Volume 13 Issue 40 - The 50 Most Influential Turkish Americans

PUBLISHER Turk of America, LLC

12 1 BILLION DOLLAR YOGURT MAN! Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, president and CEO, the man behind Chobani Greek Yogurt, already the best-selling brand of yogurt in the US. As of March 2013, his net worth is 1.1 billion dollars and he is the #1268 billionaire on its list.

CO-FOUNDER & GENERAL MANAGER Ömer Güneş – omer@turkofamerica.com CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING EDITOR Cemil Özyurt – cemil@turkofamerica.com ART DIRECTOR Sinem Ertaş EDITOR Patricia Russo CONTRIBUTORS Demet Cabbar, Burcu Gündoğan, Melda Akansel, Halim Özyurt, Cüneyt Gürkan

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ADVISING COMMITTEE Ali Günertem, Ekmel Anda, Ferhan Geylan, G. Lincoln McCurdy, Günay Evinch, Hakkı Akbulak, Melih Abdulhayoğlu, Mehmet Çelebi, Osman (Oz) Bengür, Uğur Terzioğlu MAIN OFFICE TURKOFAMERICA, LLC. One Bridge Plaza N. Suite 275 Fort Lee, NJ 07024 Tel: +1 (201) 849 4445 info@ turkofamerica.com www.turkofamerica.com Follow on @turkofamerica

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REPRESENTATIVES IN THE U.S. CALIFORNIA (Los Angeles): Barbaros Tapan - btapan@ turkofamerica. com Tel: +1 (213) 924 8027 MASSACHUSETTS Mustafa Aykaç – maykac@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (857) 205 8318 NEW YORK (Rochester) Ersoy Yildiz – eyildiz@turkofamerica.com Tel: +1 (707) 394 5349

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EUROPE: Yasin Yağcı – yyagci@turkofamerica.com Tel: +31 (624) 66 92 23 TURKEY GENERAL COORDINATOR Nuri Özyurt – nozyurt@turkofamerica.com MARKETING & SALES SUBSCRIPTION & DISTRIBUTION TOA Basın Yayın Tic.Ltd.Şti.

Büyükdere Caddesi Yapı Kredi Plaza C Blok No:40/41 Kat 17 Levent / İstanbul Tel:+ 90 212 282 37 11 turkiye@turkofamerica.com Tel : +90 (212) 317 47 85

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18 THE WIZARD OF SILICON VALLEY Since 2006, Aydın Şenkut’s Felicis has invested in over 100 companies, 47 of which have been acquired by industry leaders such as Apple, AT&T, Disney, eBay, Facebook, Google, Groupon, Intuit, Microsoft and Twitter.

22 THE TURKISH COUPLE’S DREAM Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), a world-class aerospace and electronic systems provider known for its rapid, innovative, and agile technology solutions is among the North America’s fastest-growing private companies and is now leading the U.S. into Space.

24 AMERICA’S TOP TURKISH GIVER Technologist and entrepreneur Dr. Kenan Şahin donated $100 million to his alma mater, MIT, in an unrestricted gift in 1999. This made him one of America’s top givers in BusinessWeek’s annual ranking of top philanthropists work. In Boston Magazine’s “The 50 Wealthiest Bostonians” list, Dr Şahin was ranked #20 with a worth of 904 million dollars.

36 THE PSYCHIATRIST TO MEGA-FIGURES Dr. Byram Karasu is the one of the rare Turkish-American who holds a position as chairman of a psychiatry department. The author of 20 books, having fallen in love in literature as well as having worked for the same institution for 43 years, Dr. Karasu is a living legend at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

46 THE GENIUS WHO HAS REVOLUTIONIZED STORE FIXTURES Öztekin founded The Kent Corporation in 1958 and was granted the first patents for adjustable steel shelving in the United States and Europe. Öztekin has 11 patents and his innovations revolutionized store fixtures. Others adopted his designs and techniques, but the contemporary industry came from Muammer Öztekin.

48 THE TWO BILLION DOLLAR REAL ESTATE MAN! At 56 Leonard, İzak Şenbahar’s latest project in TriBeCa, 133 luxury condominiums have been sold, generating 1 billion dollars in five months. “This is a world record in real estate business,” says Şenbahar, 54, president of developer Alexico Group.

58 A POTENTIAL NOBEL PRIZE WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE Daron Acemoğlu is among the 10 most cited economists in the world, according to IDEAS/RePEc, Research Papers in Economics, and in 2010 he was named to the Foreign Policy’s list of 100 Global Thinkers for “showing that freedom is about more than markets.”

58 04 • TurkofAmerica

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14 THE MAN WHO HAS CHANGED THE U.S. POLITICAL LANDSCAPE It’s not an exaggeration to say that the TCA has educated Turkish-Americans on political action. Since 2009, the TCA has organized 16 Congressional Delegation trips to Turkey and has taken more than 155 members of Congress and senior staffers to Turkey and surrounding countries.

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72 THE KING OF HAND BAGS Erol Devli started with a small manufacturing shop in 1980; since then his Sasha HandBags have become one of the industry’s leaders in hand bag area. Devli heads one of the most popular sources of formal and casual purses and bags in the United States.

FROM EDITOR

What A Lıst!

The 50 Most Influentıal Turkısh-Amerıcans

By Cemil Özyurt

cemil@turkofamerica.com

I am very humble to say that it’s possible to see all the colors of Anatolia on this list. In addition to having a Turkish heritage, the influential people have Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish, Jewish, Bosnian, Cypriot, and Arabian

As the first Turkish-American business magazine, which has been publishing since 2002, this issue contains one of the hardest and longest pieces of research we conducted in 11 years. Our team has read thousands of resumes, searched hundreds of websites, made several interviews to name the most influential 50 Turkish-Americans. It wasn’t easy. It was conducted for the first time ever and most readers would recognize some of the names chosen with help of the Turk of America team. I am sure that if you are not very much involved in the Turkish-American community, you will be seeing most of these names for the first time.

We were very rigorous and careful when compiling the whole list, talking to advisory board members, asking community leaders, and discussing with knowledgeable people who would be on the list. I am sure that you will realize that how these people have made an impact on American or Turkish-American life in the United States. I will accept from the beginning we probably have missed some names but this is inevitable with any list.

We have conducted research not only on generous, rich, notable or renowned Turkish-Americans but also on the effect these people have had on his/her industry, field and area. The 50 names are in different areas such as business, professional, politics, art, culture, non-profit, philanthropy, sport, music and so on.

Turkish voices are heard in the community and we just want to show them how they have succeeded. I am very humble to say that it’s possible to see all the

heritages as well.

colors of Anatolia on this list. In addition to having a Turkish heritage, the influential people have Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish, Jewish, Bosnian, Cypriot, and Arabian heritages as well.

There is a high possibility that some names on the list are widely known in the Turkish-American community, such as Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca Cola, Dr. Mehmet Öz, TV host and cardiologist, Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani. But some names such as Muammer A. Öztekin, the father of Turkish industrialists in America, the inventor of adjustable steel shelves and established a company in 1958 in Alabama; Rahmi Soyugenç, the owner of the oldest revolving door business in the United States since 1963, Dr. Byram Karasu, the Psychiatrist to mega-figures in New York, have made a great impact and done incredible work in their field.

The other unique thing about the Most Influential list is that the people on it are from 19 different states, from California to Florida, Georgia to Nevada. So we have not only focused on the state in which we are based.

Muammer A. Öztekin, one of the earliest Turkish industrialists in the U.S.

06 • TurkofAmerica

With Dr. Byram Karasu in his office at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

I hope the list will be a unique and good source to look for who’s who among Turkish-Americans. We will be continuing to develop the list in different areas and we will be showing it to younger generations so they can have good role models to admire.

#1 DR MEHMET OZ

The Natıon’s Favorıte Doctor D

r Mehmet Oz is a cardiologist, author, TV host, one of our most influential celebrities, and a true guide for Americans to lead healthier lives. He is a two-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning host, authored seven New York Times Best Sellers, was named Forbes’ #3 most influential celebrity (2010-11).

Time magazine ranked Oz at 44th on its list of the “100 Most Influential People in 2008” and he is also the eighth Turk to grace the cover of Time magazine. Esquire magazine placed him

on its list of the “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century”. He was called a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and one of “The Harvard 100 Most Influential Alumni” by 02138 magazine. He won the Gross Surgical Research Scholarship. He was listed in “Doctors of the Year” by Hippocrates magazine and in “Healers of the Millennium” by Healthy Living magazine. Oz is annually listed in the Castle Connolly Guide of the top United States doctors.

Dr. Mehmet Oz.

08 • TurkofAmerica

#2 MUHTAR KENT

The Legendary Man Behınd The Legendary Company For drawing on a different vision and giving a new direction to Coca-Cola, Kent was named the best CEO of Coca-Cola in last 25 years, according to Harbert Allen, CEO of Allen & Co, an investment firm.

Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola.

W

Since Kent took the helm of Coca-Cola, in July 2008, Coca Cola’s revenue has gone up from $31.9bn to $48bn, and its profit jumped from $5.8bn to $9bn. Coca Cola was ranked was 73 in the Fortune 500 in 2008 and now it is 48th.

hen the late Steve Jobs wanted John Sculley, the CEO of Pepsi, to became Apple’s CEO in 1977, the deal was struck after he made his legendary pitch to John: “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?” Schulley preferred to change the world and he ran Apple for 10 years.

It’s not known whether Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola, received any offer from technology companies to change the world, but certainly he has been transforming and changing Coca-Cola since he became its CEO in 2008. Since Kent took the helm of Coca-Cola, Coca Cola’s revenue has gone up from $31.9bn to $48bn, and its profit jumped from $5.8bn to $9bn.

Coca Cola was ranked was 73 in the Fortune 500 in 2008 and now it is 48th.

Kent started to work at Coca-Cola to assist truck drivers to deliver bottles and he says, “If I had not worked at that position, I wouldn’t have been a CEO of the company today.”

There is no doubt that Kent is the most influential Turkish-American businessperson in America today.

Managing the world’s most popular brand, he is as popular as a movie star. Muhtar Kent, who is considered to be among the world’s most important 10 executives, was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of 3M on 1 April 2013.

When he was appointed as CEO on July 1, 2008, the company’s rank was 73 among the Fortune 500 companies. In 2012, Coca-Cola became 57th biggest company in the United States.

For many years, the growth of Coca-Cola in North America was experiencing difficulties; under Kent’s management the company was able to capture a steady growth trend.

Kent’s story started with Coca-Cola in 1978. At the age of 32, he was a director of the company in Turkey and Central Europe and built 22 factories in 28 months.

During the communist era in Poland, he learned that all land belonged to the state, and only churches had the right to build a building. He purchased some land from a church and Coca-Cola still continues production on that same land in Poland to this day.

In recent years, Kent opened Coca-Cola’s forty-second plant in China and the company has been growing steadily in India and Thailand.

When he took control, he changed 70 percent of the company’s top-level executives, acquired vitamin water brand Glaceau for 4.1 billion dollars, and a North American bottling plant for 12.3 billion dollars. Coca-Cola’s revenue reached $48 billion and its net worth hit $9 billion in 2012.

In North America, Coca-Cola is number one in the soft drink market; Diet Coke passed Pepsi to be in second place. Coca-Cola has over 500 brands under its umbrella.

TurkofAmerica • 09

#3 HİKMET ERSEK

The Man Who Is Behınd 231 Mıllıon Money Transactıons Worldwıde H

is mother is a Christian from Austria and his father a Muslim from Turkey. They met and married in

Paris and settled in Istanbul, his father’s home. He was born there and attended an Austrian school in the city.

At 19, he moved to Austria to attend what is now the Vi-

enna University of Economics and Business.

He’s 6-foot-2 and was good at basketball. While attending university, he was recruited to play semipro ball in Austria. As a result, it took him longer than usual to

Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of The Western Union Company

complete a combined undergraduate and graduate degree in economics, called a magister, in Austria. But it

Hikmet Ersek is

was worth it. He was able to be paid for his hobby and

In 2011, Western Union bought Travelex Global Busi-

travel around Europe for tournaments.

ness Payments and introduced a business-to-business electronic money transfer service for importers and

President and

His first job, in 1986, was in sales for Europay Master-

exporters and other small- and medium-size business-

Chief Executive

Card, now MasterCard. He was responsible for signing

es. People are often surprised that Western Union has

up merchants such as hotels and restaurants. He rose

transformed itself in three years, but it’s still happened

Officer of The

to vice president for sales and marketing and left 10

too slowly for him.

Western Union

retail sales finance and then for consumer financing. A

He can relate personally to one of these changes. His

year later, in 1997, General Electric asked him to be na-

parents divorced years ago, and his mother moved to

tional executive for GE Corporate as well, responsible

Vienna. His father, 89, still lives in Turkey. He has a cell

for Austria.

phone but doesn’t use it.

WESTERN UNION DAYS

Besides the diversity he experienced as a child, he mar-

In 1999, he joined Western Union Financial Services.

ried Nayantara Ghosh-Ersek, who is half-Austrian and

Over more than 25 years, he has learned how globaliza-

half-Indian. They met in Austria. At home, they cele-

tion works and how to navigate in new countries.

brate Christmas as well as Hindu and Muslim holidays.

Company (NYSE: WU), a Fortune 500-ranked global leader in payment services.

years later to work for GE Capital as vice president for

He is fluent in English, German and Turkish.

In January 2010, he was promoted to chief operating officer of the Western Union Company and moved to

In 2012, Ersek was recognized by Corporate Responsi-

Colorado. Eight months later, he became president and

bility Magazine as a Responsible CEO of the Year and

C.E.O. Western Union had always been a brick-and-

by the American Advertising Federation as a Diversity

mortar company, where customers sent or received

Achievement Career Achiever. In addition, Ersek serves

funds through their agents in grocery stores, post of-

on the Board of Teach For All, a network of independent

fices and the like. When he took over, he instituted a

social enterprises working to expand educational op-

number of changes to modernize operations. Not only

portunity around the globe.

did he add more agent locations, but also customers

10 • TurkofAmerica

can now send money using a credit card. He also added

(As told to Patricia R. Olsen, A version of this article

prepaid cards and a mobile wallet application. During

appeared in print on July 29, 2012, on page BU7 of the

Ersek’s tenure as CEO, which began in 2010, Western

National edition with the headline: A Spectrum of Tra-

Union has successfully diversified its business mix.

ditions.)

TurkofAmerica • 10

#4 HAMDİ ULUKAYA

Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, president and CEO.

Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, president and CEO, the man behind Chobani Greek Yogurt, already the best-selling brand of yogurt in the US. As of March 2013, his net worth is 1.

1 billion dollars and he is the #1268 billionaire on its list.

12 • TurkofAmerica

1 Bıllıon Dollar Yogurt Man! I

f you say in Turkey, “Someday you will be a billionaire by selling yogurt.” Without exception, everybody would laugh at you. In Turkey, generally most housewives make yogurt at home and the mothers teach their daughters how to make yogurt at home at a very early age. It’s a kind of tradition. Being a billionaire by selling yogurt happens only in America.

It’s like a fairy tale. In six years, truly an inspiring from rags to riches story. Yes, we are talking about Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, president and CEO, the man behind Chobani Greek Yogurt, already the best-selling brand

of yogurt in the US. According to Forbes Magazine, as of March 2013, his net worth is 1.1 billion dollars and he is the #1268 billionaire on its list. The 41-yearold ran a modest cheese company in New York State before getting into the yogurt business.

Some Turkish people are very angry at him. Not because he has became a billionaire in a short time, but because he has promoted the thousand-year-old Turkish yogurt as Greek yogurt. Even Bloomberg Businessweek describes him as “The Turkish King of Greek Yogurt,” and he defends himself in an interview con-

#4 HAMDİ ULUKAYA

ducted by NTV, Turkish news channel, by saying, “How would I know that Chobani would become a phenomenal brand.” He might be right, but one fact is that if the Chabani’s slogan had been “Turkish yogurt” instead of “Greek”, would he have become a billionaire in six years?

Probably not! Even before Chobani started the yogurt business, there were many Turkish yogurt brands on the market and they couldn’t get a chance to make a nationwide mark. Ulukaya admits that when he started the yogurt business, Greek yogurt already had a name in the market.

“I did not invent it,” he says. Fage is the Athens-based company that first brought Greek yogurt to the U.S. 15 years ago. The other fact that Turks prefer to eat plain yogurt, Chobani sells mostly yogurt with fruits.

CHANGED U.S. YOGURT MARKET The controversy has continued about origin of yogurt but it’s an indisputable fact that Hamdi Ulukaya has changed the U.S. yogurt market.

When Ulukaya launched Chobani in the fall of 2007, the Greek yogurt market share in the U.S. was less than 1%. And today it is almost 60%.

“So we take quite a bit of credit for that. What we did was make it for everyone, and we made it delicious,” says Ulukaya to CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo.

Greek yogurt now accounts for 36 percent of the $7.6 billion in total U.S. yogurt sales, according to investment firm AllianceBernstein (AB). Since the Oikos expansion began in 2011, Chobani’s share of the Greek yogurt market has fallen from almost half to 39 percent, while Danone’s has jumped from 18 percent to 29 percent, according to Bernstein. Athens-based Fage Dairy Industry’s brand is far behind at 8.5 percent.

Born into a dairy-farming family in Erzincan, in eastern Turkey, he came to the United States to study business in 1997. His family have been in cheese business from generation to generation and they are the major producer of tulum cheese, a traditional Turkish goat’s milk cheese ripened in a goatskin casing.

When his father visited him in New York, he complained about not being able to eat good quality cheese with. The question, “Why don’t you run a cheese company?” inspired Ulukaya to establish Euphrates feta cheese company in 2001 in central New York. While running Euphrates, he saw a for-sale ad for a Kraft Foods yogurt plant in a neighboring town. He bought the plant in 2005 and started perfecting the recipe for Greek-style yogurt. The first order was shipped in October 2007. He started out with five employees and it took a year and a half to develop the product. In, 2009, Hamdi signed a major deal with leading US grocery wholesaler Costco. Since then the company’s sales have grown to nearly $1 billion annually. When Ulukaya opened a new yogurt plant in Twin Falls, Idaho, in December 2012, it was a good message to the local community and the decision-makers of American economy that “Every business in America has been seeking cheap production costs overseas, while we have built a manufactory in the heart of the country.” Chobani’s newest manufacturing facility is the largest yogurt factory in the world.

Chobani has 3,000 employees and operates the largest yogurt factory in the world, selling its products to Australia and the UK as well as the US. He has built plants in Australia as well, offices in Manhattan and Amsterdam, and a retail store in New York City’s SoHo. The company is an official sponsor of the US Olympic team.

Although Ali Çınar, former President of the Federation of Turkish American Associations, has openly complained that he has not succeeded in meeting with Ulukaya to get some help for the Turkish-American community, 10% of Chobani’s profits are donated to the company’s charitable foundation, Shepherd’s Gift Foundation.

Ulukaya’a success has become a subject for Harvard Business school students and he was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013. Lately, the company has begun a $300,000 contract to supply yogurt for a pilot program hosted by the National Lunch Program. The program will be hosted in Idaho, Arizona, Tennessee and New York, where 230 school districts have already ordered more than 3,300 cases of the company’s yogurt products.

Ercument Tokat, merger and acquisition expert of Centerview Partners, suggests to Ulukaya that it’s time to sell Chobani. “Actually, last year was the best time to sell the company because the company had a brighter future for investors. Investors always want to purchase companies’ future hope,” Tokat adds.

TurkofAmerica • 13

#5 SERPİL & YALÇIN AYASLI

The Man Who Changed the U.S. Polıtıcal Landscape for Turkısh-Amerıcans a major milestone with the addition of its 150th member. The Turkey Caucus had representation from 43 of the 50 states and all six territories. In July this year, the Caucus expanded its membership to include for the first time members of the U.S. Senate alongside members of the U.S. House of Representatives, whereby it became the third largest bicameral ethnic/national caucus.

Beside TCA, Serpil and Yalçın Ayaslı family founded the Washington, D.C.-based Turkish Cultural Foundation in 2000 to support cultural projects in Turkey and share Turkish culture with the rest of the world.

The foundation began working with the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire to send American teachers to tour Turkey in 2007.

Serpil and Yalçın Ayaslı.

The TCA continues to play a key role in educating Turkish-Americans on political action and the importance of Congress in fostering strong U.S. Turkey relations.

Since 2009, the TCA has organized 16 Congressional Delegation trips to Turkey and has taken more than 155 members of Congress and senior staffers to Turkey and surrounding countries.

