurten Öztürk

TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council President Nurten Öztürk stated that they would support the project and emphasized that the aid provided in the first days of the earthquake gradually decreased, and that they developed projects for those affected by the earthquake to return to the regions where they lived. Öztürk stated that agriculture has suffered great damage in the region and that a serious food shortage may arise, and that they aim to ensure the continuation of production by establishing Agricultural Villages to organize livelihoods.

- Ali Sabancı

TOBB Young Entrepreneurs Council President Ali Sabancı said that they will support the housing campaign. Emphasizing that Türkiye should not forget the fact that it is an earthquake country and that lessons should be taken after the earthquakes, Sabancı pointed out that studies should be carried out together with the public, private sector, NGOs and universities on how to prevent the loss of life and property in earthquakes.