Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Beginning on the World Intellectual Property Day, “Fakes Cost More, I Buy Real” campaign is being spearheaded by the ICC’s anti-counterfeiting and piracy division, Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP), and organized in Turkey by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, International Chamber of Commerce Turkey National Committee (ICC Turkey) and the Union of Chambers of Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

Many activities will take place as part of the campaign throughout Turkey. Mehtap Elaidi, Ayşe Kulin, İskender Pala and Orhan Gencebay will be volunteering to play in an infomercial detailing the damages piracy and counterfeit goods do to Turkey’s economy.

Supporting the campaign are the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, General Directorate of Security, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Directorate General of Copyrights, Shopping Centers and Retailer Association, the Association of Retailers have Category, Food Retailers Association and many national and international private companies.

- What’s being risked with counterfeiting and piracy is the development speed of Turkey’s economy

TOBB and ICC Turkey President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they are launching the “I Buy Real” campaign in Turkey as TOBB and ICC Turkey.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they aim to reach 500 billion USD exports volume by the year 2023 and thus increasing Turkey’s share of the global exports to 1.5% on its centennial anniversary and to have at least 10 Turkish companies in the world’s 500 largest companies as well as becoming world leader in at least three sectors in addition to producing 10 world famous brands.

Expressing that there is a need for an innovative and advanced industry, a technology focused and productive society to achieve these goals, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The prerequisite for these is a strong intellectual property regime. When we examine the work of BASCAP we see that what’s being risked with counterfeiting and piracy is the development speed of Turkey’s economy, the health of our civilians and the taxes which would have been collected by the government. We have launched a campaign as ICC Turkey under TOBB to raise awareness to this situation, a project backed by both the private and public sectors to assess the counterfeit and piracy issue in terms of both intellectual and industrial rights.”

Stating that, in this regard, TOBB considers combating the production, trade and use of illegal goods of the utmost priority; Hisarcıklıoğlu listed some vital points for achieving victory in this matter: “llegal goods deceive the consumers. Illegal goods present a serious health hazard. Illegal goods threaten the security of your private information. Buying illegal goods is being accessory to crime. The trading of illegal goods is unfair to the honest investor. Illegal goods increase unemployment. Intellectual and Industrial Copyrights prevent the violation of rights. The combat can only be conducted through strong legislation. The transition to registered economy should be encouraged. Law is also the basis of registered economy.”