14 • TurkofAmerica

U

ntil 2007, among the many different ethnic groups in the U.S., Turkish-Americans were not well organized in the American political arena. Turkish-American individuals were supporting different politicians but there was no collective effort to support Turkey’s friends in the Congress.

In February 2007, Yalçın Ayaslı founded the Turkish Coalition of America, an educational, charitable organization which is devoted to promoting Turkish-American relations. The TCA continues to play a key role in educating Turkish-Americans on political action and the importance of Congress in fostering strong U.S. Turkey relations. Since 2009, the TCA has organized 16 Congressional Delegation trips to Turkey and has taken more than 155 members of Congress and senior staffers to Turkey and surrounding countries. Due to TCA’s efforts, Turkey became the second most traveled to international destination behind Israel, according to a report published by U.S. News and World Report.

The TCA’s effort was well-worth the applause, on June 2012, the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkey Relations and Turkish Americans (Turkey Caucus) reached

TCF continued to spread its Turkish educational outreach across the United States with the Spotlight on Turkey program in cooperation with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA). Since its inception in 2007, over 2,700 American teachers and an estimated 300,000 students have benefited from this TCF-WACA program.

In 2012, TCF allocated a total of $3,511,981 to grants, operational and program disbursements to pursue its mission.

THE STORY OF THE AYASLIS A graduate of the Ankara Atatürk High School, Dr. Ayaslı received is B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Middle East Technical University Electrical Engineering Department in 1968. Ayaslı received his M.S.E.E. and Sc.D. degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973 and worked as a faculty member and Deputy Department Chair at the METU Electrical Engineering Department for six years.

The Ayaslıs emigrated from Turkey to the United States in 1979, and moved to Nashua from Lexington, Mass.

He began his professional career at the Waltham, Mass. based Raytheon’s research division.

#5 SERPİL & YALÇIN AYASLI

In 2012, Ayaslis donated the Ayasli Research Center to their alma mater, Middle East Technical University Engineering Department.

In 1985, he founded Hittite Microwave Corporation; a public company traded at Nasdaq, in Chelmsford, Mass. The company is a supplier of mixed signal RFIC and Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Integrated Circuit components and subsystems for wireless and telecommunication markets. The firm’s market value is worth $2.03 billion as October 2013, had $264.4 million in revenue in 2012, and its net income for the year was $68.6 million, according to SEC filings. The company has 486 full time employees.

After serving as the company’s CEO for 20 years, Dr. Ayaslı retired from this position and presently serves as Chairman Emeritus. After retiring, he and his wife dedicated his time to charity works. Dr. Ayaslı is the author of numerous scientific papers in this research area and holds 15 patents.

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At his charitable work, his wife is the biggest supporter. Serpil Ayaslı was a postdoctoral fellow in the university’s physics department from 1979-82, and worked for 23 years in MIT’s Lincoln Labs before retiring in 2005.

The Ayaslıs also established the Culinary Arts Center and Natural Dyes Research and Development Laboratory in Istanbul. In addition, Dr. Ayaslı is an investor in the Borajet, Armaggan, Nar companies in Turkey and in Syndexa. In 2012, he donated 6.6 million dollars the Ayaslı Research Center to his alma mater, Middle East Technical University Engineering Department.

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TurkofAmerica • 15

#6 MELİH ABDULHAYOĞLU

The Turkısh Guardıan for 55 Mıllıon Internet Users M Approximately 55 million people use Comodo’s products around the world and the company is growing by fifty percent every year and employs over

elih Abdulhayoğlu, a technologist and an entrepreneur, founded Comodo in 1998, in the United Kingdom. Providing computer software and SSL digital certificates, Comodo has offices in the UK, Ukraine, Romania, China, India, Turkey and the US. Based in Clifton, New Jersey, Comodo is the largest and most prominent business as a Certificate Authority that sells SSL Certificates. As of June 1, 2013 the company had a 27% Market Share among Certificate Authorities, just second behind Symantec, according to W3Tech.com. Comodo competes in the antivirus industry against Avira, BullGuard, F-Secure, Frisk, Kaspersky, McAfee, Panda Security, Sophos, Symantec and Trend Micro among others.

1000 people in its offices in six countries.

16 • TurkofAmerica

Approximately 55 million people use Comodo’s products around the world and the company is growing by fifty percent every year and employs over 1000 people in its offices in six countries. Abdulhayoğlu opened a R&D center in last year in Ankara, which employees over 40 software engineers.

Melih Abdulhayoglu, founder and CEO of Comodo.

TurkofAmerica • 10

#7 AYDIN ŞENKUT

Since 2006, Aydın Şenkut’s Felicis has invested in over 100 companies, 47 of which have been acquired by industry leaders such as Apple, AT&T, Disney, eBay, Facebook, Google, Groupon, Intuit, Microsoft and Twitter.

The Wızard of Sılıcon Valley W

hen Google was founded in 1998, Aydın Şenkut was hired as the first international face of the company. Şenkut joined Google in 1999 as its first Product Manager to launch Google’s first 10 international sites, its first online search licensing products and its first Safe Search. He then became the first International Sales Manager at Google, responsible for world-wide licensing deals.

After leaving Google, where he was employee No. 30, Şenkut founded Felicis Ventures in 2005. Today Şenkut is regarded as one of the best — and earliest — super angel or micro VC funds in the Silicon Valley.

He has been named one of the top 25 tech angels by Businessweek and was featured as one of the top 8 up and coming VCs by Forbes’ Midas List.

18 • TurkofAmerica

Since 2006, Felicis has invested in over 100 companies, 47 of which have been acquired by industry leaders such as Apple, AT&T, Disney, eBay, Facebook, Google, Groupon, Intuit, Microsoft and Twitter.

Felicis’ biggest exit was Meraki, the software-controlled networking company that Şenkut backed early on, which Cisco bought for $1.2 billion. That was the biggest exit in the history of the firm.

Among other notable companies backed by Felicis have been Angry Birds’ developer Rovio, personal finance site Mint.com (bought by Intuit in 2009), Chomp (bought by Apple last year) and Karma (scooped up by Facebook just before its 2012 IPO).

#7 AYDIN ŞENKUT

Şenkut told TURKOFAMERICA that Felicis receives between 1000 to 1500 requests from entrepreneurs for investment in a year; they choose to invest in only 15 to 25 of them. “We approximately invest in 1% of the total projects proposed,” Şenkut says.

As the first international face of Google, Şenkut believes he could be a good inspiration for young Turkish-Americans, “As I did it, any Turkish-American could be in that position. I think that I am a good role model for young people. Turkish people are good at not only finance or consulting. This shows that we are good at tech companies as well,” Şenkut says.

Among Şenkut’s over 100 active companies, only one of the founding members are Turkish entrepreneurs, Volkan Biçer and Şekip Can Gökalp, who founded Mobilike. Şenkut emphasizes that Turkish start-ups usually focus on game and e-commerce projects. “There are enough computer engineers but when they see many game and e-commerce companies in the market, they follow their footsteps,” Şenkut says. Şenkut received a BS in Business Administration with Honors from Boston University. He also earned an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from the School of Arts at the University of Pennsylvania. He speaks five languages: English, German, French, Portuguese and Turkish.

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Turkey’s ambition for being a center for R&D investments of Silicon Valley companies is known, but Şenkut indicates that Turkey is not the only country to achieve this. “Convincing tech companies to invest in Turkey is not easy. Ireland is doing this very well and many tech companies have already chosen Ireland and at least 10 countries have similar agendas as Turkey, such as Brazil, Singapore, and so on.”

Aydın and his wife are Associate Founders of Singularity University, have backed bio-tech research at UCSF and sponsored a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania. Aydın is on the boards of Clearslide,Massive Health, Imageshack and the Wharton Entrepreneurial Program.

In addition to investing in start-ups, Şenkut collects antique books which were written by travelers, pilgrims, and foreign missionaries about Istanbul and Ottoman Empire. He has 60 rare books in his collection and he says that he is very curious about ancient history in Anatolia. “Anatolia has had over 15 different civilizations and it’s very interesting to learn about them,” Şenkut says. Şenkut also plans an eco-tour Eastern and Northern Turkey in the near future.

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#8 EREN & FATİH ÖZMEN

The Turkısh Couple’s Dream Is Makıng NASA’s Fırst Commercıal Human Flıghts a Realıty

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), a world-class aerospace and electronic systems provider known for its rapid, innovative, and agile technology solutions is among the North America’s fastest-growing private companies and is now leading the U.S. into Space.

Fatih & Eren Özmen.

22 • TurkofAmerica

#8 EREN & FATİH ÖZMEN

T

hey were born and raised in Turkey in a modest environment, yet Eren & Fatih Özmen have come to embody the American dream and the ideals of universal entrepreneurship and innovation. The story of Fatih and Eren Ozmen is a remarkable one of two young Turks who wanted to make the world a better place for all humanity and took their dreams and their determination, first to the United States, then around the world, and now to space.

The Ozmens are the owners of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), a world-class aerospace systems integrator and electronic systems provider. Due to the Ozmens strategic planning and management, SNC grew from a small company with a few people into larger than a billion dollar Global Enterprise performer in the areas of Telemedicine, Renewable Energy, Navigation & Guidance, Fusion & Transformation, C4ISR, Cyber Security and Electronic Protection.

In 2008, space exploration became a key focus area for the Ozmens.

SNC’s Space Systems business now develops high performance, innovative components and systems that are changing how we reach, explore, and utilize space.

SNC’S DREAM CHASER® WILL TAKE PEOPLE TO SPACE SOON SNC’s latest project, Dream Chaser, a new commercial SNC’s spacecraft, will be launched soon. SNC has invested significant funds and also received around $385M from NASA toward the development of this revolutionary spacecraft technology that will grow into a multi-billion dollar business in just a few years from now. SNC is one of three companies partnered with NASA in its Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. NASA’s goal is to develop a next-generation crew transportation vehicle. Of the trio of spacecraft, Dream Chaser is the only flexible, reusable, lifting body vehicle with runway landing capability at almost any airport in the world. SNC’s spacecraft is designed to launch seven astronauts and cargo on missions to and from low-Earth orbit, including the International Space Station.

To date the Dream Chaser has met numerous important milestones.

One critical milestone was the ground-based taxi and tow test that evaluated the performance of its main landing gear and completed a flight test readiness review. Equally important were the Dream Chaser’s multiple, successful captive carry flight tests with the vehicle being carried under an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (Dryden) on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif (Edwards AFB). Most notably, on October 26, 2013, SNC’s Dream Chaser with support from NASA Dryden successfully completed the milestone for its first free flight on the historic Edwards AFB Runway 22.

CEO, Fatih Ozmen joined SNC in 1981 with a broad engineering background and an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Eren Ozmen, the President of SNC, joined SNC in 1988, shortly after receiving her MBA from UNR when SNC only had a handful of employees.

The Ozmens acquired SNC in 1994, with only 1 office and 20 employees. Thereafter, they set in motion a period of tremendous innovation and development. Under the leadership of Fatih and Eren and due to their successful acquisition of ten electronics firms, SNC has expanded its 6 business areas to 16 states with 30 locations, with over 2,600 employees.

SNC is now the Top Women-Owned Federal Contractor in the United States. SNC’s phenomenal accomplishments on the international stage also have earned the company and its leaders numerous awards, such as; • U.S. Top 10 among the Nation’s Fastest Growing Private Companies

by Inc. Magazine (2010) and #6 “Revenue Growth for $Billion Companies”(2011) • #2 “Fastest Growing Women-Owned Company in North America” by the International Women Presidents’ Organization, Vancouver, Canada (2011) • “Aviation Entrepreneurs of the Year” by the Living Legends of Aviation, Beverly Hills, CA (2012) and inducted as “Living Legends” after being nominated to replace Great American Legends Neil Armstrong and Caroll Shelby (2013) • GCN (Government Computer News) Awards for demonstrating excellence in using innovative information technology solutions to the Federal Government (2005 and 2006) • Women Role Model of the Year in Nevada (2002) • Distinguished Business of the Year in Nevada (2001) SNC has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Northern Nevada in 2009, 2011, and 2012, Best Places to Work in Denver in 2012 and Florida’s Best Companies to Work for in 2010.

At one time, space travel was pure science fiction. In the near future, Dream Chaser will carry a crew to the international space station.

Yet Fatih and Eren’s work will not be done. They will continue to dream, innovate, and achieve the unbelievable as they reach for the stars.

THE OZMENS Over 30 years ago, Fatih and Eren left their childhood homes and families to pursue higher education in the United States. They arrived with limited English skills and scant finances. However, this dynamic duo had perseverance in abundance.

TurkofAmerica • 23

#9 KENAN ŞAHİN

Amerıca’s Top Turkısh Gıver

Technologist and entrepreneur Dr. Kenan Şahin donated $100 million to his alma mater, MIT, in an unrestricted gift in 1999. This made him one of America’s top givers in BusinessWeek’s annual ranking Dr. Kenan Şahin.

of top philanthropists work. In Boston Magazine’s “The 50 Wealthiest Bostonians” list, Dr Şahin was ranked #20 with a worth of 904 million dollars.

H

ave you ever heard that any Turkish-American donated $100 million to any institution in the United States? If your answer is no, you probably don’t know Dr. Kenan Şahin, 72, technologist and entrepreneur.

As was described in MIT News bulletin, at the gala dinner and ball to celebrate the launch of MIT’s $1.5 billion capital campaign on November 6th, 1999, Dr. Şahin was supposed to be in China that Saturday. The trip was cancelled, so the former MIT student and faculty member went to MIT for the day’s programs, gala dinner and ball to celebrate the launch of MIT’s $1.5 billion capital campaign.

At 9:15pm, he told MIT President Charles Vest he had something to say to the 500 people assembled for dinner amidst a sound-and-light show of gossamer sails and technological artifacts in Rockwell Cage, MIT’s basketball gym.

Dr. Şahin was introduced by Vest, who said, “I really don’t know what he’s going to say.” He smiled shyly and said, “He really doesn’t know what I’m going to

24 • TurkofAmerica

say. Up until half an hour ago, I didn’t know what I was going to say.” He announced that he was donating $100 million to his alma mater, MIT, in an unrestricted gift. The gift was the largest ever received by MIT and one of the largest in higher education at that time.

“If I had know that MIT would release a press release about the gift, I definitely would have asked them not to announce it,” Dr. Şahin says. Keeping a low profile is not easy and the reason for it varies from person to person; Dr. Şahin doesn’t want to be in front of public eye. “After MIT, I donated some money to Turkish universities but I will never disclose it,” he indicates.

He became one of America’s top givers in BusinessWeek’s second annual ranking of top philanthropists work. He was ranked #46.

So how did he earn that money to donate? Let’s go back in time a little. He was born in Aydın, Turkey in 1941 to a prominent Turkish family – his father Eyüp Şahin was both a Member of Parliament and a successful businessman. He got elected twice in the 1950

#9 KENAN ŞAHİN

and 1954 elections as a Member of Parliament as a member of the Democrat Party. “He was very successful businessman and he just wanted to serve to people. I learned a lot of things from him,” Dr. Şahin remembers. He finished Cumhuriyet elementary school in Aydın. Unfortunately when Dr. Şahin was 12-year-old, he lost his father in a car accident.

His brother, Ertan was driving and trying to not to hit a dog, and the car overturned.

He first came to the California in 1957 to attend high school with a bursar program. After studying one year in high school, he got back to Robert College. Şahin studied Physics and Mechanical Engineering at the College. He emigrated to the United States as a student and after completing his studies at M.I.T., rose rapidly in academia and became a assistant professor.

“I was always thinking going back to Turkey and actually I did in 1969,” he says. He worked one year for Robert College but when the College Board decided to eliminate the department, he moved back to the US. Dr. Şahin received his B.S. (1963) and Ph.D. (1968) from MIT and spent the ensuing 18 years engaged in teaching and research at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst until 1985.

In 1982, Kenan Şahin founded Kenan Systems with a $1,000 personal investment and no outside funding. He personally hired the first 100 employees, who came from some of the top universities in the US, including MIT, Harvard, Yale, etc.

The company went on to become a world leader in telecommunications software, employing nearly 1,000 people and with offices in a dozen countries. In early 1999, Lucent Technologies acquired Kenan Systems Corp. in a stock deal worth about $1.48 billion and Kenan became Vice President of Software Technology at Bell Labs and President of Lucent’s Software Products Group, serving in those positions through 2000.

In December 2000, Şahin left Lucent, and in late 2001, Lucent sold the assets of the former Kenan Systems to CSG Systems for US$300 million.

THE SECOND ADVENTURE He was thinking about relaxing a little but, maybe writing a book, traveling around the world, but one day he read an article that said the Arthur D. Little Company, a consulting firm which was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1886, was in a hard situation. “When I was student at MIT, there were two important tech companies exist, Bell Labs and Arthur D. Little. Both companies had unique innovations and technologies for daily life and every MIT student knew them,” Dr. Şahin recounts.

In 2002, Dr. Şahin purchased the former Arthur D. Little technology business for $16.5 million as a base for TIAX LLC, a laboratory-based company with more than 50 laboratories and 200 engineers and scientists operating in Massachusetts.

When asked, “After earning a certain amount of money, people usually would think to go on a voyage, world tour or having leisure time. Why did you choose to buy a new company?” He replies with pride, “I don’t want to be a slave to money.” He still goes grocery shopping with his wife. “My father was a very rich man in Aydın. When he got elected to the Parliament and moved to Ankara, he used to live in a very small apartment and had a decent life. I do now what I have seen from my family,” he says.

Under Şahin’s leadership, TIAX works with the best scientists from Ivy League universities. For many years the chairman of the advisory board of TIAX was Dr. Charles Vest, who served as the MIT president and who currently is the president of the National Academy Engineering.

The company takes early stage inventions and innovations, and in its labs, transforms them into technology-enabled product platforms ready for spin-out. 100 scientists work for the company.

AWARDS AND HONORS Even though he avoids public attention in his personal life and prefers to live a humble life, he has numerous awards, titles and honors. In Boston Magazine’s “The 50 Wealthiest Bostonians” list, Dr Şahin was ranked #20 with a worth of 904 million dollars.

In 2000 Dr. Şahin was chosen a member to the American Achievement Society for his achievements at Kenan Systems and Bell Labs. He was chosen the Ernst & Young New England Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998. He was named by the World Economic Forum as one of its 40 Technology Pioneers for 2003 and received the New England Business and Technology’s first “Circle of Excellence” award in 2004. In 2006, he was given the Golden Door Award by the International Institute of Boston. In 2007, TIAX was chosen as a Global Growth Company by the World Economic Forum. In 2010 he received the Ellis Island medal, an award recognized by the US Congress.

He has been chosen as a life member of the MIT Board. Because of his gift to MIT, the Dean of Humanities is designated as the Kenan Şahin Dean. In addition, two key professorships are named Kenan Şahin Chairs. When told that someone who is still alive and has these titles must be very honored, he replied with a smile, “I did not want them, MIT did it.”

In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, he taught in the Sloan Fellows masters program for mid-career executives.

Among his students were Kofi Annan, Bill Ford and Alan Mullaly, now the president of Ford Motor Company.

Dr. Şahin has three children and three grandchildren. His son, Kent Erol, President & CEO, REAL Software Systems, follows in his father’s footsteps and used to work with his father at Kenan Systems. His other sons are Halil Ayral, 45, and Nedim Turan, 37; Nedim graduated from MIT and received a PhD from Harvard and lives in Boston.

Foto: State of Innovation Summit\2009

TurkofAmerica • 25

#10 CENK UYGUR

Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks.

1

Bıllıon Vıews

The Young Turks claims to be the first Internet video news show and states that it is now the largest online news show in the world. Collectively it has amassed over a billion views on YouTube, and over 1,000,000 subscribers.

26 • TurkofAmerica

C

enk Uygur is former host of The Young Turks on Current TV as well as the host and co-founder of The Young Turks online, which is the largest news show on the Internet. On May 9, 2013 Cenk Uygur celebrated the billionth view of his “The Young Turks” YouTube Channel program.

Uygur, 43, is the former host of MSNBC Live and has appeared numerous times on CNN, CNN Headline News, E! Entertainment Channel, Al Jazeera, ABC News, Voice of America, NPR and even Fox News Channel. He is one of the most popular bloggers on The Huffington Post, and also a contributor to Daily Kos and Politico. Uygur was recently the chief news officer of Current TV.

TurkofAmerica • 10

#11 KEMAL DERVIS

Kemal Derviş was the head of the United Nations Development Programme, the UN’s global development network, from August 2005 to 28 February 2009.

Kemal Derviş, Vice President and Director of Global Economy and Development in The Brookings Institution.

Top of The World Bank & The UN

K

emal Derviş was the highest ranked Turkish-American who has worked for the United Nations and the World Bank. In 1996, he became VP of the World Bank for the MENA Region, and in 2000, VP for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. He was formerly head of the United Nations Development Programme (August 2005-February 2009).

He is currently vice president and director of Global Economy and Development in The Brookings Institution, one of Washington D.C’s oldest think tanks.

Derviş focuses on global economics, emerging markets, development and international institutions.

28 • TurkofAmerica

When the Turkish economy was in trouble in 2001, Derviş, 64, was called from his World Bank duties to help stabilize the economy and served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Treasury in the 57th Government of the Republic of Turkey (March 2001-August 2002).

Derviş was the architect of Turkey’s successful threeyear economic recovery program, launched in 2001.

He was a Member of the Turkish Parliament representing İstanbul (November 2002-June 2005). Since 2009, he has been co-teaching a course on global economic governance as an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

TurkofAmerica • 10

#12 TUNÇ DOLUCA

Tunç Doluca, President and CEO at Maxim Integrated.

While at Maxim, Tunç Doluca personally designed over 40 products and holds 11 patents.

These products range from high-speed data converters in his early years at Maxim to breakthrough power-management products later in his design career.

30 • TurkofAmerica

M

icrochip maker Maxim Integrated Products of San Jose has grown impressively since it was founded in 1983. Its annual sales, which edged past $100 million for the first time in 1993, topped $2.4 billion in its most recent fiscal year. Worldwide, Maxim has a little over 9,000 employees and in the U.S., they have about 4,500.

After John Gifford, who founded Maxim and served as its chief executive until his retirement in January 2007, passed away on January 2009 of an apparent heart attack, Tunç Doluca became President and CEO at Maxim Integrated. He joined Maxim in 1984 as a Member of the technical staff. Doluca was named the company’s Vice President of R&D in 1993. In 1994, he became the leader of the company’s first vertical business unit for portable power-management products. In the early 2000s his responsibilities expanded to manage up to seven business units and he was promoted to Group President in 2005.

While at Maxim, Doluca personally designed over 40 products and holds 11 patents. These products range from high-speed data converters in his early years at

The Man Headıng a $10 Bıllıon Company Maxim to breakthrough power-management products later in his design career. Doluca designed the industry’s first high-integration, notebook power-supply IC (the MAX786), and was still designing ICs until 1996. Aided by his educational background in device physics, he guided several process technologies from concept to production. These proprietary, high-performance BiCMOS technology platforms became the workhorse for many product lines.

Doluca has guided Maxim to new revenue records.

During his tenure as CEO, Maxim organized product development around end-markets and improved business unit collaboration. The time-to-market for new products was shortened and the company delivered more R&D output in the form of new products. Under his leadership, Maxim completed six strategic acquisitions. Maxim also advanced its customer partnerships and embraced an aggressive distribution strategy to better service small and midsized companies. Manufacturing was improved by shortening cycle time, achieving higher yields, and successfully executing the company’s transition to a flexible production model. In 2010, the company introduced 300mm analog/ mixed-signal wafer production.

Doluca serves on the board of directors of the Semiconductor Industry Association. Born in Ankara, Turkey, he holds a BSEE degree from Iowa State University and an MSEE degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A fan of soccer, his favorite teams are Manchester United and Barcelona. He also follows hockey, especially the San Jose Sharks.

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#13 ERSAL ÖZDEMİR

founder and president of the Indianapolis-based development company Keystone Group, has been investing in American’s soccer future. “Indiana is a sports-loving state and purchasing a basketball or baseball team are very expensive. I thought a soccer club was the best choose,” he says. He played soccer through middle school, high school and in Purdue University at the club level and he still plays occasionally.

Ersal Özdemir, founder and president of the Indianapolis-based development company Keystone Group.

In 16 years, Ersal Özdemir has helped to create the skyline of Indianapolis with some of the city’s most recognizable buildings.

Recently his hobby has become part of his daily business. Özdemir, 38, launched the team Indy Eleven, an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana in January 2013.

32 • TurkofAmerica

The Developer Who Is the Face of Soccer In Indıana

W

hen the world famous businessman Ahmet Ertegün, founder of the Atlantic Records, who discovered artists like Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Genesis, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles, founded New York Cosmos soccer team with his brother Nasuhi in 1970s, soccer became a very popular game for millions in the United States.

After almost 43 years since the Cosmos was founded, another Turkish businessman, Ersal Özdemir, 38, launched the team Indy Eleven, an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana in January 2013. After its President, former Chicago Fire President Peter Wilt, signed up the coach, Juergen Sommer, and the goalkeeper, Kristian Nicht for the team, 7,000 season tickets were sold for 2014. Honda agreed to a three-year corporate partnership for the club. The team will be the highest level of pro soccer Indiana has ever had and its motto is “The World’s Game, Indiana’s Team.”

In the past, the Ertegün brothers were pioneers of soccer and created an industry from scratch. Özdemir,

Özdemir, one of Indianapolis’s most powerful developers, was born in Mersin, Turkey. After graduating from Icel Anatolian High School, he studied at Purdue University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. His family is still in the construction business, but instead of working with them in Turkey, he founded the Keystone Group in Indianapolis in 1997. His first project was building two gas stations in Indianapolis. “The owner has 150 gas stations and he just picked me to build his two gas stations. There were three companies to bid. I don’t know why he chose me and how I started the business. It was one important milestones of my business life,” Özdemir remembers.

After the 1-million-dollar gas station project, over 16 years, Özdemir has helped to create the skyline of Indianapolis with some of the city’s most recognizable buildings. 3 Mass, Six Over Meridian, Madison Plaza, the historic Majestic Building, University Shoppes, Carmel Art’s District Lofts and Shoppes and a host of other local landmarks all bear the Keystone Construction signature.

Keystone is currently building Wishard Eskenazi Hospital, the $754 million hospital building in downtown Indianapolis. Other Keystone’s Healthcare projects include Priority Access, Midwest Eye Institute, Sona Laser Center, Indiana Eye Specialist, and PAI. In 2011, Keystone Construction was named one of the “Healthiest Employers in Indiana” and Özdemir was chosen as a successful young name for the “Forty under 40” list by the Indianapolis Business Journal. He was honored as the Indy’s Best and Brightest as well.

He is a member or on the board of over 20 organizations, including the Children’s Bureau, the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. “My philosophy is a giving back to community. That is a wonderful thing. As much as I can, I support the community and try to be part of it.

This should be everybody’s responsibility,” he adds.

#14 MEHMET TONER

The Bıomedıcal Engıneer of The Hope for a Cure for Cancer sue engineering, cryobiology & bio-stabilization, micro-fluidics and micronano systems engineering, global health and cancer metastasis.

Dr. Mehmet Toner’s Dr. Mehmet Toner, faculty member at the Harvard MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology.

laboratory developed a technology that isolates rare Circulating Tumor cells (CTCs) from the bloodstream.

The technology is able to pick up, on average, about 10 cancer cells per milliliter of blood in patients with metastatic cancer.

W

hen he was a high-school student, he dreamed of becoming a doctor, but the Student Selection and Placement Center’s exam, which most students suffered from many times in Turkey, did not allow him to do so. Instead of becoming a qualified practitioner of medicine to save perhaps hundreds of lives, he passed the exam to enter engineering school and he graduated from Istanbul Technical University in 1982.

When he came to the United States, his high-school dream revived and he studied Mechanical Engineering and pursued a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He completed his post-doc at MIT in 1990. He became a mechanical engineer who assists in the development of medical technology with the promise of saving thousands of lives. His dream came true in a different way.

When Dr. Toner selected the field of biomedical engineering, nobody believed that it was a common area to work in. Now he is a world-renowned medical engineer, faculty member at the Harvard MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology, and director of the BioMicroElectro-mechanical Systems Resource Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, the third oldest general hospital in the United States.

He is highly regarded for his pioneering work in tis-

Dr. Toner’s curriculum vitae is 70 pages long. He has 28 patents, several awards and honors, has given about 400 academic speeches, has 292 original refereed publications, 46 of reviews, book chapters, and refereed conference proceedings, and 11 of books and edited journals. He has worked for world famous hospitals and affiliated institutions, is a member of major professional societies, participated on eight different editorial boards, and currently advises 24 PhD students, three of whom are Turkish, nationwide.

Toner’s laboratory recently developed a technology that isolates rare Circulating Tumor cells (CTCs) from the bloodstream. This credit-card-size device allows a non-invasive way to track and diagnose cancers earlier and faster. Dr. Toner says that the technology is able to pick up, on average, about 10 cancer cells per milliliter of blood in patients with metastatic cancer, disease that has spread from a primary tumor to other parts of the body.

Johnson & Johnson invested $30 million - a five-year deal- in the project and Dr. Toner indicates that it is not a for the customary daily newspapers’ article that usually says “New hope for treating cancer.” It will be probably in use on the market in 2014 and he expects to get FDA approval by 2018. Toner says that it has aimed at refining and commercializing a next-generation test that could allow physicians to better target cancer-treatment regimens and monitor patients’ responses to drugs. Dr. Toner studied in Saint Joseph high school in Moda, Istanbul and he is a fan of Fenerbahce, whose stadium is located near his high school.

He visits Turkey often and he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Ozyegin University in Istanbul.

TurkofAmerica • 33

#15 MURAT GÜZEL

Güzel is the first Turkish-American to be a Democratic Party delegate to nominate a candidate for President of United States. The presidential campaign selected its 153 district level delegates and 14 alternates. Guzel was one of 301 delegates who went to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Murat Güzel.

The Fırst Turkısh-Amerıcan Delegate To Nomınate A Candıdate for Presıdent of the U.S. G Murat Güzel is the first

Turkish-American to be a Democratic Party delegate to nominate a candidate for President of United States.

34 • TurkofAmerica

raduated from Hacettepe University in Ankara as an electronic engineer, he taught at Hacettepe University for two years. Murat Güzel was one of eight students who came to the US with government scholarships. After his a master and PhD study at Washington state’s Lehigh University, he also taught courses in engineering. His professional life continued with a wireless communication company in different positions from engineer manager to general manager.

Finally he started up his own business adventure in 2000.

The Bethlehem region has four Democratic Party delegates and Guzel is one of them. “I wasn’t expecting to be a delegate and I did not even ask or work for it.

After having good relations with local elected officials and Senator Bob Casey, he recommended me to be one of four delegates to the Democratic Party and it happened.” Güzel was officially a Democratic Party delegate in June 2012. He voted and signed under the name of President Obama as the nominated candidate along with the other members of the delegation in Charlotte, and then President Obama gave an acceptance speech as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the US Presidency. After the election, he received an dinner invitation to Los Angles and then an invitation to the White House, too. When asked whether he is considering a political career, he smiles and replies, “I haven’t had any plans up to now and this happened.

Together, I don’t have any plan but we don’t know what the future will bring. But we have an obligation to our culture, our society and the country we live in” Murat Guzel, CEO of Nimeks organic/Natural Food Source Inc, has been in the food and juice business since 2000. He started with importing juice concentrates from Turkey for US juice makers and then he decided to build his own brand, “Smart Juice”, in 2008. Smart Juice is now on sale in over 2500 supermarkets all over the US, upscale supermarkets such as The Fresh Market, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Shop Rite, A&P, Stop&Shop, Big Y, Shaws, Harmons, and Sprouts, Bristol farms. They just started with some division of Kroger, America’s largest supermarket chain of 3600 stores.

Smart Juice has seven different warehouses in the country and they ship directly from warehouses to distributors. Since he partnered with Nimeks Tarım of İzmir, they import approximately 700-800 containers of dried foods and fruits, frozen fruits and juice concentrates every year from Turkey and this makes them one of the biggest food import companies from Turkey.

Guzel’s companies, Nimeks Organic/Natural Food Source and Kervan USA LLC, are based in Bethlehem, PA. He has lived and worked in the same town since he moved to the US in 1986.

#16 VAMIK VOLKAN

The Medıator of Conflıcts

Dr. Vamık Volkan.

For over 30 years, Dr. Vamık Volkan has been dedicated to carrying out projects in various troubled spots in the world, especially in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, including Greece, Turkey, Estonia, Georgia and Kuwait.

D

r. Vamık Volkan is the only Turkish-American who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times (2005-2008), supported by letters from 27 countries, for carrying out projects in various troubled spots in the world for 30 years and examining conflicts between opposing large groups, and for developing psycho-political theories.

For over 30 years, Dr. Vamık Volkan has been dedicated to carrying out projects in various troubled spots in the world, especially in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, including Greece, Turkey, Estonia, Georgia and Kuwait. He endeavored to bring together ethnic groups in conflict for dialogue while developing new psycho-political theories about large-group behavior in times of peace and war. He was the man behind of the Turkish Democratic Efforts on the Turkish-Kurdish Issues as well. He published more than 50 books and 400 scientific papers and book chapters, and his work has been translated into many languages.

Born in 1931 in Nicosia, Cyprus, he is Turkish Cypriot Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of

Virginia. Prof Volkan came to the United States in 1957 after obtaining his medical education at the School of Medicine, University of Ankara, Turkey.

He received the American College of Psychoanalysts’ Best Teaching Award (2004). Dr. Volkan was a member of the International Negotiation Network (INN) under the directorship of former President Jimmy Carter (1989-1998). In 1992, he traveled with President Carter and other members of INN to Senegal to meet with African political leaders.

He was listed in Best Doctors in America every year from the late 1980s until his retirement from medical practice in 2002. Volkan also received the Sigmund Freud Award given by the city of Vienna, Austria, in collaboration with the World Council of Psychotherapy (2003). He was awarded the Best Teaching Award of the American College of Psychoanalysts in 2004. He was the President of the American College of Psychoanalysts (2009-2010). Nowadays, the wise man spends his time in Northern Cyprus, Turkey and the United States.

TurkofAmerica • 35

#17 DR. BAYRAM KARASU

The Psychıatrıst to Mega-Fıgures

Dr. Byram Karasu, psychiatrist, educator, author, and master psychotherapist.

Dr. Karasu is the one of the rare Turkish-American who holds a position as chairman of a psychiatry department.

The author of 20 books, having fallen in love in literature as well as having worked for the same institution for 43 years, Dr. Karasu is a living legend at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

36 • TurkofAmerica

B

y Cemil Özyurt - Dr. Byram Karasu is a widely renowned psychiatrist, educator, author, and master psychotherapist with extensive experience in the treatment of depression and personality disorders.

He is a philosopher of psychiatry and the wise man to mega billionaires, renowned figures, and high-class personalities. The patients have to pay a thousand dollars for a 45-minute treatment and he never socializes with them.

Born in Pasinler, Erzurum, a city of rural eastern Turkey, Karasu graduated as the top student from a boarding high school in same city. The government had paid his high school expenses and he repaid this by working for the government for three years. While nobody was thinking of getting out of the country for good, he moved to Canada, worked for a hospital in the middle of nowhere, and received acceptances from Yale and Harvard in 1966. He was one of the first Turkish alumni of Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. His accomplishment even today seems impossible. He says, “If a student who has a background similar to me applies to us, we wouldn’t even give the person an interview.” The author of 20 books, having fallen in love in literature as well as having worked for the same institution for 44

years, Dr. Karasu is a living legend at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Dr. Karasu talked for almost one and a half hours to TURKOFAMERICA’s editor-in-chief about his extraordinary life. That would have cost almost 2000 dollars if I had been a patient.

Let’s go back to your early days. What were your days in Erzurum like?

I was born in Pasinler, known as Hasankale in Erzurum, a city in eastern Turkey. There was snow 8 months out of the year, so we went skiing. I was very athletic in spite of my height. I was on the volleyball, the ping-pong and soccer team as well. I still watch soccer and I am fan of Fenerbahce. I was graduated from the State Boarding High School of Erzurum in the literature track in 1953. That was the only high school in Erzurum at the time.

What was your father’s job?

My father, Cemil Karasu, was a soldier, then became a teacher, then he was a lawyer. He was primarily a poet. He wrote an extraordinary number of poems and novels but he did not have kind of money to pay expenses. My home was far away from the school. I

#17 DR. BAYRAM KARASU

stayed in the dorms. 100 of us came from different cities around the Eastern Anatolia.

You said that you were very active in high school. How were you in university?

I enrolled at Ankara University Medical School in 1959. Ping-pong stayed with me. I was on the ping-pong team there. I also performed Erzurum’s folk dances. Actually, my first trip to United States was for the international folklore games in 1959. We came to play at the New York City Theater at 57th street, then played in Washington, DC, and a number of different places.

How did you come to United States? Did you have any relatives here?

First I came to Montreal, Canada to go to the University of Montreal, St. Jeanne D’Arc Hospital. In the 1950s, no one thought about going out of Turkey to begin with because of the visa issue. In 1961, I went to Adana for my compulsory service. I had some contact because of UNICEF, which I work for, in trauma center. I was working in that time to pay back my grant, which I got from government when I was in high school.

Then I met a Dutch woman who was traveling in Turkey and she had an accident. I took care of her. Through her I got some ideas. It’s still not clear how I got the names in Montreal hospital. It could have been from the Dutch patient or the UNICEF people. I wrote to the Montreal St. Jeanne D’Arc Hospital to introduce myself. So three and a half years after I graduated from medical school, I came to Canada in 1962.

Did you serve in the army in Turkey?

Yes, for two years, between 1959 and 1961. There were also MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) hospitals in Gaziantep. So it was a perfectly equipped, traveling, medical surgical ambulatory hospital. I was the only physician there. We were opening a tent at middle of a village.

People all lined up. I treated them, whatever their problems were. I was treating a thousand people in hours. 30 seconds each.

How were your days in Canada?

They were using foreign people whenever they needed. There was no rotating internship, which we had here. So I had a surgical internship.

Basically I was in operating when they were not. The first months, I did not understand what they were saying. I knew French, but in Canada but the dialect was totally different. I realized that French was not a good language for medicine. I decided to switch to English. So St. John New Brunswick Hospital agreed to take me to teach me English. They sent me into the operating room. So I spent a year there in St John Brunswick from 1964 to 1965.

YALE AND HARVARD How old were you when you started to learn English?

I was almost 28 years old. Actually my French was better. I was going to neurosurgery. That’s what they had set up for me. Then I had a major car accident. I couldn’t stand up in operating rooms for more than three hours. I had an option of general medicine, pediatrics or psychiatry. The psychiatry fit me well because my father and mother were interested in literature and poetry. I even published poetry when I was

a child. I applied to only two universities, Yale and Harvard. That was kind of absurd for a foreigner. Anyone with my background right now couldn’t apply to us. But they were accepting in those years. You could apply in July for next July. So one year I decided to practice medicine in Twohills, Alberta, Canada. The hospital was in the middle of nowhere in the north. It was worse than Erzurum. Nobody wanted to go there and that’s why they accepted me. I did everything in terms of surgical experiences. I delivered babies; set the fractures, whatever came to me.

How did your background help you get accepted to Yale?

Yale accepted me by reading some of my poems. I had sent them my poems as well. At the time psychiatry was different. They saw my literature interest. That was good enough for them. I did not have to know the brain.

So your high school classes helped you?

Yes, high school literature classes helped me in my career. My father had an enormous library. As a kid I used to read Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Anton Chekhov, all the Russian literature. I got accepted to Yale in 1966. Actually Yale and Harvard both accepted me. I liked Yale. Yale has its own hospital. I liked that.

Did you have enough money to go Yale or did you get a scholarship?

No, they were paying at the time. I got $6,000 dollars salary in a year.

There was a dorm and you could stay there. The food was free. The salary was 6000 dollars and it was a lot of money. I spent 3 years there.

Before you started at Yale, you had a totally different career.

Yes, I totally shifted. Medicine was still involved with psychiatry but not anymore. Psychiatry became an intellectual field. I spent more time with the English literature, psychology and philosophy departments than close to the medical school. I graduated from Yale in 1969. I was the only foreigner in the 56-member house staff. Graduate students were very high crème de la crème. Being Turkish, knowing French, and having surgical background, I was unique.

Did you consider staying at Yale as faculty member?

When I became chief resident, Yale wanted to keep me on the faculty. I got offers from many places from California to New York. I came to Einstein because they really made efforts to recruit me. Since I had worked with UNICEF, those kinds of activities impressed them. I became a junior faculty member. In two years I was director of education. Then I was clinical director in two years. In 1975, I was deputy chairman – it didn’t take even a full six years. I was the youngest professor at the department and youngest tenured professor.

THE SAME PLACE FOR 43 YEARS Why did you prefer to stay same place in 44 years?

The jumping often from one job to another job is almost impossible for me. As I said, now I wouldn’t be accepted at Einstein, they wouldn’t even interview me with my background. Never mind becoming chairman of the department. I don’t think there have been any more chairs for any Turkish psychiatrists in the country. I am the only one.

TurkofAmerica • 37

#17 DR. BAYRAM KARASU

What did you bring to your patients with your culture?

They had seen me here, that I was bringing something else here. That was the Turkish view of the world, a mixture of the mystical engagement and affection in engagement with people. Emotional intimacy with these people I don’t know. I was not writing prescriptions for people. I was curing them by thought, which was unusual.

You were treating people whom you didn’t know, whose culture you didn’t grow up in? Wasn’t it hard?

Even now, a Turkish psychiatrist couldn’t practice with Manhattan’s VIP’s. They wouldn’t come to you. My first patient at Yale was an English professor who was depressed. He said to me, “Dr. Karasu, first learn English before telling me about my unconscious.”

What did you say?

I said you are right. In three years at Yale, then in business I learned the language but also learned the culture. There was 16 other first year residents, 56 other people, and they were all male. So there were no Turks. No French. I had to speak English. It forced me to really come to terms in depth with it. In my time at Yale, it was harder to treat patients because of the language. But when I came to New York, my English was good enough.

What makes you so different?

Listening carefully. If you listen to someone, you really understand. It so related.

When you listen to your patients, do you think sometime those problems are really silly? Or make no sense?

If it is important to them, it is important to me. A lot of issues people come to psychologists about, these day in Turkey, they wouldn’t. Although, I presume some of the hundreds of people who come to see me, at 1000 dollars an hour or 45 minutes to do this now. They are Americanized. Neither I have 6 billion dollars; I own ten hotels in Europe. What do I do now? So. That was ‘so what’ is the question raised?

You are a patient.

Does money bring happiness?

Money brings comfort, not happiness. Happiness is actually the subject of one of my books, Art of Serenity. Happiness is a measurement issue for every philosopher. Voltaire, in his book Candide looks for happiness. In the end he comes to conclusion that happiness is cultivating your own garden. I prove to my readers it would be wrong. Actually, happiness cultivating in your own garden makes you comfortable. You have a garden now. It doesn’t make you happy. Cultivating other people’s gardens is happiness, because this could help others.

You recommend not to be afraid of dying. You have mega-figure patients and you remind them that they are going to die!

I recommend them actually to practice dying during their young years.

This goes back to Socrates. When he was 80 years old, young people approached him to say, Socrates if we reached your age, what would you recommend to us? He says, practice dying. Psychiatry is a field that 38 • TurkofAmerica

Dr Karasu is signing one of his books.

you could have just practitioners of a technique. At the end, I practice philosopher psychiatry. So really to reach some place within themselves you can take patients as far as you can go beyond yourself. We have not been there. So that’s why, most likely, accomplished people come to this office to see me. They are not peers in my social life, they above me.

They secret me to I can take them somewhere.

How do you manage their egos and the stuffed-shirt attitudes?

First I respect their egos. Yes, they are richer than I am but not better than I am. I also don’t get into a narcissistic pissing contest. I am serving them. I have my clients, my patients. Even a stuffed shirt is a case.

To be respected at the same time.

Have you ever said that to anyone, “I am done with you, you are not my patient anymore”?

If they are criminal. If they are doing something that is potential criminal behavior.

Do you go your patient’s place to take care of them? Or do you become friends with your patient?

I never go out my office with them. They have contacted me only in my office. They have 45 minutes or one hour. That’s it. I want nothing from them other than they pay their bills, show up on time and leave on time. These people have such extraordinary things to offer me: “Take my plane go to St Tropez, stay in my house there, and enjoy yourself,” Never. Almost all of my patients are mega figures. They have everything that I don’t have. If I take their boat, we will sink together. As the psychiatrist for the Bavarian royal family, who drowned with his patient, King Ludwig, on a boat trip.

What is your first recommendation to your students?

I said them do like people. Empathy for unlikable people. You could find something likable in anyone. Then you are in.

TurkofAmerica • 10

#18 HALDUN TASHMAN

Makıng A Dıfference One Phılanthropıst At A Tıme

After a short stint on Wall Street, Tashman moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he joined a small plastics company. In 1983 he became a partner of this firm, which under his leadership grew 200 times, reaching 12 manufacturing locations in 3 continents. In 2005, Tashman and his partner sold the company.

After selling his business, he started to look for a vehicle to give back to his hometown, Bolu. He was very passionate and ambitious about contributing back to his homeland. As he was very interested in social investments that sustain themselves after the initial investment is made, he was looking for a vehicle that can adopt a social investment approach and be very flexible. He wanted to create a vehicle that gives philanthropist the opportunity to invest in high impact projects. And, he wanted it to a community initiative not a personal foundation.

Haldun Tashman, the founder and Chairman of Turkish Philanthropy Funds.

H Haldun Tashman, a graduate of Robert Academy and Robert College in Turkey, came to New York as a Fulbright Scholar.

40 • TurkofAmerica

aldun Tashman is the founder and Chairman of Turkish Philanthropy Funds. He started TPF after a career as an entrepreneur in Arizona, where he had witnessed the importance of community and giving back. Turkish Philanthropy Funds is the culmination of a career and life based on contribution, support and effort. He says “while I am a Turkish-American who has lived in Arizona for almost 40 years, I am automatically transported to Turkey when I am asked “where are you from?” Philanthropy brings me closer to the people I love. And, there is also the motivation of improving people’s lives. We are from a great country but there is still much to do to improve our communities. That’s why I am interested in providing a platform where everyone can become a philanthropist.”

Tashman, a graduate of Robert Academy and Robert College in Turkey, came to New York as a Fulbright Scholar. “It was the first time I realized the importance of philanthropy,” he says. That scholarship enabled him to earn an MBA from Columbia University in 1968.

Other Turkish-Americans who were also passionate about creating a platform to give back to Turkey joined Tashman in 2007. And, TPF was established under the leadership of Haldun Tashman, Özlenen Kalav, Erinch Özada, Mustafa K. Abadan and Haluk Soykan. “Despite the distance, people connected to Turkey want to maintain those ties,” he says. Tashman also saw that the strongest way to maintain those ties was to do it in a way that mattered. He likes to say that TPF is a community. Given how the organization brought together individuals from every walk of life, community is definitely the right term.

Based in New York City, Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) is a foundation that has been working to take giving beyond the feel-good. Instead, it is focused on donors and ensuring that those interested in giving do it knowledgeably, securely and towards a specific result. TPF is about empowering everyone to be a philanthropist and donors are at the heart of TPF’s model. That means that TPF asks donors to entrust their money to the organization temporarily as it makes its journey to the project they like to support, where then it is transformed into either an education for hundreds of kids, an opportunity for hundreds of persons with disabilities or a chance for many women to contribute to their very own societies. The motto of the organization is that it is each of us that has the ability to transform lives, through our everyday interactions.

TPF provides the platform to make that possible. Since its inception in 2007, more than $12 million has been channeled making the foundation the premier giving vehicle towards Turkey.

#19 HASAN PİRKUL

BusinessWeek public universities rankings of undergraduate programs by specialty also placed the UTD school of management in the top 10 in different 11 courses. The Wall Street Journal ranked UTD’s Executive MBA program 6th in the nation by ROI and the 2009 Financial Times rankings placed UTD’s Executive MBA program 1st for public universities in Texas and 51 globally.

When asked what is his secret of success, “I brought very good academicians to the school. It was like building a new car factory when you already had many good brand cars around you but we have succeeded in doing it,” he says.

Hasan Pirkul, the Dean of Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).

Buıldıng A Busıness School from Scratch “ He has built a

nationwide recognized business school in 18 years from scratch.

Hasan Pirkul, the Dean of Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has made his school one of America’s Best

When I started 18 years ago as a Dean of Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), the school had around 2,250 students and it was like a start-up company. Now it has become the nation’s foremost public business schools,” Hasan Pirkul says.

The school was created in 1975, following the establishment of The University of Texas at Dallas in 1969.

Student enrollment has soared from 2,252 in 1996 to 6,593 in fall 2012. The faculty is five times larger, increasing from 45 to more than 200, with more than 20 named professorships. Since 1996, the number of academic programs has risen from six degree-granting departments to 26. In 2003, Dr. Pirkul oversaw construction of the school’s 204,000-square-foot home, a $38 million facility.

Graduate Schools in 2013. As a dean, Pirkul is the highest ranked Turkish-American academic in U.S. education.

The U.S. News and World Report’s, “America’s Best Graduate Schools 2013”, ranks the school’s full-time MBA Program at 37 in the U.S. and 14 among public universities in the U.S. UTD’s Undergraduate Business Programs was also ranked at 81st overall, 39th among public university business schools in the U.S. The 2010 Bloomberg

Pirkul helped create the UT Dallas Top 100 Business School Research Rankings, a widely used measure that he believes is his best contributio to research. The school has steadily climbed in those rankings, moving from 40th in 2005 to 15th worldwide in 2012.

“I’m proud of it because it helped us establish ourselves as a top 15 research school in the U.S. and it gave goals for our faculty to accomplish,” he indicates. Recently, Pirkul was recognized as one of the “Technologists of the Year” by the Texas Technology Magazine.

In addition to his appointment as dean, Dr. Pirkul concurrently holds the Caruth Chair of Management and he serves as a Member of Board of Trustees of Ozyegin University in Istanbul. He believes if the State universities were not free in Turkey, private universities would grew better, compete with others at international platform and would make good process faster. “If the best universities of the country are free, who wants to go private university?” he asks.

Before joining UT Dallas, he was at the Max M. Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, where he was director of Information Systems Programs and founding director of the Center for Information Technologies in Management, as well as professor of accounting and information systems.

He received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Bogazici University in Turkey. He earned his master’s in management science and PhD in computer information systems at the Simon School, University of Rochester. Before joining UT Dallas in 1996, he taught at The Ohio State University from 1981 to 1996.

TurkofAmerica • 41

# 20 OĞUZ GÜRSEL

Oğuz Gürsel, founder of Kiska Construction Corporation.

Constructıon’s Bıg Thınker Kiska built the renowned High Line Park (NY), the 14th St.-GreenlineMetro Tunnel and Park RoadGreenline Metro Tunnel (Washington, DC), the NYC Water Tunnel Shafts (Brooklyn), the NJ Turnpike, the Whitestone Bridge (Bronx, NY), and the Goethals Bridge (Staten Island, NY / Elizabeth, NJ) 42 • TurkofAmerica

E

ven when traveling to the US as a tourist was a challenge in 1980’s, he was dreaming of building a skyscraper in New York City. His business was slow in the Gulf countries, Russia and Iraq and NYC was so inviting.

When he found two young Turkish-Americans who lived in New York, he explained to them what his dream was about. The young professionals were a little bit scared of building a skyscraper and tried to convince him to build small projects. “New York was cosmopolitan and cool to invest in. We were thinking that building and selling a high-rise apartment was easy. We did try that,” says Oğuz Gürsel, founder of Kiska Construction Corporation, based in Ankara, one of the most prominent construction companies in Turkey.

Gürsel founded KiSKA-USA, a subsidiary of KISKA Construction Corporation. His team found a place at 94th Street and 2nd Avenue and tore down the old buildings and built 32-story residential tower, The Huntington Condominiums, in 1989. “We were hoping to sell the building very easily but it did not happen.” The building was operated until 1998 as a condo, then Kiska converted it to the Marmara Manhattan Hotel. “This was how we started in the hotel

business in NYC,” he recalls.

The Marmara Manhattan is the first Turkish-owned hotel in the city. The total sizes of the 109 rooms of the hotel is larger, in comparison, than the total of 334 hotel rooms in NY’s standard hotels.

At that time, America’s economy was in turmoil and 250 banks failed. Kiska had another building at 5th Avenue and 93rd Street and they barely sold it. “After we sold the building, it doubled its value,” he says.

After these residential experiences, Gürsel started to do the business that he knew. He focused on the construction of bridges, highways, shafts, viaducts, subways, irrigation & sewerages, and tunnels. Kiska developed new methods which made it 60% cheaper to fix old constructions. “In subway tunnels first time we used two drilling machines. In 2005, we were selected as the best bridge constructor in New York,” Gürsel indicates.

Kiska is working on its second hotel project right now on Lexington Avenue in NYC. The Group currently is continuing projects worth 150 million dollars. “America is a very difficult country,” Gürsel adds.

The Finest Genuine Turkish Cuisine in New York City Ali Baba’s Menu—Grand Bazaar’s worth of Turkey’s culinary riches “The highlight at this midtown stalwart are the divine yogurtlu kebabs, juicy lamb served with a tangy tomato, garlic and yogurt sauce.”

Time Out New York

Ali Baba Turkish Cuisine 212 East 34th Street New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 683-9206 www.alibabaturkishcuisine.com Ali Baba’s Terrace 862 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 Tel: (212) 888-8622 www.alibabasterrace.com TurkofAmerica • 10

#21 MEHMET ÇELEBİ

Mehmet Çelebi is with King Abdullah of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Turkey at Chicago.

The Fırst to Serve as Delegate for a US Presıdentıal Candıdate Çelebi is the first Turkish-American to ever receive a nomination by a US Presidential campaign, as he was nominated as a Delegate by Senator Hillary Clinton from the 13th Congressional District and became the Regional Co-Chair of the Finance Committee of the Hillary Clinton Campaign.

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M

ehmet Çelebi was born in Syria to a Turkish mother and a Syrian father of Turkish origin. After moving to the US in 1988, he received a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and International Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and briefly attended the University of Illinois at Chicago’s MBA Program.

programming.

Çelebi worked in a management capacity at some of the world’s largest financial institutions. He has been consulting with some of the largest corporations in Turkey on M&A in addition to advising international funds wishing to invest in Turkey and the region. He was instrumental in bringing the largest managed money fund in the world to Turkey in 2006 (the Russell 20/20 Fund).

He served as the President of the Turkish-American Cultural Alliance (2000-2006), and President of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (2013-2015); a Washington, DC based umbrella organization representing 61 organizations in the US and Canada.

In 2005, he started an entertainment company called BMH Worldwide Entertainment with two partners to produce Hollywood films in Europe, Turkey and the Middle East. He produced the first ever Turkish-Hollywood television production; brought world-class celebrities to television programs; participated in Hollywood film projects; represented Arab Radio Television (ART) in the acquisition of Turkish television

In 2008, he formed RBM with his partners in Turkey to organize major entertainment events. With IMG, the world’s largest modeling and talent agency, he organized the first ever Istanbul Fashion Week, titled “Fashionable Istanbul”.

Çelebi also served on the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations’ Task Force on “Strengthening America: The Civic and Political Integration of Muslim Americans”.

He is the co-founder of the Turkish-Greek Friendship Committee.

Since 2008, Çelebi has been serving on the Dean’s International Council at the Harris School of Public Policy, at the University of Chicago. Çelebi is fluent in English, Turkish, Arabic and Spanish. He has been married and has 2 children, Eren and Emre.

TurkofAmerica • 10

#22 MUAMMER ÖZTEKİN

Muammer A. Öztekin, founder of The Kent Corporation.

Öztekin founded The Kent Corporation in 1958 and was granted the first patents for adjustable steel shelving in the United States and Europe. Öztekin

The Genıus Who Has Revolutıonızed Store Fıxtures ın the U.S. T

here was a small third page article in The Tuscaloosa News on July 14th, 1949. It reports: “With

has 11 patents and

the expected arrival of a third Turkish student this

his innovations

week, the University of Alabama fancies an interna-

revolutionized store

tional atmosphere on its campus. Yücel Yalçınkaya, a

fixtures. Others

22-year-old native of Istanbul, is scheduled to enroll in the College of Engineering this fall. Also studying en-

adopted his designs

gineering at the University are two other Turkish stu-

and techniques, but

dents - Muammer Öztekin and Harik Şahinbaş - who

the contemporary

helped Yücel arrange his passage to this country.”

industry came from

It is not known how the young students Şahinbaş and

Muammer Öztekin.

Yalçınkaya continued their lives after graduation, but

46 • TurkofAmerica

Öztekin revolutionized store fixtures in the U.S. It’s no

The Kent factory in Alabama.

#22 MUAMMER ÖZTEKİN

exaggeration to say he was the father of Turkish industrialists in America. He is the inventor of adjustable steel shelves that feature uprights with integrated, roll-formed back-panel channels, widely used in the United States and Europe.

After studying liberal arts in Turkey, Öztekin immigrated to Michigan in 1947 and studied engineering and commerce at the University of Michigan. A pen pal, Sue—who he would later marry—invited him to Alabama. The die was cast for his transfer to the University of Alabama.

After gaining his degree and citizenship in 1951, Öztekin took a position in Detroit with America’s first modern store-fixtures manufacturer.

There, his engineer’s mind noted opportunities to enhance the simplicity, flexibility, and attractiveness of fixtures.

Muammer and Sue, who passed away on September 29, 2012, returned South to start Dixie Craft Manufacturing Company, which manufactured shelving and belt-driven-check-out counters for retailers. Though Öztekin sold his shares after serving as chief executive officer from 1956 to 1958, Dixie Craft (the predecessor of Madix Corporation) maintained plants in Goodwater and Eclectic, among others. Today, those plants provide 1,400 jobs. Öztekin founded The Kent Corporation in 1958 and was granted the first patents for adjustable steel shelving in the United States and Europe. Öztekin has 11 patents and his innovations revolutionized store fixtures. Others adopted his designs and techniques, but the contemporary industry came from Muammer Öztekin.

In the process, he coined the industry standard terms, defining such components as Gondolas, Uprights, Shoes, and Kickplates. With bolts, screws, and rivets gone, the shelves are quickly installed, each component adding to stability. Retailers worldwide still use the shelves. Under the name of the Supermatic line, both shelving and check-out counters appeared at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

In 1968, Öztekin was nominated for the President’s “E” Award for significant contributions to the U.S. export program. He founded land-

holding Supermatic Development Corporation in 1962, and he relocated Kent to its present north Birmingham site.

As successful as his patented products were, Öztekin envisioned superior ones. Flawless finishing of surfaces was a major goal, inspiring the first electro-coating system for painting metal-display shelving, a process that Öztekin debuted in 1970. Parts are cleansed, electrically charged, and conveyed through one of four 15,000 gallon tanks containing deionized water, color pigments, and resin solids. Complete coverage, unobtainable otherwise, is guaranteed and provides for wear resistance that merchants had only dreamed of. Electro-coating is speedy, allowing Kent to turn around an order in unprecedented time.

Ahead of his time, Öztekin was the first person in his industry to perfect paint application that eliminated toxic solvents, and early on he promoted integrated CAD/CAM and RF barcode–based process control. In 2005, Kent introduced its state-of-the-art powder-coat system. Öztekin created the Öztekin Family Endowed Scholarship that assists engineering students at The University of Alabama. The College of Engineering named him a Fellow in 2006.

Muammer Öztekin has three daughters and one son, Suzanne Yayman, Mera (Jerry) Crews, Kent (Katherine) Öztekin and Aycil (Mike) Logan, all of whom live in the Birmingham area. He also has nine grandchildren. Öztekin designed the first moving convey or checkout counter in 1953.

He founded the Kent Corporation in 1958. In 1962, Supermatic Development Corporation incorporated. Relocated to first three buildings at current site. Ataturk and Washington Streets and Kent Drive named.

General office building dedicated to Barto Brown. In 1970, he developed first in world to “Electrocoat” display shelving. Building No. 7 dedicated to İsmet İnönü. In 2007, the Kent Corporation celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

(Some part of this article is published on the website of the Engineering Hall of Fame of the State of Alabama)

TurkofAmerica • 47

#23 İZAK ŞENBAHAR

The Two Bıllıon Dollar Real Estate Man! At 56 Leonard, İzak Şenbahar’s latest project in TriBeCa, 133 luxury condominiums have been sold, generating 1 billion dollars in five months.

“This is a world record in real estate business,” says Şenbahar, 54, president of developer Alexico Group.

İzak Şenbahar, president of developer Alexico Group.

48 • TurkofAmerica

#23 İZAK ŞENBAHAR

P

retend – it might not be that easy to do – that you have 145 ultra luxury condominiums units in the TriBeCa neighborhood in New York City. How many apartment units could be sold in five months? 50, 60 or 70… 145? At 56 Leonard, İzak Şenbahar’s latest project in TriBeCa, 133 luxury condominiums have been sold, generating 1 billion dollars in five months. “This is a world record in real estate business,” says Şenbahar, 54, president of developer Alexico Group.

He has been in the real estate business since 1985 and over the years he has completed several prestigious condo and hotel projects in New York City and New Jersey; his portfolio is worth approximately 2 billion dollars.

Born in 1959 in Istanbul, Turkey and moving to United States at age of 18, Şenbahar got his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. After graduation, he moved to New York City in 1981 and earned his master’s degree in finance from New York University. Before he entered the real estate market, Şenbahar was a Gold Trader for the French financial firm Sucre et Denrées.

He actually was not dying to jump into the real estate business until Oguz Gursel of Kiska, one of the biggest construction companies in Turkey, contacted him, planning an extension of his business to New York. Şenbahar and his partner, Mahir Furtun, recommended that Gursel start with small projects and Gursel rejected this advice. His dream was building a skyscraper in Manhattan. “We did not know the real estate business and did not have any experience. He said he would teach us. This is how I started to work in the real estate business,” Şenbahar says. Şenbahar’s adventure of building luxury condos started with 353 Central Park West at 95th Street in early 1990’s. When Kiska Group purchased the land to build a 19-story residence, the neighbors were against the project, as they claimed the apartments that were bought to be demolished were landmarks. The young professionals halted the project and looked for another opportunity. Şenbahar and Furtun consulted to purchase another property, on which a gas station and a carpenter’s union were operating, at Second Avenue and 94th street.

They continued to battle with the neighbors at 353 Central Park West and finally they were able to convince NYC that the apartments were not landmarks and they were ready to start the building. Both of the projects, The Huntington, now The Marmara Manhattan Hotels highrise, and 353 Central Park West were built in five years. After the projects were completed, his boss Gursel wanted to continue with infrastructure construction for states and cities. Şenbahar fell in love with the marketing of condos and now it was time to start his own business.

ELEKTRA: ŞENBAHAR’S FIRST PROJECT He had enough experiences as a real estate developer and he built Elektra, a 32-story condominium tower at Third Avenue and 22nd Street. He

met his current partner Simon Elias at a gym and after three years they decided to work together. Elias had tremendous knowledge about the hotel business since he was operating The Hotel Pennsylvania, a 1700 bed hotel and Şenbahar was good at condominiums. Elias and Şenbahar’s first project was The Grand Beekman, again a 32-story condo, designed by Costas Kondylis.

Given his partnership with Simon Elias, Şenbahar has been involved in the hotel business and they together built The Alex, 165 Charles, The Laurel, The Mark Hotel, NJ State Bridge Hotel and The Flat Hotel.

HE IS A DETAILED MAN Şenbahar describes himself as a workaholic and detailed man. “I could spend 14 hours with designers and architects. I have that patience that so many people don’t have,” he says. He loves details and all of his Alexico Group’s projects have different detailed touches to attract luxury buyers. 56 Leonard, a 60-story tower, his latest 326 million dollar project, was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, creator of global landmarks such as Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” stadium and London’s Tate Modern museum. Construction has been completed only up to the 7th floor but 90 percent of it has been sold out.

The architect’s first permanent public project in New York hit the market in late February 2013 and the apartments range from 4.35 million two bedrooms to 10.5 million four bedrooms. The even sold the penthouse unit for 47 million dollars and Şenbahar says it was a record for NYC’s downtown area. The 56 Leonard also was named as the city’s the most eye-catching pieces of starchitecture by curbed.com, the New York City neighborhoods and real estate blog. The project had only 12 units left on market at the end of August 2013. Şenbahar now seeks new projects in Los Angeles and New York City and renowned architects who have not? done a public work yet in New York.

While changing the city’s panoramic view with his skyscrapers, he is undoubtedly one of the most influential Turkish American businessmen in the real estate business.

ALEXICO GROUP’S DEVELOPMENTS 56 Leonard – 56 Leonard TriBeCa, NY 10013 The Mark Hotel – 25 East 77th St, New York, NY 10021 The Laurel – 400 East 67th St, New York, NY 10021 165 Charles – 165 Charles St, New York, NY 10004 Grand Beekman Place – 400 East 51st St, New York, NY 10022 Elektra – 290 Third Avenue at 22nd St, New York, NY 10010 353 Central Park West – 353 Central Park West, 95th St, New York, NY 10025 The Huntington – 2nd Avenue 94th St, New York, NY 11014

TurkofAmerica • 49

#24 EKMEL ANDA

Brother Ekmel

1989, when he first set foot in New Jersey on the advice of his father, who had retired from Ziraat Bank.

He had only 1000 dollars in his pocket when he came to see an acquaintance with whom he had conversed briefly for an hour back in Turkey. First, he worked as an attendant in a gas station. Later on, he bought that gas station.

When Anda obtained the right to live and work in the U.S.A. in the 1994 green card lottery, he quit his job in the gas station in Orange, New Jersey and started working as a sales agent in a bookstore. He was introduced to the gold business through the brother of the owner of the bookstore, who was a goldsmith. On the weekends, he started working as an assistant in a jewelry store in Woodbridge. Then he opened up his own store with a capital of 7,000 dollars.

In 1993, the biggest shop of the mall, which consisted of 20 stores, was put up for sale for 300,000 dollars.

Anda, with his partners, bought the whole shopping mall within the next three years. In 2001, when Anda found out that his countryman Dursun Kocak, who had given him access to unlimited credit in their trade, had closed his business, he looked for a new partnership.

The adventure of Unique Settings of New York, which was on the verge of closing down, began in 1999. Ekmel Anda grasped the opportunity to address a very wide circle with 4 partners. It became one of the four biggest companies in the mounting market thanks to his partnership with Kocak, who had been in the business since 1990.

Ekmel Anda, President and CEO of Unique Settings of New York.

For sure, Ekmel Anda is not the richest Turkish-American in the States, but

N

ew York - It is not an exaggeration to say that when some people in tri-state area need help, they call Ekmel Anda before 911. It could be about anything, such as looking for a doctor, moving into a new apartment, personal financial need, seeking a partnership and so on. For sure, he is not the richest Turkish-American in the States, but “helping people” is his motto. Simply he is happy when he helps.

“helping people” is his motto.

Simply he is happy when he helps.

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Ekmel Anda, President of Unique Settings of New York, which is a mounter producer with a workshop in Long Island City and a mall on 47th Street in NYC, is the founding partner of a series of companies. He is passionate about his work. A lot has changed since

Anda has invested in many different businesses during the years and helped many Turkish-American entrepreneurs. He invested in a nightclub, a restaurant in New York City, a farmers’ market in Long Island, NY, a junkyard in Paterson, NJ, an aluminum manufacturing company and a chair manufacturing company for casinos in NJ. He sold some of them as well. He has also helped the first Turkish-American radio station in New York to survive and lately has established the weekly Posta 212 Turkish newspaper. After the earthquake in Van, in the eastern part of Turkey, he established a foundation, which is called Türkiye İçin Elele.

He summarizes his journey from working 126 hours a week in a gas station to where he is now by saying, “I never came across bad people in business life.” Anda, a great fan of the Fenerbahce football team, is the honorary president of the board of directors of Fenerbahce U.S.A.

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#25 ERCUMENT TOKAT

The $200 Bıllıon Transactıon Man

In his fourteen-year career, Ercument Tokat has had extensive M&A execution and healthcare banking experience across developed and emerging markets, with a cumulative announced transaction size of

Ercüment Tokat, the one of partners of Centerview Partners.

$200 billion.

P

rior to joining Centerview Partners, a prestigious boutique M&A advisory and private equity firm, he worked for JP Morgan, Nomura Securities, and Merrill Lynch in different capacities.

Ercument Tokat went to Boğaziçi University, one of top colleges in Turkey, and received a B.A. degree in political science. There, he planned to take the entrance exam for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to be part of its diplomatic corps, but later decided to advance his educational experience in the United States. He studied at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and

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was later admitted to Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

His career started at JP Morgan as an analyst in Telecommunications banking and then later transferred to Nomura, a major Japanese investment bank. Based on his impressive success at both firms, he was then recruited by Merrill Lynch, to their prestigious mergers and acquisitions department. In that group, Ercument actively worked on and ran such significant deals as Bain Capital / Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company’s leveraged buyout (“LBO”) of Hospital Corporation of

#25 ERCUMENT TOKAT

America (HCA), an American for-profit operator of health care facilities, for 33 billion dollars in July 2006 (the largest LBO transaction in history up until then); Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold’s acquisition of Phelps Dodge, the world’s second-largest copper producer, for about $29.6 billion in November 2006; AstraZeneca’s acquisition of MedImmune for $15.6 billion on April 2007, and Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth for $68 billion in January 2009. Based on his crucial contribution and leading role in all these transaction and many more, Ercument became the right-hand man of the head of Merrill Lynch’s investment banking department.

mer partner at Wachtell Lipton. James M. Kilts, former CEO of Gillette, heads the firm’s private equity fund.

He also became an expert on the healthcare industry. After the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, Ercument decided to move to Centerview Partners, a boutique financial advisory and private equity firm. Founded in 2006 by a group of senior investment bankers, the firm was headquartered in New York City with offices in London, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In addition to the mergers and acquisitions of companies, Tokat is actively involved in a pro bono projects at UN Special Envoy’s office as well as a board member of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, the largest Public Health School in the United States. Tokat is the Vice-Chair of the Child Health Pillar of The MDG Health Alliance, an initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and for Malaria.

The Alliance leads “Every Woman Every Child”, an unprecedented global movement spearheaded by the Secretary-General to mobilize and intensify global action to improve the health of women and children.

CENTERVIEW PARTNERS Centerview’s deals were unique and unmatched, such as advising Comcast, the United States’ largest cable operator, to acquire NBC Universal from General Electric. That deal valued NBC Universal at around $30 billion; Google bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in May 2012 and the Centerview was Motorola’s adviser. Tokat’s firm advises on all Pepsi Co’s transactions as well. The company gave guidance to the Campbell Soup Company to sell its Godiva Chocolatier unit to Yildiz Holding of Turkey for $850 million in December 2007.

Centerview managed Kraft Foods takeover of Cadbury, 189-year old British company, worth about $19 billion, guided News Corporation dividing itself in two, cleaving its publishing arm from its far larger entertainment division.

“In the market, the most important and high profile transactions are managed by our firm. We do not only buy and sell companies, we consult with clients and draw a road map for them,” Tokat says. This is what they did for Pfizer. Tokat and his team suggested that Pfizer sell its infant nutrition unit. The Swiss food giant Nestlé agreed to buy Pfizer’s infant nutrition business for $11.9 billion, the largest ever acquisition by the European company as it expands its global presence in the baby food market. “10 years from now, Pfizer will not be one of major players in infant nutrition business against Nestle, J&J and Danone. We suggested that they sell it and advised them to separate the animal health unit. They did,” Tokat indicates. $350 BILLION IN TRANSACTIONS Tokat is the youngest and only foreign-born partner at the company.

Among the partners of the company is Robert Rubin, 70th United States Secretary of the Treasury during both the first and second Clinton administrations; Blair Effron, former Vice Chair of UBS AG, as well as Robert Pruzan, former CEO of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein North America and President of Wasserstein Perella, and Adam Chinn, for-

Since its founding, the firm has advised on more than $500 billion in transactions. In 2009 and 2010, the firm was rated the “No. 1 Investment Bank to Work For” by Vault.

Tokat’s latest transaction was the simultaneous sale of two biotech companies, Optimer and Trius to Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $1.6 billion.

ERCUMENT TOKAT’S NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS - Pfizer’s $12 billion sale of its Pediatric Nutrition Business to

Nestlé and its $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth, - The $33 billion LBO of HCA. - Freeport McMoran’s $25.9bn acquisition of Phelps Dodge.

- AstraZeneca’s $15.2 billion acquisition of MedImmune.

- Ventas’ $7.4bn acquisition of NHP. - Engelhard’s $5.6bn sale to BASF. - OSI’s $4bn sale to Astellas.

- Celgene’s $3 billion acquisition of Pharmion.

- New River Pharmaceutical’s $3 billion sale to Shire Pharmaceuticals.

- ICOS’s $3 billion sale to Eli Lilly.

- LifeCell’s $1.8 billion sale to Kinetic Concepts.

- MacDermid’s $1.3bn sale to Court Square Capital - Reliant Pharmaceutical’s $2 billion sale to GSK. - Cougar Biotechnology’s $1 billion sale to J&J. - Trius Therapeutics’ $0.8bn sale to Cubist.

- Optimer Pharmaceuticals’ $0.8bn sale to Cubist.

- Phillip Morris’ joint venture with Mitsubishi Tanebe and

subsequent joint acquisition of Medicago.

- Haemonetics’s acquisition of Pall Corp.’s Blood Filtration Business.

- Thirdwave Technologies’ sale to Hologic.

- Virochem’s sale to Vertex.

- The LBO of Symbion, Intercell’s acquisition of Iomai.

- The merger of American Bioscience with American Pharmaceutical Partners.

- Flextronics Software Services’ sale to KKR, and General Cable’s

acquisition of Phelps Dodge International.

TurkofAmerica • 53

#26 ASLI DEMİRGÜÇ-KUNT

The Head of The World Bank’s Research Wıng

Aslı Demirgüç Kunt has created the World Bank’s Global Financial Development Report and directed the issues on Re-thinking the Role of the State in Finance (2013), and Aslı Demirgüç-Kunt, the Director of Research at the World Bank.

Financial Inclusion (upcoming, 2014).

A

slı Demirgüç-Kunt is the Director of Research at the World Bank. After joining the Bank in 1989 as a young economist, she has held different positions, including Director of Development Policy, Chief Economist of Financial and Private Sector Development Network, and Senior Research Manager, doing research and advising on financial sector and private sector development issues. She is the lead author of the World Bank Policy Research Report 2007, “Finance for All? Policies and Pitfalls in Expanding Access”. She has also created the World Bank’s Global Financial Development Report and directed the issues on Re-thinking the Role of the State in Finance (2013), and Financial Inclusion (upcoming, 2014).

The author of over 100 publications, she has published

54 • TurkofAmerica

widely in academic journals. Her research has focused on the links between financial development and firm performance and economic development. Banking crises, financial regulation, access to financial services, including SME finance, are among her areas of research. Prior to coming to the bank, she was an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the Ohio State University.

She has received the Vice Presidential Team Award, World Bank, in 2010, 2011, and 2012 Journal of Banking and Finance; for the Iddo Sarnat Award, she achieved 2nd place in 2002. She has also been nominated for the Journal of Finance Brattle Prize in 2001 and 1998.

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#27 MUSTAFA KEMAL ABADAN

The world-renowned Turkish architect Mustafa K. Abadan graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1982 and received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design in 1984 from the same university.

He joined SOM New York in 1983 and became a design partner in 1996. Abadan was born in 1958 in Ankara to an academician couple, Yavuz & Nermin Abadan.

Part of his education was in Germany but he received a high school diploma from Istanbul Robert College.

Both of his undergraduate and graduate degrees were from Cornell University. Mr. Abadan is not just an architect with projects in the U.S.; he placed his signature on major designs in all the continents of the world with the exception of Antarctica.

ABADAN’S SIGNATURE DESIGNS IN SIX CONTINENTS ASIA * Lotte World II (Seoul, South Korea) * Tzu Chi Cultural Campus (Hualien, Taiwan) * The Philippine American Life Insurance Building, the World Centre and Petron Mega Plaza (Manila, Philippines) * Tokyo Midtown (Tokyo, Japan) * AIG Tower (Hong Kong, China) EUROPE * Aztec West Business Park, Canary Wharf, Chase Manhattan Bank (London, England) * American Business Center (Berlin, Germany) AFRICA * New office buildings for USAID (Cairo, Egypt)

Mustafa K. Abadan, the partner of SOM.

He Buılds The World Mustafa K. Abadan joined SOM’s NY office in1983 and became a design partner in 1996. SOM is one of the largest and most influential architecture, interior design, engineering, and planning firms in the world.

56 • TurkofAmerica

T

he most remarkable building projects in cities from Asia to North America, Europe to South America bear his signatures. Some examples are the Philippine American Life Building, the largest life insurance company in the Philippines, the AIG Tower, a 607 ft., 40 story skyscraper in Hong Kong, the Tokyo Midtown, the $3 billion project which includes office, residential, commercial, hotel, and leisure space, as well as the tallest building in Tokyo, and the UBS Warburg Center, the largest trading floor in the world in Stamford, Connecticut.

NORTH AMERICA * John Jay College of Criminal Justice Expansion Project (NY) * Memorial Sloan-Kettering Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center (NY) * UBS Warburg Center (Stamford, Connecticut) * Harlem USA Mall and Business Center (Harlem, NY) * The Milstein Hospital Building. (NY) * Kings County Hospital Center (Brooklyn, NY) * Various projects for St. Luke’s / Roosevelt Hospital. (NY) * Various projects for Lenox Hill Hospital (NY) * Mount Sinai Medical Center (NY) * Time Warner Center (NY) SOUTH AMERICA * JP Morgan’s Abrill Center and Birmann 29 (Sao Paulo, Brazil) * The Inpar Development (Sao Paulo, Brazil) * Rio Office Park (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) * Birmann 24 (Santiago, Chile)

#28 ALİNUR VELİDEDEOĞLU

Alinur Velidedeoğlu, founder of Direct-From-Home Network, Inc.,(DFH) (at left) playing backgammon with Jean Todt of Ferrari.

On November 26, 1998, Turks living in the US felt at home for the first time.

Turkish national TV channel broadcasts reached America.

Alinur Velidedeoğlu is the man behind the Turkish TV project in the US.

The Man Who Has Changed the TV Habıts of Turkısh-Amerıcans W

hen Direct-From-Home Network, Inc.,(DFH), started broadcasting with Show TV and ATV channels on the date of November 26, 1998, Turks living in the US felt at home for the first time. Turkish national TV channel broadcasts reached America in 1998. The man who changed Turkish-Americans daily TV habits was Alinur Velidedeoğlu.

It was before the Internet. Turkish housewives watched soap operas and TV series, and men enjoyed their favorite soccer team’s games. Velidedeoglu and his partner Hakan Çizem created a revolution in the TV industry for Turkish-Americans but also for those in Canada, Cuba, and South America.

Born in 1953 in Ann Arbor, Michigan as son of a civil engineer father and a mother who studied law, Velidedeoğlu established his first company, Gratel, in 1977.

He became a partner of Güzel Sanatlar Reklamcılık in 1981 and Saatchi & Saatchi in 1985, in İstanbul. He

directed about 600 commercials, 140 of which were shown abroad, and he engaged in hundreds of advertising campaigns and productions during his 37-year career. He composed nearly 40 jingles. Velidedeoğlu won 24 international awards, which include the London International, NY International, Cannes-Lions International Awards, Golden Awards of Montreux, and two world championships in Epica and Cresta. He was among the producers of the movie “Black & White”, which was made in 1999, starring Robert Downey Jr., Brooke Shields, Claudia Schieffer and Mike Tyson.

He was the associate producer of the movie “Harvard Man”, which was in theaters in 2001.

He introduced Subscription Management System and Television Automation System products to world market as one of the founders of the software company Broadtech in the USA in 2004. He established an IPTV company, IPWORLD TV in Los Angeles, CA. By 2012 IPTV reached over 200 million subscribers.

TurkofAmerica • 57

#29 DARON ACEMOĞLU

D

aron Acemoğlu is among the 10 most cited economists in the world, according to IDEAS/RePEc, Research Papers in Economics, and in 2010 he was named to the Foreign Policy’s list of 100 Global Thinkers for “showing that freedom is about more than markets.” He is currently the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he was the winner of the 2005 John Bates Clark Medal for top economist in the world under the age of 40.

“Turkey is also a low-middle income country. We should set as our aim becoming an upper-middle income country, not get distracted with dreams of achieving regional superpower status or any such accolades.”

Acemoğlu talked to TURKOFAMERICA about his world famous book Why Nations Fail and his current work.

When you were writing your book Why Nations Fail did you think it would be a vital work and have a big impact on the intellectual world?

One can always hope. Seriously, James Robinson and I wrote it with the hope that it would have an impact on the public debate concerning the causes of the huge differences in prosperity that shape our modern world.

We could’ve always written a purely academic book to reach other researchers and graduate students. The reason why we didn’t do that was that we were hoping we would be able to reach a broader audience.

Do you think politicians clearly or somewhat understand economic struggle of nations?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But even when they do, this is no guarantee that they will pursue policies for their nation’s interests. Most politicians care about reelection or, even worse, their power or enrichment.

You cannot bank on their good nature or good intentions. That’s why we have to design institutions that ensure that politicians serve the people and we can

“Why Natıons Faıl” Daron Acemoğlu, the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at the MIT.

58 • TurkofAmerica

select the right politicians to do so.

The 1970s were shaped by Keynes’s idea, the 1980’s shaped by Milton Friedman’s. Do you think any economist will have such power on politic agendas as Milton and Keynes did in the past?

Probably not. We live in a complex world, and for any one theory or one person to dominate the scene is unlikely. Keynes and Friedman were geniuses, of course.

But they were also at the right place at the right time, and this is much more important for understanding their huge influence on policy making.

Do you think the resources of the world can support a new super power, such as China or India?

We are very far from that. China is still a low-middle income country. Of course, it has a huge GDP because of its 1.3 billion people. But it will not become a high-income country any time soon. All the same, because of its overall GDP, it will probably continue to have a huge strategic importance and will have a seat at all important international tables. India is still a poor country, so it has a long way to travel to come to even where China is today.

Could we see China will overtake America within a decade?

No, I don’t think so. China has several fundamental economic and political problems as we discuss in Why Nations Fail. It will have a real difficulty in transitioning to innovation-based growth with its current institutions that put the Chinese Communist Party in command of all aspects of economic, political and social life.

The 2023 vision of Turkey is to take a place among the top 10 economies in the world by the year 2023.

Do you think these targets are reachable?

Once again, I don’t think so. The Turkish economy is continuing to under-perform. But more importantly, as with China, I think we should not focus on the overall size of the economy, but on GDP per capita, which is a measure of how prosperous the average citizen is. Turkey is also a low-middle income country.

We should set as our aim becoming an upper-middle income country, not get distracted with dreams of achieving regional superpower status or any such accolades.

You were invited by FM Ahmet Davutoğlu to work in Turkey. Would you re-consider his offer in the near future?

No, I am comfortable where I am, doing research, at the moment.

#30 JAY (CEYHUN) KARAHAN

tler in 31 matches in 1954. According to WrestingData. com, there are 31 matches fought by Necmi Karahan.

After traveling for the tournaments, finally the Karahan family settled down in Tampa, FL. He opened a wholesale business and he was a honorary consul general of Turkey for Florida from 1970 to late 1980’s.

His son Ceyhun (Jay) was born in Tampa in 1954. He is a 1978 honors graduate from Florida State University with a baccalaureate degree in Music Theory and a certificate in vocal performance. Before attending law school, he interned for a year at the Hillsborough County State’s Attorney’s Office in Tampa.

Judge Karahan moved to Texas in 1979 to study law at South Texas College of Law. He attended law classes at night and interned during the day at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in the intake and grand jury divisions. He graduated with a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1983.

Judge Karahan is licensed to practice before the Texas Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Judge Karahan has been certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization as a Criminal Law Specialist since 1988.

Jay Karahan Presiding Judge at Harris County Criminal Court #8 Houston, Texas.

A Hıgh Ranked Elected Turkısh-Amerıcan Presiding Judge at Harris County Criminal Court #8 Houston, Texas, Karahan has served

J

ay (Ceyhun) Karahan, is high ranked Turkish American who serves in elected office. Presiding Judge at Harris County Criminal Court #8 Houston, Texas, Karahan has served successfully in this position since January 1, 2003. He has been re-elected twice since then. He won reelection on November 2, 2010 by a 56.9 percent vote margin.

successfully in this position since January 1, 2003. He has been re-elected twice since then. He won reelection on November 2, 2010 by a 56.9 percent vote margin.

He will seek re-election on November 4, 2014 for another four-year term. His father, Necmi (Nash) Karahan (87) was one of the first heavyweight professional boxers in Turkey and emigrated to the U.S. in 1949.

He earned a living for his family fighting in tournaments across the country. He trained with Rocky Marciano, the World Heavyweight Champion from 1952 to 1956.

While he was fighting in New York, he met his wife. He fought as a boxer in 10 matches and wrestled as wres-

Judge Karahan served as an Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, Texas from 1983 to 1987. He was a member of the District Attorney’s child abuse committee and specialized in child abuse prosecutions.

In 1987, the U.S. Attorney General appointed him an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. As a federal prosecutor, he served in the Major Offender Division, Bank Fraud Task Force, and as a district coordinator for child exploitation investigations and prosecutions. As both a state and federal prosecutor, Judge Karahan tried to jury verdict over 100 serious felony cases.

Judge Karahan has presided over 400 jury and court trials, and he has managed the disposition of over 66,000 cases since his investiture on January 1, 2003.

He loves to play billiards and Semih Sayginer, the Turkish professional carom billiards player, is his idol.

Karahan is a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church where he serves as an Adult Christian Education teacher and is a member of the choir. Judge Karahan also serves as visiting judge for moot court and mock trial competitions at South Texas College of Law and at the HISD High School for Law Enforcement.

TurkofAmerica • 59

#31 MUSTAFA MERÇ

Mustafa Merç, general manager of Turkon Line America carries 35 percent of the U.S. exports to Turkey.

Turkey-U.S. Trade On Hıs Shoulders U Today, Turkon Line America carries 35 percent of the U.S. exports to Turkey and 35 percent of Turkish exports to the U.S.

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ntil 1998, sea transportation between the United States and Turkey was very difficult. Textile exporting was booming and the Turkish manufacturers needed to send their products to the United States in great volume and as quickly as possible. The shipment usually was taking 16-17 days to reach the U.S. ports.

In Turkey, some exporters used to send their goods by truck to Pire Port, Athens, in Greece and from there they were sending the shipments as air cargo, which was cheaper in Greece than in Turkey at that time, to the U.S.

Today, Turkon Line America, a subsidiary of Kaşif Kalkavan Holding in Turkey, carries 35 percent of the U.S. exports to Turkey and 35 percent of Turkish exports to the U.S. Not only has it provided direct access to Turkish and U.S. ports, Turkon America has opened Egypt to the world as well. Turkon is the only company that carries goods and products directly to/from the port of Alexandria, Egypt. Turkon was the first company dedicated to providing container transportation and logistics services between Turkey and the USA, North Europe and the Mediterranean.

On April 9th, 1997, when Mustafa Merç was a general manager of Turkon in İstanbul, the company started to carry goods to the States with its own small ships from Turkey. Then they decided to establish a company in New Jersey. Turkon Line America was founded as the main company’s first overseas agency in January 1998 and it has changed all trade habits between two countries. They operate with their own ships and now it takes 11 days port to port.

Turkon makes port four times a month in New York, Norfolk and Savannah. A total of 38 people work for Turkon Line. The company is one of the fastest growing container transportation companies in the world with five sister vessels: M/V Dilara Kalkavan, M/V Kaşif Kalkavan, M/V Ecem Kalkavan, M/V Erkan K and M/V Serap K.

#32 FARUK TABAN

tions. “We probably organize trips to take 5,000 VIP American people to Turkey,” Taban says. The TAA has organizations everywhere in the U.S., from Oklahoma to Buffalo, Los Angeles to Miami, Seattle to New York.

In the past 10 years, TAA’s member associations have had a role in some remarkable events in the political and cultural arenas. The Turkish Cultural Center of New York, one of TAA’s member groups, twice hosted Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State of the U.S., in October 2006 and September 2007 for its Annual Friendship Dinners at the Waldrof Astoria Hotel. The member associations organize numerous seminars, concerts, trips to Turkey, lectures, courses and so on.

Faruk Taban, the President of the Turkic American Alliance (TAA).

The Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, which is organized by the Pacifica Institute, a member of the TAA, has taken place in Orange County, California since 2009 and it will be held in New York City in 2014. It hosts more than 100 food and craft stands in an 18 acre space and features dozens of live performances by world-class musicians and dancers.

The Calm Power Behınd Turkısh-Amerıcan Frıendshıp The TAA is the largest national Turkic organization in the Unites States, representing six regional federations and over 240 community associations, cultural centers, business associations and education institutions.

“

It was a rainy night on May 12, 2010 in Washington, DC. We were ready, the venue was ready but when we realized that nobody showed up yet for the event, the team started to consider that we had failed,” recalls the day Faruk Taban, the President of the Turkic American Alliance (TAA), a broader umbrella organization covering nationwide Turkish-American institutions with its head office in Washington, D.C. Despite all their concerns, the opening gala reception had a great success at the Willard InterContinental Hotel and attracted high-ranking Washington officials, including seven senators, more than fifty members of the US House of Representatives, congressional staffers, US and Foreign Diplomats, as well as representatives of Turkish, Turkic and Eurasian peoples.

The TAA is the largest national Turkic organization in the Unites States, representing six regional federations and over 240 community associations, cultural centers, business associations and education institu-

Since 2010, TAA has hosted annual flagship convention events and on March 2013, the Annual Turkic American Convention (TAC) was held at the JW Marriott in Washington DC. Leading policy makers from several countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan discussed issues focusing on energy, trade and regional development.

“All these efforts has been done by volunteers who don’t look for any personal interest or profit,” Taban indicates. Before his appointment to the TAA, Dr. Taban’s career included posts in the academic world.

He graduated from İstanbul Technical University in 1987 in B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from both ITU and the University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nevada in 2002 and taught at Western Nevada College. Until 2009, he was a faculty member at the University of Denver. He occasionally teaches at the Catholic University of America. Dr. Taban currently serves on the White House Ethnic Committee.

He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Turks Abroad. In the spring of 2009, he was appointed by the Founding Board that consists of six federation chairmen to setup a broader umbrella organization in the nation’s capital. He moved to DC the summer after that and established the Turkic American Alliance (then ATAF) in 2010.

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#34 METİN NEGRİN

Metin Negrin, the Founder and President of Lexin Capital.

From Paıntıng Walls to a 350 Mıllıon Dollar Real Estate Portfolıo

Photo By Sechil Sertbas

M Metin Negrin, the Founder and President of Lexin Capital, is one of the most influential Turkish businessmen in the real estate industry in the United States.

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etin Negrin, the Founder and President of Lexin Capital, was born in Şişli and went to German High School in Istanbul. He had a friend in Philadelphia and he followed him in coming to the U.S. As his friend did not enjoy living in Philadelphia, Negrin decided to move to New York City instead to start university in 1985. Negrin has an MBA in finance and a BS in economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

When he was going to school, he needed to make some money and started a painting business with a friend. Without a name for the company, they could not get much demand for painting services besides day laborer. He soon met the power of marketing. He realized a designer sounding name would better appeal to NYC clients, so they decided to name the company Le Painter. First an ad in The Village Voice helped them to increase demand for their painting services, while a separate add in the same paper’s employment section resulted in the recruitment of a team. Eventually their business significantly has grown in size and help pay for most of the school expenses.

CITIBANK & LASALLE At his senior year at New York University, he worked three months at Citibank in Istanbul as an intern. After graduation, he took a job at Citibank in New York as a credit analyst from 1988 to 1990. After leaving Citibank, Negrin started to work for the New York branch of LaSalle Investment Management, which invests solely in real estate. The Chicago-based company helped him to get his green card. He was the first person who was sponsored for a green card by this company. After working six months at LaSalle, he became an analyst; one year later he became an associate.

The year of 1992 was another crisis time for the real estate business and the US government through the formation of Resolution Trust Corporation or RTC was trying to recoup its money from bankrupt customers by selling their lands and properties. Most of the sales at that time was at 10 to 15 cents of previous values and resulted in substantial losses for the seller. As a young, passionate associate at LaSalle, Negrin and his team at LaSalle had an offer to the government: “You are selling the properties below the actual values ap-

#34 METİN NEGRİN

praised by the banks. Why don’t you sell shares in a joint venture partnership the properties to private partners and keep an interest for the government to participate on the upside. Everybody could participate in the recovery.” What resulted after those discussions was the first Land Fund that the RTC marketed and sold in 1993. RTC put into the first Land Fund 479 land parcels and properties in 17 different states.

This was a very successful sale and structure and the joint venture structure has been employed many times since.

of 1993 and 2001, Athena Group invested in 25 different real estate projects and returned 25% annual returns to its investors. Negrin started with 10 percent ownership of the company and increased his share to 20% in 8 years when Athena’s total portfolio reached 400 million dollars.

Negrin had enough experience to start his own real estate business and he was a founding partner and chief operating officer of The Athena Group in 1993. Negrin solicited, evaluated, structured and managed Athena’s domestic and international investments.

Negrin left the company to open a new chapter of his life. An Israeli Internet company was looking for a CEO and Negrin dived into a totally different industry. In 9 months the company opened six different offices and had 90 employees in England and the U.S. The company was trying to sell software for building developers but it did not work and they lost 10 million dollars. They closed some offices and Negrin merged some branches to their main competitor in Europe.

CHANGE SEEKING CLIENT BECAME PARTNER Throughout the creation of the Land Fund, Negrin’s contact person at the RTC and in effect partner to create and successfully execute the program was Louis Dubin, who was living in Washington DC and looking to move to NYC and find another opportunity. Negrin having seen the distressed prices in real estate and anxious to jump onto the principal investment side to take advantage of the acquisition opportunities, approached Louie with the idea.

In 2002, it was time to start his own company; having long-term principal investment experience in real estate dating back to the early 1990s, Negrin founded Lexin Capital with all of his capital while at Athena and invested in residential real estate. For Lexin’s first deal, Negrin contributed approximately $400,000 and had to source the rest of the 4.5 million dollars from outside investors. Taubman’s first lesson at Athena about teaching him how to raise outside capital came in handy and he was able to do it. That first investment returned 8.5 million dollars.

Louis Dubin was married to stepdaughter of A. Alfred Taubman, an American real estate developer and philanthropist from Michigan.

Taubman pioneered the modern shopping mall concept and was described by CBS News as a “legend in retailing” who became wealthy by developing upscale shopping malls. He built shopping mall developer Taubman Centers into a retailing powerhouse. Taubman’s net worth was $2.9 billion as of March 2013. He is the 490th wealthiest man in the world and ranked 163th in United States.

THE FIRST PARTNER OF HYATT HOUSE IN NEW YORK CITY Negrin lately has acquired a defaulted loan secured by a 28th Street and 6th Avenue development site in New York City and they will spend 70 million dollar to build a 31-story hotel project. It will be the first Hyatt House apart hotel in New York City. Hyatt House is also Lexin’s first investment in New York City. It currently has investments in five different states: Florida, Maryland, New York, Arizona and Nevada.

One day Negrin got a call from Louis, who asked if he could come to have lunch with Taubman at his Southampton mansion. Negrin had the chance to explain his real estate business plan to one of the wealthiest men in the world and that is where his next venture Athena Group started. Mrs. Taubman came up with the name for the firm.

Metin Negrin says that in business life he has had two mentors, A. Alfred Taubman and Ahmet Ertegun. He had a chance to develop a project with Ertegun as well. Ertegun had purchased a piece of land in Bodrum to establish Atlantic Beach and Negrin recommended to purchase extra land up to the coast so that the total size of the land reached 49.4 acres, but Ertegun’s death in 2006 left the project unfinished. They sold the land to another real estate developer.

Their first acquisition was a portfolio of 32 non-performing loans and properties from Midlantic National Bank for 20 million dollars; their previous book value being 90 million dollars. While Taubman certainly had the funds to finance the total acquisition, he chose to only commit $1 million and ask messengers Negrin and Dubin to find other investors for the remaining part.

Negrin and Dubin were able to get rest of the money from JP Morgan investment management and some other individual investors. “I was only 27 years old and nobody was expecting that JP Morgan would invest with us 13 million dollars,” says Negrin, but JP Morgan did. With his partner, Negrin raised 20 million dollars in 45 days.

They sold out 32 properties for 33 million dollars over 3-4 years. The average return was above 20 percent for investors. Between the years

Nowadays Lexin Capital is seeking to purchase land in Astoria and Harlem. Lexin employs 31 people in its Orlando, Maryland and New York offices.

RECENTLY ENTERED THE BANKING WORLD Two years ago, Negrin was approached by a Manhattan based community bank to assist with their non-performing real estate loans. Savoy Bank was in stress like many other banks at the time and Negrin found himself assisting more and has become the largest shareholder and Chairman of the Board. The Bank is focused on making small business and real estate loans from $500,000 to $1,800,000 in size to metro New York clientele.

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#34 CANO ÖZGENER

Cano Özgener, founder of CAO cigars.

From the Cıgar Busıness to The Art of Oz The Özgener family have returned to the

C

ano Özgener established C.A.O., among one of the hottest cigar brands, in Nashville, TN. He began life as a pipe maker and he favored meerschaums, the white pipes made from a claylike material called magnesium silicate. He still owns the world’s largest collection of meerschaums.

business in a totally different area and opened a newly-renovated former cigar warehouse as a venue place.

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Özgener, who emigrated to America in 1961, graduated from Columbia University as an engineering major.

He moved to North Carolina in 1964, then to Nashville in 1968, working as an engineer at DuPont. In 1977, he left his high-paying job at DuPont to form his own company, naming it after his initials. He basically started C.A.O. from the basement of his house.

Cigaraficionado Magazine has covered his family story several times. C.A.O. made a first attempt at the cigar business, in 1980. In 1995, C.A.O. began to sell cigars

again. In 2003, the Özgeners made the shift from mere marketers to cigar makers, buying two cigar factories in Central America, one in Estelí, Nicaragua, and one in Danlí, Honduras. The Özgener family sold C.A.O. International Inc. to Henri Wintermans Cigars, a unit of ST Cigar Group Holdings Inc., one of the word’s largest cigar producers in January 2007. CAO was selling about 12 million cigars in 2006.

After selling the company, Cano retired, while his son, Murat, signed a five-year contract and remained as company president. After five years, the Özgener family have returned to the business in a totally different area and opened a newly-renovated former cigar warehouse as a venue place. OZ’s modern, flexible performance and installation space enables leading artists from multiple disciplines to present brave new art in a non-traditional context.

#35 MUSTAFA YILMAZ

States; it is run by Mustafa Yılmaz and his 29 board members. UAMA started to open dorms in 2006, provides Islamic education to the students and has almost 300 students nationwide. “When compared with last year, we have increased the student numbers 40 percent. We are not only giving them Islamic courses but also helping them with their school classes. They go to American public schools and we support their homework to make them successful in their lessons, such as math, physics, chemistry, etc,” Yılmaz says. The organization recently opened two more dorms in Staten Island, NY and southern New Jersey. Yılmaz indicates that Turkish-American people usually demand the opening of dorms in their towns.

UAMA has two mosques in Canada as well, Pacific Sultan Mosque in Richmond, British Columbia and Fatih Mosque in Toronto. UAMA’s officials teach Islamic lessons and UAMA hires an educator to help students with their daily school lessons. UAMA even has an education commission that follows students’ school success. “Families are very happy about their children school’s performance,” he adds.

Mustafa Yılmaz, President of United American Muslim Association of New York (UAMA).

The Spırıtual Movement of Volunteers W The organization is the largest religious organization established by the Sunni Muslims in the United States; it is run by Mustafa Yılmaz and his 29 board members

hen a group of Turkish-American people decided to establish a mosque in Brooklyn, NY at the end of the 1970s, they did not know how far they could grow their organization. They founded the United American Muslim Association of New York (UAMA), a not-for-profit organization serving general interests, on May 23, 1980. In the same year, they opened Fatih Mosque, located on 8th Avenue, between 60th and 61st Street in Brooklyn, which was founded even before the Religious Affairs Directorate of the Turkish Government opened a mosque in the States.

Their goal was to satisfy the religious and spiritual needs of the Muslim population in the United States and to teach Islam and to spread and keep alive the Islamic Culture. Today, they have established 22 mosques and 11 dorms in the United States and Canada.

The organization is the largest religious organization established by the Sunni Muslims in the United

UAMA has about 70 people who run mosques and dorms in 12 states in the United States, 6 locations in Canada. Orhan Kurtuluş and İsmet Hamzaçebi have served on the board of UAMA since 1980. Yılmaz, 43, who worked in Munich, Germany and Vienna, Austria before coming to the States, has served for one year and in the upcoming UAMA’s board election, he is seeking a second term.

UAMA’S MOSQUES * Brooklyn Fatih Mosque (Brooklyn, NY 11220) * Süleymaniye Mosque – (Dix Hills, NY 11746) * Osmaniye Mosque – (Moriches, NY 11955) * Clifton Yeni Dünya Mosque – (Clifton, NJ 07011) * New Castle Aziziye Mosque – (Bear, DE 19701) * Bristol Mevlana Mosque – (Bristol, PA 19007) * Boston Selimiye Mosque – (Methuen, MA 01844) * Connecticut Mevlana Mosque – (West Haven, CT) * Chicago Muradiye Mosque – (Lynwood, IL 60411) * Yeni Mosque – (Los Angeles, CA 90034) * Rochester Hamidiye Mosque – (Rochester, NY 14609) * Toronto Fatih Mosque – (Toronto, ONT M4L-3A1) * Vancouver Pacific Eyüp Sultan Mosque – (Richmond, BC V6A-2G3) * Boğaziçi Mosque – (Westminster, CA 92683)

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#36 VAROL ABLAK

Varol Ablak, CEO of Ablak Holdings.

The Pızza Man Becomes Coffee Man Varol Ablak, CEO of Ablak Holdings, has acquired Rockn’ Joe Coffeehouse and Bistro, a five-store chain in New Jersey.

The aim is to grow Rockn’ Joe via franchising.

V

arol Ablak, along with his father, Hayri Ablak, and brother, Seckin Ablak, opened the very first Vocelli Pizza location (then known as Pizza Outlet) in 1988, employing a home-delivery system that, at the time, was not as popular as it is today. Since that time, the franchise has grown to over 104 locations throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, and West Virginia hiring over 2,500 employees and serving over 10 million pizzas per year. Vocelli Pizza ranks 54th, with 114 locations generating $44 million in annual sales according to the Pizza Today’s Top 100 in 2012 list.

In 2003, Vocelli Pizza was named the fourth fastest-growing pizza company in the country, and has been recognized as one of the “Hot 100” pizza franchises by Pizza Today, a trade magazine. In late 2009, he created Ablak Holdings, based in Green Tree, PA.

Rockn’ Joe Coffeehouse and Bistro in NJ.

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Recently Varol Ablak, CEO of Ablak Holdings, has acquired Rockn’ Joe Coffeehouse and Bistro, a five-store chain in New Jersey. The aim is to grow Rockn’ Joe via franchising. “We think we can do 10 to 15 stores the first year,” Ablak said.

Since 1993, Rock’n Joe has thrived as a rock & roll coffee lounge, with surprisingly great food. ‘’We look at franchising as a partnership, and because of that you never have to go it alone. From site selection, construction oversight, comprehensive training, store opening assistance, marketing promotions, ongoing help, and more - we’re with you every step of the way’’, Ablak indicates.

For franchise opportunities Vocelli Pizza and Rock’n Joe contact Bob Montanari bobmontanari@vocellifsc. com - +1 (412) 919 2100 x 531

#37 ALİ ÇAYIR

The Man Who Is Buıldıng Calıfornıa A

li Çayır, President and Founder of Transtech Engineers, arrived in the United States after earning an engineering degree from Istanbul Technical University. In 1989, he founded Transtech Engineers, Inc., which has grown to a multi-million dollar engineering and construction firm that provides professional and technical expertise to local municipalities, governmental agencies, educational institutions and the private development sector. Transtech is one of the top municipal service providers to local municipal agencies, and Çayır served as contract City Engineer for a number of municipalities in Southern California.

Currently 300 different projects have been developed by his company.

From train stations to parking structures, transportation centers to civic centers, libraries to renaissance plazas, Transtech Engineers Inc has developed over projects valued at over 1 billion dollars in the state of California since 1989.

Among his notable projects over the years include the Alhambra Civic Center Public Library and the Renovation of the Historic Santa Fe Depot Train Station in San Bernardino, California. Transtech is also managing the construction of The Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center (TACC), on a 15-acre construction site in Lanham, Maryland, which will likely become the largest and most striking examples of Turkish architecture in the western hemisphere. Çayır says that they will be completing the project at the end of 2014.

One of his proudest projects completed in the past is the Civic Center Public Library Project for the City of Alhambra. The project was one of the largest new developments to take place in the City of Alhambra, CA. Since its completion, the Civic Center has been the busiest library in the State of California, circulating as many as 500 items an hour. Transtech also served as the turn key program and construction manager for the Mission Boulevard / State Route 71 Grade Separation and Interchange project in conjunction with the City of Pomona and Caltrans. The project is the largest public works project in the history of the City of Pomona. Çayır has been elected to the Board of Directors for the Foundation that supports California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Çayır also worked as a volunteer teacher at California State University, San Bernardino. He was selected by CSUSB as the teacher of the year in 2005. He served on the board of College of Education, Tools for Education Project, at CSUSB, and was instrumental in raising $3 million for a new education building at the University, where the multi-cultural foundation lab is now is named after him, at the University.

Ali Çayır, President and Founder of Transtech Engineers.

Çayır is a board member of the San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce; and also served cas a board member of the San Bernardino International Trade Commission Advisory Board, which is dedicated to improving commerce and trade relations between the San Bernardino Region and other countries. Çayır is also serving on the Istanbul University’s advisory board as a technical advisor to the President (Rector) of Istanbul University for the master planning and renovation of the Capa and Cerrahpasa Campuses. Çayır’s philanthropic contributions and fund raising activities include diverse organizations such as Tools For Education at California State University San Bernardino, restoration work at Mission San Juan Capistrano, the Turkey Earthquake Relief Fund and other Turkish/American community causes, the United Way, and supporter of numerous other local charities and civic organizations. Çayır is also a Rotarian, and have contributed to a number of charity activities of the Rotary Foundation.

Cayir is also very active in the Southern California Hispanic community, engaging in many community organizations that provide support services to the Latino population. In 2006, the Embracing Latino Leadership Alliance honored him with the ``Honorary Latino Citizen’’ award.

In 2009, Çayır was awarded the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which pays tribute to our nation’s immigrant heritage by recognizing those individuals whose achievements have helped to foster respect and understanding for America’s ethnic diversity.

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#38 ŞÜKRÜ EMRE

Dr. Şükrü Emre has performed more than 1,500 liver transplants, of which the youngest patient was 16 days old and the oldest was 75 years old.

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Dr. Şükrü Emre.

The Champıon of Lıver Transplantatıon “

It’s going great. Everyone is extremely enthusiastic about making the liver transplant program one of the best in the nation. It’s a real team effort, and I’m happy to be the leader of this team.” That’s how Şükrü Emre summed up his first three months as the new director of the Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center and section chief of transplant surgery and immunology in the Department of Surgery to the Yale Medical Group News in July 2007. Emre’s appointment came as Yale made a $12.5 million investment in its transplant section. He has performed more than 1,500 liver transplants, of which the youngest patient was 16 days old and the oldest was 75 years old. His special interests are performing split-liver transplants (dividing a liver between two recipients thus saving two lives) and living donor transplants which involves transplanting a portion of a donor’s healthy liver.

He is also expert in hepato-biliary surgery, including resection for liver cancer, portal hypertension sur-

gery, repair of complex bile duct injuries and Kasai procedure for biliary atresia.

Dr. Emre received his medical degree from the University of Istanbul where he also completed a residency in general surgery. His clinical postdoctoral training includes completion of a hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at the University of İstanbul and a transplant fellowship at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He holds a foreign board certification in general surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Before coming to Yale, Emre directed the pediatric and adult liver transplant programs at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, elevating them to among the nation’s best. He also helped develop Mount Sinai’s transplant surgery fellowship program, which is one of the most sought-after training programs in the country.

#39 AYŞEGÜL İLDENİZ

Intel’s Turkısh Angel Not very far from now, we will be experiencing wearable technologies which are shaping up as the next big market after the smart phone revolution. It has been predicted to be a 9 billion dollar market sector by 2018. A report by the research company Markets and Markets forecasts that global shipments of wearable electronic devices will grow at a compound annual rate of 30.4% between 2012 and 2018, reaching some 134.3 million units by the end of the period. Companies in Silicon Valley have been spending money and time on it. Intel is one of theses and its suitable technology project has been led by the successful high-level executive, Ayşegül İldeniz. İldeniz has just been appointed as vice president of the New Devices Group and General Manager of Strategy and Business Development at Intel Corporation.

She is one of the 151 appointed vice presidents of the company. She leads a team whose mission is to define future silicon features, products, and business models which will help Intel imagine and create groundbreaking future technologies. Prior to her new role, İldeniz was the regional director for META (Middle East, Turkey and Africa), a region consisting of 67 countries.

During her tenure, she quadrupled Intel’s business in the region by building out country expansions through innovative first-time buyer/digital divide initiatives.

She is the vice chair of the Technology Committee for OECD, and heads the Turkish Businessmen Association’s Technology and Innovation group, serving as its IT lead at the G20 summits. In addition, she is founder of the Women in IT Platform and a 2010 Eisenhower fellow. İldeniz was selected IT Woman of the Year in 2004 and Female Executive of the Year in 2006 by a Turkish national newspaper. İldeniz has a bachelor’s degree from Bosphorus University, Istanbul, and a master’s in electronic communications arts from San Francisco State University.

Ayşegül İldeniz.

Ayşegül İldeniz has just been appointed as vice president of the New Devices Group and General Manager of Strategy and Business Development at Intel Corporation.

In her second week in Palo Alto, she came across a Turkish food store which serves all Turkish breakfast items and special foods: “I am panicked. Until I see Turkish breakfast as a line item; and I lose myself.

The best thing is my co-workers bought me a Turkish coffee maker from Amazon to greet me, with the full coffee from Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi and all. I am afraid I have been struck with immigrant disease—I miss home!” she writes in her blog.

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#40 MEHMET OKUR

The Fırst Turkısh Player to Wın An NBA Tıtle He believes that in the NBA the era of Turkish players, which started with Hidayet Türkoğlu in 2001, and was continued by himself, made a big impact on the development of Turkish basketball.

He played two seasons with the Pistons before joining the Jazz prior to the 2004-05 season when he agreed to a six-year, $50 million contract.

Mehmet Okur averaged 13.5 points and 7 rebounds in 10 NBA seasons.

I

Mehmet Okur won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Okur was also named to the 2007 NBA All-Star

n Christian belief, there are many reasons that number 13 is considered unlucky. One of them is that it’s said that Judas Iscariot — the one who betrayed Jesus — was the 13th man to take his place at the table. Nobody knows whether the number 13 is really unlucky for everyone, but maybe it was for Mehmet Okur, who wore jerseys with number 13 during his 10-year career in the NBA and had to end his career at the very early age of 33.

It was a game on April 17, 2010 and the Utah Jazz were playing against the Denver Nuggets. Starting center Mehmet Okur suffered a left Achilles injury while driving to the basket during the first half of Game 1 of the first round play off series. The game was the turning point of Okur’s career in the NBA. The injury brought his season to a premature end.

He finished his Jazz career ranking fourth on the franchise’s career list for 3-pointers made (517), fifth for 3-pointers attempted (1,358), and ninth in scoring (7,255), rebounding (3,599) and blocked shots (346).

Okur was traded by the Nets to the Portland Trailblazers before the 2011-12 NBA trade deadline but the Blazers waived him in March 2012 before he played in any games. The New Jersey Nets was the last home for Okur, but he played only 17 games for the Nets.

During his New Jersey Nets’ days, he became closer to the Turkish-American community in the New York area. He was a guest of the Federation of Turkish American Associations event and watched a Fenerbahce match together with Turkish soccer fans. In his Utah Jazz days he often sent his jersey to be put up for auction on his favorite team’s fan associations’ gala nights.

team when he was a member of the Utah Jazz.

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The 6-foot-11 Okur averaged 13.5 points and 7 rebounds in 10 NBA seasons. He won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Okur was also named to the 2007 NBA All-Star team when he was a member of the Utah Jazz. When asked who would be the next Turkish player who could win an NBA title, in a radio interview in February 2012, Okur responded, “Ömer Aşıkk of Houston Rockets will be the next one.”

Okur has been riddled with back injuries throughout his career, playing in only 30 games over his past two seasons.

“A player of a certain level should say goodbye to the sport he loves when his body doesn’t let him be as he used to be,” Okur said his farewell speech, carried by the Anadolu Agency. (AP)

#41 GÖKHAN HOTAMIŞLIGİL

So curing diabetes is crucial both for human life and the economy. “We will see it will be cured but it is hard to give the exact date,” says Gökhan S. Hotamışlıgil, chair of the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases and J.S. Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) since 2003. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the HSPH is recognized as the oldest professional training program in public health and Hotamışlıgil, born in 1962, is one of the top authorities on diabetes in the U.S.

Gökhan S.Hotamışlıgil, chair of the Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases and J.S. Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) since 2003.

Hotamışlıgil Lab in the HSPH is dedicated to understanding the molecular basis of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders and working with 30 members, seven of whom are Turkish students. When asked whether he is the reason Turkish students prefer to work on diabetes, “Young people are inspired by successful role models and I try to give them a chance,” he says.

Hotamışlıgil Lab’s recent research demonstrates a disease mechanism in type 1 diabetes (T1D) that can be targeted using simple, naturally occurring molecules to help prevent the disease. Feyza Engin, a Turkish research associate in the HSPH Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases, is one of researchers who works on the project. In earlier studies, researchers in the Hotamışlıgil lab showed that ER stress in other tissues plays a key role in obesity and type 2 diabetes, and can be corrected with so-called “chemical chaperones” such as tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a bile acid.

The Authorıty on Dıabetes Hotamışlıgil, born in 1962, is one of the top authorities on diabetes in the U.S.

T

he growing toll of diabetes cost the nation a record high $245 billion in 2012, a 41% increase from $174 billion in 2007, according to the study Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2012, commissioned by the American Diabetes Association. The study estimated 22.3 million people in the USA were diagnosed with diabetes in 2012.

The U.S. government grants on diabetes have decreased and Hotamışlıgil says keeping the research going faces some difficulty in the near future in due to limited financial resources. “It will affect the research to get results and perhaps cause a delay of ten years,” he indicates.

Hotamışlıgil graduated from Ankara University in 1986 and received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1994. He has numerous honors and awards such as the Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment of American Diabetes Association and Lilly Lecture in 2007, the prestigious Wertheimer Award from the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) in July 2010 in Stockholm and Naomi Berrie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Diabetes Research in November 2010. His work has resulted in over 140 papers, which have received about 25,000 citations and resulted in 10 patents as of Nov 2012.

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#42 EROL DEVLİ

seven years in the city. At that time, New York had many manufacturing business and it was very soon that manufacturers discovered China. So Devli imported his first bags from China in 1987. Before manufacturing moved to China, he was employing about 35 people in his shop. As the number of imported bags increased, there was no need to produce bags in New York City and even no need for employees.

After one year of starting to import bags from China, he dropped production in New York. “Nowadays, there is still no place to make bags in New York,” he indicates. He opened a branch in Hong Kong in 1989, and many bag manufactures started to work for Sasha HandBags in Asia. Devli’s company sells its bags and apparel to online retailers, brick-and-mortar specialty shops, department stores, and footwear chains.

His bags have been sold in various giant retail chains such as J.C. Penney, Macy’s, and Nordstrom.

To supply the increasing bag demand, he has worked with 50 different manufacturers and his China office has operated for 17 years.

Erol Devli, President and Founder of Sasha HandBags.

The Kıng of Hand Bags W Erol Devli started with a small manufacturing shop in 1980; since then Devli’s Sasha HandBags have become one of the industry’s leaders in hand bag area.

hen he graduated from Kabatas High School, one of the oldest and most prominent high schools in Turkey in 1977, he decided to continue his education in England. He did not like the country.

He had another option, which was to go the United States, where he had some relatives. He studied business administration at Fairleigh Dickinson University, in Teaneck, NJ. When he was in his second year at the university, one of his friends asked him if he was interested in bag manufacturing in New York City. He started with a small manufacturing shop in 1980; since then Erol Devli’s Sasha HandBags have become one of the industry’s leaders in hand bag area. The president and chief executive officer of Sasha Handbags, Inc., Erol (or “Errol”) Devli heads one of the most popular sources of formal and casual purses and bags in the United States.

The partners started with two bag cutting machines at 30th Street and between 6th and 7th Avenues. Devli was only 19 years old, yet he was fearless enough to spend the 300 dollars he had for the business instead paying his school’s tuition. After one year, the partners broke up and Devli opened a wholesale bag store on Broadway. He continued to manufacture bags for

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In addition to producing its own handbags and shoes, with labels such as Stephanie Nicole, CEM, Cee Klein, and DiViaggio, Sasha also distributes brand-name merchandize from Beverly Hills Polo Club. “There is a saying in the bag industry that ‘If you want to buy good bags, go to the Sasha,” says Devli. The total revenue of the U.S. bag business is approximately 10 billion dollars, 3 percent of which applies only to night bags. Devli’s Sasha HandBags are market leader in night handbags.

Devli currently employs about 100 workers. He also owns and operates Devli Realty Management, a large real estate company headquartered in Wallington, New Jersey. Devli Group is a multifaceted real estate investment company with holdings diversified in hospitality, retail, and office, industrial, multi-family, and mixed-use properties. Since its founding in 1986, Devli Group has experienced significant growth in both New York and New Jersey, building a portfolio that currently exceeds one million square feet.

Recently Devli has received a permit to demolish the 4-story building at 42 West 29th Street and he has plans to construct a hotel there.

Devli was born to an Assyrian family in Şişli, İstanbul and brought his family to the States when he opened the business. He has four children, two sons and two daughters, and he is a Fenerbahce fan.

#43 FAHİR ATAKOĞLU

Undenıably Skıllful and Unıque Pianist Fahir Atakoğlu.

“

Undeniably Skillful and Unique.’’ This sentence shows how Jazz Times Magazine, the jazz world’s leading publication, based in Washington, DC, describes Fahir Atakoğlu. Living in Maryland, Atakoğlu is an international award winning composer and pianist well known in the fields of large symphonic works and film music.

“Pianist Fahir Atakoğlu brings an assertive and exotic approach to the piano,” says All About Jazz, a site produced by jazz professionals. His works have been performed in various music festivals in Europe and the United States to critical acclaim, and he is considered one of the most outstanding pianists and composers in the world today.

Since 1986, Atakoğlu has composed jingles, documentary and film music for many national and international productions. For his work in film composition, Fahir won first prize for Documentary Music Composition at the Milano Film Festival, and won “The Best Song Award” from The Mega Channel in Greece.

Also an accomplished solo artist, Atakoğlu has released 16 albums since his solo debut in 1994, and he maintains an intense touring schedule, including his recent sold out shows at the world renowned Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, and Carnegie Hall in New York City, proving his worldwide appeal.

Fahir’s 2005 release was a Jazz CD entitled, “If”, with legendary Bass Player Anthony Jackson and acclaimed Drummer Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez.

Atakoğlu’s virtuosity can be further demonstrated by the music that he composed for the Istanbul National Ballet’s performance of “East Side Story.”

Later in 2007, “Istanbul in Blue,” was released featuring Bob Franceschini, Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Anthony Jackson, Wayne Krantz and Mike Stern.

The album reached #1 three times in World Music Album Charts, and made it to #15 in the US Radio Jazz Chart.

Since 1986, Atakoğlu has composed jingles, documentary and film music for many national and international productions.

As a follow-up to his hard-hitting fusion offering, “Istanbul in Blue,” Atakoğlu casts a wide stylistic net on “Faces and Places”, deftly incorporating musical elements from Spain, Brazil, the Middle East and New York City into the compelling mix. Atakoğlu is preparing for a worldwide tour in support of “Faces and Places.”

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#44 ALİ ÇINAR

needs it,” says Engin İkiz, his longtime friend. Local Turkish media describes him as “The One Man Army.”

In his daily life, he has been running from charity works to fundraising events, Turkic associations to student organizations, seminars to universities. “I sleep only five hours,” he often declares in his speeches.

Ali Çınar is giving a speech at one of TADF’s events.

Everybody Loves Alı “

This tireless member of the Turkish-American community, Ali Çınar, a member of the Advisory Board of Turks Abroad and former President of the Federation of Turkish-American Associations (FTAA).

He has been running from charity works to fundraising events, Turkic associations to student organizations, seminars to universities.

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We believe Ali Çınar is a man of his word who does what is right for our Turkish- American community.

He is a man of renowned integrity and stands without fear or favor,” says İbrahim Kurtuluş, one of the prominent members of the Turkish-American community in New York.

This tireless member of the Turkish-American community, Ali Çınar, former President of the Federation of Turkish-American Associations (FTAA), which is an umbrella organization for 53 associations, established in 1956, has served between of January 2012 to January 2014. Çınar served in different associations and led the accomplishment of remarkable works for the community. He was the one who brought together Melungeons, a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents, from Tennessee and Turkish community in New York in January 2008.

“I admire his energy sometimes; I think he barely sleeps,” says Hakan Karalok, Çınar’s former Vice President at FTAA. Due to his and his friends’ efforts for the FTAA, the association’s budget will have a surplus for the first time in many years.

“With vast knowledge and experience in public advocacy and community empowerment, Çınar is a much loved, hard-working, creative, and energetic community leader,” says Ergun Kirlikovali, Past-President of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations, another umbrella organization based in Washington, DC. Çınar was a former Vice President of ATAA (2009-11) and a Chief Advisor to the ATAA President. “He has a smiling face for everybody and loves to help whoever

“He is very well positioned for building coalitions and working with all like minded organizations in the Turkish community and with Americans, based on shared values and goals, on the local, state and national levels in the sponsorship and organization of educational programs of Turkish-American issues, Turkish heritage and Turkey,” Kurtuluş says.

After graduating from Istanbul University, he received a MBA from the University of New Haven. During his school days, he was involved in community activities with the Southern New England Turkish-American Association. He was the first person who raised the Turkish flag over the tate of Connecticut’s capital building.

One of his main priorities is educating the general public about Turkey and Turkish- Americans. In his two year term at FTAA, while seeking resources for community work, he and his friends achieved major accomplishments for the first time, such as Grand Central Turkish Day, Turkish Day at an NBA Game, and Turkish Restaurant Week in New York.

Every year on third Saturday of May, the FTAA has been organizing the Turkish Parade on Madison Avenue in New York since 1981. In 2013, the association held several cultural and social activities during the month.

May has really become Turkish month in New York. Çınar is known to have widely engaged and cultivated a new generation of young Turkish-American leaders.

He loves to promote and advance the interests of the Turkish- American community and Turks.

“Certain people give off positive energy, others negative. Ali definitely gives positive energy to his friends, teammates, and colleagues. Even when he is angry, he does not break anyone’s heart,” Karalok states.

“With the leadership of Ali Çınar, our community closes the book on the old way of things. Some people have been telling us that we cannot rise to new heights. With Çınar, we tell them that we are the grandchildren of Fatih Sultan Mehmet and sons of Kemal Ataturk -and our new forefather, our first President of these great United States of America, George Washington,” Kurtuluş adds.

#45 MURAD (ALEX) DEMİR

Murad (Alex) Demir.

Actıng ın Hollywood for 21 Years Murat Demir, aka Alex, is an actor who has been appearing in movies, documentaries, TV series and commercials since 1992 with 47 different projects now completed.

his father, a doctor, came to the US in the 60’s. He lost his father when he was 15.

As per his mother’s request, he studied political science at Iona College, though half heartedly. He has had no work experience related to his studies. He started acting in roles in off Broadway plays. Following the advice of his teachers, who envisioned a career in movies rather than theater for him, he left New York for a life in Hollywood. He has been living in Los Angeles since 1992.

Worked as a taxi driver in New York for several years. After moving to Los Angeles he’s worked as a bouncer, a pizza delivery man, a furniture mover, and a tour guide at a museum before becoming a full time actor.’’ Internet Movie Database (IMDb), an online database of information related to films, summarizes Murad Demir’s pre-Hollywood career in this manner.

He had his first television series experience in The Young and Restless. His first five-minute role on the CBS series was extended to a five-month run due to the e-mails sent by the viewers. Demir had also leading roles in movies such as L.A. Task Force (1994), Smart Money (1996), The Art of A Bullet (1999), Dark Spiral (1999), Talk to Taka (2000), Sweet Underground (2004), 3 Wise Women (2005), Afterglow (2006), The Anatolian (2007), White Screen (2008), The Way (2010), Faceless (2010), Hollywood Tale (2011), and Ordinary Average Guys (2011). Recently he has acted in After You, a comedy/drama movie and Here’s Johnny, a short film directed by Turkish director Tekin Girgin, in 2013.

Murat Demir, aka Alex, is an actor who has been appearing in movies, documentaries, TV series and commercials since 1992 with 47 different projects now completed. Born in New York, he grew up in the Bronx and Westchester County. Demir is an only child and

Demir also acted TV series such as Karen Sisco, Diagnosis Murder, The Marshal, V.I.P., Alias, Passion, Dexter, Cold Case and Mystery ER. He is the Turkish-American who has had the longest career in the Hollywood movie industry to date.

“

TurkofAmerica • 10

#46 OSMAN (OZ) BENGÜR

The Turkısh Experıence of U.S. Polıtıcs

W

hen he decided to run for Congress, it wasn’t easy to be elected, but he tried his luck twice.

Osman (“Oz”) Bengür is an investment banker and entrepreneur from Baltimore, Maryland. He was the first Turkish-American to run for a seat in the U.S. Congress in 2002 and 2006. “I am not going to run again,” he says.

His grandfather was a leading businessman and mayor of Samsun, Turkey in the 1930’s, Osman was born and raised in Washington, DC, the son of Turkish parents who met while working at the Turkish Embassy in Washington for the Turkish Republic’s first ambassador to the United States, Münir Ertegun. He attended public high school in Washington, DC and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Princeton University and Cambridge University, respectively.

While he has not involved politics that much, he has supported Turkish Political Action Committee (PAC).

When asked whether it was true that he spent $50,000 for congressional races, he replies. “It is 10 times more than that.”

He is a co-founder and Senior Advisor at Bengur Bryan & Co., Inc., an investment banking firm in Baltimore that provides advisory services to mid-size companies and has co-founded several start-up companies. He has served on the boards of private companies and several non-profit organizations and currently serves as chairman of a large multi-unit restaurant company. He also writes a column on business and political issues for an online business publication, www.citybizlist.com and has written on foreign policy issues for various publications.

In addition to running for Congress, Osman was a candidate for state office in Maryland. He also served as Treasurer of the Maryland Democratic Party and represents the Turkish American community on the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

Osman (Oz) Bengür.

Osman (Oz) Bengür was the first Turkish-American to run for a seat in the U.S. Congress in 2002 and 2006.

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Osman has received several awards from Turkish-American organizations for his political efforts including Turkish American of the Year from the Assembly of Turkish American Associations and the Federation of Turkish American Associations, and the Daughters of Ataturk Courage Award. He is a member of the American Friends of Turkey (AFOT). He is married to Victoria Schultz. Together, they have six children and live in Baltimore, Maryland.

#47 RAHMİ SOYUGENÇ

Amerıcans Use Hıs Doors to Enter Buıldıngs Born in 1931, he graduated from Ankara Maarif College and first came to New York in 1954. He graduated from University of Evansville in engineering in 1959.

When he was a student, he met his wife Marjorie and his first job was at American National Bank in Chicago.

He experienced 10 years in the banking industry. After school, the young couple wanted to stay in Chicago but Marjorie’s family insisted on their returning home.

They moved to Evansville, IN.

International Steel Company was sold to Rahmi Soyugenç in 1963.

The company still is the oldest revolving door business in the United States.

Rahmi Soyugenç and his late wife Marjorie.

W

hen Swedish-American Theophilus Van Kannel invented the revolving door, the date was is noted as August 7th, 1886. Kannel was from Philadelphia, PA and after the invention he established the Van Kannel Revolving Door Company. The demand increased and his company got bigger. His main rival, the Atchison Revolving Door Company, started to compete with Van Kannel. Atchison’s major product, the “Curved Wing Door” was a big success. The acquisition of Atchison was a necessity for Van Kennel and he bought the competitor and moved his own headquarters to Atchison, Kansas.

International Steel Company, the other big player in the revolving door business, was operating in Evansville, IN, and wanted to be number one in the industry. The company bought Van Kannel and Atchison in 1907 and soon moved all manufacturing to its current home in Evansville, Indiana. From the Empire State to the Chrysler Building, the Chicago Sears Tower to the Rockefeller Center and the World Trade Center, all renowned buildings’ revolving doors were manufactured by these big three companies, Van Kannel, Atchison and International Steel Company. So what is this all about the Turkish businessman, Rahmi Soyugenç?

James Bridwell Igleheart, CEO of International Steel Company, put the historical company on sale in 1963.

Soyugenç made an offer to buy it with a 5-year payment plan. “We paid the debt before it was due,” Soyugenç says. He indicates that the company still is the oldest revolving door business in the United States.

In addition to the 125-year old International Revolving Doors, Soyugenç established Evansville Metal Products with Fritz Zurstadt, his father-in-law, in 1961 and he purchased Refrigeration Systems of Evansville (RSE), a foremost manufacturer of commercial, industrial, and residential refrigeration products in the nation, in 1989, as well as Established International Entrance Control, which focuses on the unique access control and security requirements of corporate and government facilities.

After 50 years of engineering experiences with different companies, Soyugenç has lately focused on his early career, banking. With a group of investors, he founded Soteria Financial Group, Inc. and purchased Henderson National Bank, a community bank serving 4 branches in Henderson, KY and Cynthiana, KY; and new name after the acquisition is Bank Trust Financial.

The group has an insurance company, Latta Insurance Services in Henderson, KY and its The Bank Mortgage Network division which specializes in retail and wholesale mortgages based in Glasgow, KY. Soyugenç lost his wife, Marjorie, 72, in November 2012 after 53 years of marriage; they have two children, Perihan and Altay. He loves playing tennis and traveling and he visits Eskişehir, his hometown in Turkey, every year.

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#48 NEVİN SANLI

A Combıned Experıence of 110 Years ın Valuatıons and Fınancıal Opınıons Nevin Nevin, Managing Director of Astrum Investment Management (AIM).

N

evin Sanlı is the President of Sanli Pastore & Hill, Inc. (SP&H), a financial consulting firm that creates custom valuation opinions, financial analyses, and solutions to complex problems for businesses, families and individuals. Nevin has been running SP&H for over 20 years and the firm is one of the largest and most respected premier boutique firms, with a combined experience of over 110 years in valuations and financial opinions. Nevin has 30 years of experience in financial consultancy, valuation, expert witness testimony, investment, and accounting analysis with total transaction value exceeding $30 billion. Headquartered is in Los Angeles, SP&H has regional offices in Sacramento, San Diego, Chicago and İstanbul.

Nevin is also the Managing Director of Astrum Investment Management (AIM), a private equity real estate fund that he started in 2009. AIM unlocks real estate equity for growing middle market companies through its unique variation to the traditional sale-leaseback model. The Sale Lease-Back Buy-Back (SLB3) model is best suited to owner-users who desire ownership of their corporate real estate over the long-term but require liquidity now to grow. AIM is currently in the process of deploying $110 million of investments by the end of 2014. In 2014, Astrum will raise a 2nd fund capitalized at $400 million in equity which, when leveraged, will be $1 billion strong. He is experienced in real estate acquisition, management, diligence analysis, research and land use issues.

Nevin has a BA in Honors Economics from the University of California at Irvine. He is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) with the American Society of Appraisers, in the Business Valuation Discipline. Additionally, Nevin is fluent in English, French, Turkish and conversational in Spanish.

Nevin is a member of the Board of Directors of Atlantic Legal Foundation, New West Charter Middle School and High School, and past Chairman of the Board of Dubnoff Center for Child Development.

Nevin is a member of many local business organizations including ProVisors, All Cities, the Mediterranean Executives Group, and the Barrington Group.

Nevin Sanlı has 30 years of experience in financial consultancy, valuation, expert witness testimony, and investment with total transaction value exceeding $30 billion.

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#49 HİDAYET TÜRKOĞLU

The Pıoneer Turkısh Basketball Players ın the NBA

N He has been in the NBA for 13 years; the only European who has been in the league longer than he has is Dirk Nowitzki. With 897 career games played in the NBA, Türkoğlu would have to play at least two more seasons in the U.S. to reach his goal.

BA’s first Turkish player was Mirsad Turkcan. He has Bosnian heritage, having been has born in Novi Pazar, a city located in southwest Serbia, who selected by the Houston Rockets in the 1998 NBA Draft.

Because of the 1998–99 NBA lockout, he returned to Istanbul, continuing to play for Efes Pilsen. He finished his NBA adventure playing 10 minutes in 17 games for Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.

Mirsad was the pioneer for Turkish basketball players and Hidayet Türkoğlu followed in his footsteps. Hidayet Türkoğlu, a.k.a. Hedo, was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 16th pick of the 2000 NBA Draft.

He has been in the NBA for 13 years and the only European who has been in the league longer than he has is Dirk Nowitzki. With 897 career games played in the NBA, Türkoğlu would have to play at least two more seasons in the U.S. to reach his goal. He struggled last season and served a 20-game ban after testing positive for anabolic steroids.

Turkoğlu of the Orlando Magic was the winner of the 2007-08 NBA Most Improved Player Award presented

by Kia Motors.

Hidayet Türkoğlu, a.k.a. Hedo, when he was playing for Orlando Magics.

His biggest dream was to win the championship in NBA. He has not won any championships yet but has managed to leave a permanent mark on the NBA. In his 14-season career, Türkoğlu has played for the Sacremento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers and he has averaged nearly 12 points a game.

In his NBA career he scored a total of 10,675 points along with 3,783 rebounds and 2,762 assists. Hedo was the NBA player of the Month in April 2008 and he was two times the NBA Player of the Week on February 3rd, 2008 and on January 27th, 2008.

He played in 93 games in 9 different seasons during playoffs, played a total of 2,890 minutes and scored 368 points. Hedo was traded to the Orlando Magic from the Phoenix Suns on December 18th, 2010. He is owed $12 million for the 2013-14 season, with $6 million of that guaranteed, as he wraps up a five-year, $53 million deal that he signed with the Raptors. Lately The Los Angeles Clippers signed Hedo, the team announced on January 2014. “This is my 14th year and I’m just really happy to be a part of this great organization, “ Hedo says.

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#50 HAKAN ÖZMEN

Among some of Prysmian’s key customers are Barthi Airtel, British Telecom, France Telecom, Qwest, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telstra, Verizon and Vodafone.

Hakan Özmen, CEO of Italian Prysmian Group in the US.

Italıan Cable Gıant Prysmıan Groups Entrusted to Hım ın Amerıca Hakan Özmen was the first Turkish CEO to take the top position in the Italian Prysmian Group’s homeland.

He became the Group’s CEO of Energy and Telecom in North America in January 2011.

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W

hen Turkey’s economy was in turmoil in 1990s with high inflation, unstable interest rates, and shifting politic agendas, the hard situation of the country, at the same time, gave a chance to skilled, talented, and gifted professionals to make a name for themselves in the international business environment. The conditions of the country allowed the professionals to gain great experience in the field of management. Turkish professionals had a chance to have leading role at big corporations. Hakan Özmen, CEO of Prysmian Group in North America, is one of them.

Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has 56 plants worldwide and generated 10.7 billion dollar in revenue in 2012; the North American division’s revenue was $1.3 billion.

The North America division of the world giant cable company has been entrusted to Özmen. Before this post, he was in charge as the head of The Global Telecom Cable and Fibre Business of the Prysmian Group in Milan, Italy. He was the first Turkish CEO to take the top position in the Italian Group’s homeland. He became the Group’s CEO of Energy and Telecom in North America in January 2011.

Born in Germany in 1970, Özmen graduated in Industrial Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in 1993 and obtained a MBA from Yeditepe University in Istanbul in 1999.

He started his carrier at Siemens AG-Simko. He served the Pirelli Group mainly as an Internal Auditing Manager and Chief Financial Officer from 1997 to 2001. Özmen was a Board Member and COO of Türk Pirelli Cable. For four years he has been CEO of Prysmian Turkey.

One of Özmen’s latest success, Prysmian Group has achieved substantial completion of the strategic underground and submarine power link between New York City and the New Jersey transmission grid known as the “Hudson Project”. The Project is the second major power transmission infrastructure project built

by Prysmian in the NY and NJ areas in recent years, following the 2007 completion of the 500 kV Neptune project. In the US, also, in 2010 Prysmian completed the construction of the Trans Bay Cable project, a 200 kV HVDC submarine power link between the cities of Pittsburg, CA and San Francisco.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Lıfesavıng Software for E-Commerce Companıes:

ShıppıngTıger

Göker Ezberci, Mustafa Karyağdı, and Erol Bayram (left to right) are together.

A

ShippingTiger monitors products from entrance to inventory shipping to customers in every single step.

ccording to the U.S. Census Bureau May 2013 bulletin, manufacturers shipment via e-commerce has reached 2.7 trillion dollars, a 15 percent increase compared with the previous year. Turkish entrepreneurs want to take a position in the growing shipping industry as well. Technoline, which sells electronics and sports products via eBay and Amazon, and sends over 50,000 packages to its customers, is one of them.

The company has worked on a project, which is called ShippingTiger. The project was started due to the company’s own demand. The program basically helps all an e-commerce site’s needs in one program.

ShippingTiger monitors products from entrance to inventory shipping to customers in every single step. The program, which contains five different modules, helps price match with competitors and allows the vendor lower product prices automatically. One of the most useful specifications for the program is that one product can be sold via four different online markets from one admin panel. In the usual system, sellers have to open different accounts for each site; this innovation is one way ShippingTiger saves time and money.

“Whichever company, whatever they sell, they need to ship and they need labels. Even when technology is on a very advanced level, we will be continuing to print labels. ShippingTiger will help companies who print labels and combine their work in one place,” Mustafa

Karyağdı, ShippingTiger partner, says.

Erol Bayram, the pioneer of the project and other partner of ShippingTiger, says, “We have used this program in our company and we know that it works. We know that the program makes it an easier process for companies like us that make thousands of shipments.”

Göker Ezberci is leading the project and is very experienced in e-commerce. He is the founder of pabbuc. com, once one of the biggest e-commerce sites in Turkey and he is working on the business plan of the project and the details of the software. However, in the industrial sense, the product has to be ready with all features and it needs to be marketed by a professional team.

“I think to complete the program we will need 400 thousand dollars and it will be marketed on a monthly subscriber base,” Ezberci predicts.

The partners of ShippingTiger wants to finance the project but some other investors are interested in putting money in it as well. Completing the software and setting up the marketing and sales team may cost 1 million dollars. “I believe even Silicon Valley angel investors may interested in the project. When we are ready, we will be talking with them as well,” Ezberci adds.

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SUCCESS STORY

The entrepreneur Osman Nuri Kır of Pasha Wholesale.

“When I started the business in 2001, the biggest wholesaler was an American, now I am one of the biggest,” Kir says.

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September 11 Was a Nıghtmare for Most But Not For Hım M

anaging a gas station has been one of the most preferred businesses for Turkish businessmen in New York and New Jersey, especially in Long Island, New York. Over the last 30 years, the ownership of gas stations has created sub-industries. Supplying products to about 450 gas stations, convenience stores,

markets and delis in Long Island and Queens, Pasha Wholesale is one of them. Pasha Wholesale was established by Entrepreneur Osman Nuri Kır in April 2001.

Since then, Pasha Wholesale has supplied products to stores.

SUCCESS STORY

In its inventory, Pasha Wholesale has approximately 1800 different products, from phone cards to electronics cigarettes, lighters to Advil, energy drinks to batteries: whatever you need in a store. The supplier has a 2200 square foot warehouse in Long Island and has 4 full time employees and has operated in five different areas over a 200 mile region.

The owner of the company, Osman Nuri Kır, drives with his employees 250 miles a week.

“When I started the business in 2001, the biggest wholesaler was an American, now I am one of the biggest,” Kır says. Half of his 450 clients are Turkish-owned businesses.

SEPTEMBER 11 BOOSTED THE BUSINESS On April 1, 2001, he started with a minivan and his sales rocketed in 7 months. “After September 11, people were buying a lot of American flags and bumper stickers. I was selling 1000 American flags a week.

The demand was incredible. As a start-up company, it helped me a lot.

Many businesses were in trouble after September 11, but my sales were like skyrocketing,” Kır says.

He came to the United States in 1991 and worked as a manager between

1991-1998 at a gas station. He bought his own gas station in 1998 and sold it in January 2001. Pasha Wholesale was founded after a 3-month break. “I started with a minivan then I used my garage and after 5 years I opened the warehouse,” he says.

To reach a certain number of customers took him two years. “One of the hardest things in business is trust. Creating trust with customers took me two years. I have been supplying some of my customers since 2001.

Maybe I lost only 10 customers in 12 years. They were sold or ownerships were changed,” Kır adds.

The young entrepreneur underlines two important subjects. The first one is honesty and the second one is continuity. “If I had not been in my customers’ stores every week, it would have very hard to continue the business. The other point is honesty. If you show your honesty to your customers, the business runs smoothly by itself.”

The most-sold items are phone cards, electronic cigarettes, hookahs, energy drinks and energy pills, and lighters. Kır lives in Huntington Station, Long Island where he bought a gas station in 1998. He is married to Filiz and has a son, Cenk Hasan.

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