As part of the Ahilik Week events, the Tradesmen and Craftsmen Association (ESDER) visited OSTİM and presented OSTİM Chairman Orhan Aydın with a traditional sash. During the sash ceremony, one of the most important traditions of Ahilik culture, messages were conveyed regarding the place of Ahilik in Turkish and Islamic civilization.
OSTİM Chairman Orhan Aydın emphasized that OSTİM was founded on the Ahi culture, stating that the concepts that set standards for production and quality throughout the world are found in the Ahi tradition. Aydın said, "When we look at what we need to do to make this world livable again, we rediscover how important the values we practiced in the past are, and how valuable they are in creating a prosperous society."
“There is a very close resemblance between the Ahi Brotherhood and OSTİM.”
Mahmut Çelikus, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ESDER (Association of Tradesmen and Craftsmen), described Ahilik Week as a celebration for tradesmen. Stating that the word Ahilik literally means "brother," Çelikus said, "It's the warmest, most sincere expression in the world. The reason for our visit to OSTİM is that our Chairman, Orhan Aydın, is a respected elder who has dedicated himself to Ahilik and is striving to cultivate and keep this beautiful culture alive in OSTİM. OSTİM was founded on the principles of Ahilik, as envisioned by the late Cevat Dündar; it was the first step in transforming Ankara, which was then called a city of bureaucracy and civil servants, into a city of tradesmen, craftsmen, and industrialists. Therefore, OSTİM is a very important starting point for Ahilik in Ankara and in Turkey."
The ESDER President, stating that they considered it their duty to visit OSTİM, which is founded on the principles of the Ahi Brotherhood and offers examples to Turkey and the world, noted the following: “Under the leadership of our esteemed President, OSTİM has flourished and grown. It has developed numerous industrial zones within itself. This is also at the heart of the Ahi Brotherhood; it is not a static system. It is a system that constantly improves, renews, keeps pace with the times, and even encompasses the times, like lifelong learning. Therefore, OSTİM and the Ahi Brotherhood have a very close similarity and area of struggle. We wanted to crown this week by presenting our esteemed President with an Ahi ceremonial robe.”
OSTİM was founded on the Ahi culture.
OSTİM Chairman Orhan Aydın emphasized that OSTİM was founded on the Ahi culture, that its founding chairman, the late Cevat Dündar, was an Ahi himself, and that he kept the Ahi culture alive in his work. Aydın stated that Dündar brought people together by establishing cooperatives, fostering cooperation and unity, and thus creating OSTİM. He added, “We always remember him with gratitude. Bringing the Ahi tradition to the present day is very important. The Ahi tradition is not just a nostalgic concept from our history that has been closed. We believe that the values that can provide solutions to the problems facing the world today are found within it.”
“Total Quality is a model of the Ahi Brotherhood”
Pointing out that the Total Quality Management system is a model of the Ahi Brotherhood, President Aydın continued: “Currently, the concepts we call quality and standards, which determine the standards of production and quality all over the world, are found in the Ahi Brotherhood; but we lost these before. Then we saw that the values we adopted from outside were leading us to a dead end and an unlivable world. When we looked at what we needed to do to make this world livable again, we rediscovered how important the values we applied in the past were, and how valuable they were in creating a prosperous society. The Ahi Brotherhood is very valuable to us. There is a book by an author called 'The Lost Enlightenment'; actually, Central Asia, the cradle of enlightenment and civilization, is the center of Islamic civilization. This movement, which also influenced the West, we have lost. We are embarking on a path of rediscovering ourselves. The Ahi Brotherhood is similar to this. Therefore, let's rediscover these values and apply them in our lives. We also congratulate ESDER for its sensitivity on this issue.”
Photos
