Following the July 15 coup attempt, which went down in Turkish democratic history as a dark stain, a group of foreign journalists were hosted in OSTİM to ensure the flow of accurate and reliable information to the international press.
Nearly 30 international media representatives, who came to Ankara to gather information about the events of the coup attempt and to gauge the pulse of the real sector, began their tour of the capital at OSTİM. Hosted at Turkey's largest supply center by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, the journalists were informed about the region's production capacity. During the meeting, the commitment of industry and SMEs to the state and national will was emphasized, and the importance of democracy was highlighted. The message conveyed was that contributions to production and technology would be increased.
“We ship products to global companies”
Speaking at a meeting attended by industrialists from OSTİM and TAI General Manager Muharrem Dörtkaşlı, OSTİM Board Chairman Orhan Aydın noted that when defining small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide, their flexibility, dynamism, and contributions to democracy are emphasized. Reminding attendees that 98% of businesses in Turkey are SMEs, Aydın said, “The most important prototype of this is our region; OSTİM. Here, we are in a region entirely comprised of small, medium, and micro-enterprises. From here, we produce and ship products to companies all over the world.”
“Turkish Industry Believes in Democratic Life”
Aydın continued, saying, “In this unfortunate negative event we experienced in our country, we witnessed a ceremony, an application of the contributions of small businesses, these dynamic businesses, to democracy and democratic life in Turkey. These people received the news in the evening, took to the streets to defend the country's democracy, gained control of the situation, and returned to their workshops in the morning. Turkish industry, Turkish SMEs, especially OSTİM, believe in and uphold democratic life. Turkey and the whole world witnessed a history, an epic, of this. As Turkish industry and SMEs, we will continue to uphold these values. We will stand by them to the end. We want to declare this in front of the whole world. We declare here that we will continue to increase our contribution to production and technology.”
“We have focused more on production and exports”
TAI General Manager Muharrem Dörtkaşlı stated that they were at work with 5,000 employees the morning after the coup attempt. Dörtkaşlı said, “Until now, we have not experienced any disruptions or quality problems in our programs. In fact, after the events, we focused more on production and exports. Life continues as normal. Our purchases from our stakeholders, the OSTİM companies, continue at the same pace. I would like to express my thanks to OSTİM and OSSA.”
“Everything is going well”
Sergio Cosantino, an official from an Italian company that is a customer of a rubber firm in OSTİM, joined the program live and shared his views. The Italian industrialist stated, “We work with several companies in Turkey and everything is going well. We want to develop our relationships with your companies.”
“I see a bright future in Turkey”
Ali Shahzad, General Manager of the German-Chinese joint venture electronics company, who was also present at the meeting, stated that they are already doing business with a Turkish company and added, “We want to work with other Turkish companies as well. We want to bring other companies that develop technology and innovation here.”
Shahzad stated: “We are planning to open a factory in Turkey related to our field of work. Because we see that electronics production is very good in Turkey and the need for PCP is increasing day by day. We want to bring new technology here. Due to its geographical location, Turkey is an important link for both Europe and Asia. For this purpose, I brought my family and settled in Turkey. I see a bright future for technology in Turkey.”
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