Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

“Grace and prosperity in unity; anguish in dissent,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu, “Konya stands united with its governor, mayor, parliament representatives and civil society organizations. Nobody can bring Konya down. Konya’s exports have increased tenfold while Karaman’s have increased by 8 times in the last 10 years. Konya has begun setting itself goals.”

Stating that people should appreciate the importance of these developments and work to halt any sedition which might creep in amongst them, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “This is not just for Konya; all 76 million should work to this end. We must call a halt to those who would damage our unity and solidarity. When we do that, we will all prosper – 76 million will prosper. So, let us not allow those who would sow sedition among us to do so.”

Reminding that the Netherlands, which is the size of Konya, has a yearly exports volume of agricultural and livestock goods of 55 billion USD, the TOBB President said, “Konya has huge goals but these aren’t enough. Turkey has the 7th largest sum of arable land in the world. However, our yearly agricultural and livestock goods export volume is only 13 billion USD. We must consider this. Konya’s goal should be a yearly exports volume of agricultural and livestock goods of 55 billion USD. Konya is on equal footing with the Netherlands.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that Konya is in the first place in Turkey in regards to small OIZs, second in regards to the incentives granted and third in terms of large OIZ.

Stating that the TOBB community is Turkey’s most democratic institution, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Our organization is built from the ground up, not the other way around.”

- “Traders and industrialists are the surety of peace”

Stating that competition among traders and industrialists end when “ballot boxes open”, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We are the symbol of peace on earth. The surety of peace are traders and industrialists. Never forget that. That is why we must embrace all and adopt a culture of unity. We must embrace all in the coming term. Our councils are our highest decision making branch in this regard. Let us discuss all issues here. Allah has created us all differently; we may think differently but we must unite as council and administration. We will unite behind Konya’s interests – not Rifat’s or Selçuk’s.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that he owes his success to the presidents of the chambers and exchanges who support him. Emphasizing that he takes all responsibility for failures, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In our 2001 General Assembly, I said that Turkey would achieve an exports volume of 100 billion USD and everyone laughed at me. They said, ‘Rifat’s a rookie. He’s just blustering.’ We say that Turkey will become one of the top 10 economies of the world and now they say, ‘He’s weaving tall tales.’ What is Turkey’s goal today? We put forth this goal first – now it is everyone’s goal. We said there would be 100 billion USD of exports – we’ve achieved 152 billion USD. How did we do it? We focused on our work. We said everyone would do their jobs. Our job is to make Turkey prosper. We went to every corner of Anatolia to open the way for the private sector. We achieved this with unity, solidarity, brotherhood and common sense. We’ve always said that there is grace and prosperity in unity; anguish in dissent.”

- Turkey’s 9 most important issues

Hisarcıklıoğlu, speaking in regards to Turkey’s 2023 goals, emphasized that the country wishes to be 2.5 times richer than it is by 2023. Stating that Turkey has 9 issues to deal with in the next 9 years, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If those 9 issues are solved without the 76 million engaging each other in conflict, coming closer together and paying heed to common sense, then nobody can beat us. What are those 9 issues? The presidential election, general elections, local elections, the solution process, the constitution process, the Armenian 2015 issue, Iran, Syria and Iraq are all domestic issues for us. If we can solve address these 9 issues as we stand united then nobody can hold us down after 2015. Let this be known. We will do our job. We will contribute to the prosperity of this country.”

- Other speakers

Following TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, Konya Chamber of Industry (KSO) Board President Memiş Kütükçü, Konya Commodity Exchange (KTB) Board President Uğur Kaleli and Konya Chamber of Commerce (KTO) Board President Selçuk Öztürk also gave speeches, emphasizing their conviction in regards to the accomplishment of Turkey’s 2023 goals and the role Konya will play in this process.

Karaman Commodity Exchange President Ekrem Baştuğ and Karaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mustafa Toktay announced that they will be supporting TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu.