At the meeting, which was attended by the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Board of Directors, business people, industrialists, public and civil society representatives, academics, education institution administrators, bank executives, and numerous other guests, information about the details of the campaign was provided.
At the opening of the meeting, OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Regional Manager Adem Arıcı presented information about the aid activities carried out in OSTİM for the earthquake region to the participants.
“Everyone competed with each other”
Arıcı said, “After receiving news of the earthquake, we immediately held a situation assessment with our President, Board of Directors, and fellow managers in the morning. We quickly prepared a list of producers of urgently needed products, in coordination with the Deputy Governor of Ankara. Then we organized our conference hall as an Earthquake Coordination Center, received and sorted the incoming aid, and sent it to the regions in need. We published messages on our social media accounts and all our communication channels. All our organizations and companies provided support beyond expectations. I thank them all. Everyone competed with each other.”
“We have been working with our entire team, with the contributions of our industrialists and philanthropists, to meet the needs of our citizens affected by the earthquake who came to Ankara. We are still continuing to do so. These activities are increasing day by day,” said Arıcı, and continued as follows:
“We worked continuously with the crisis management center established by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the Ankara Governorship. We were in constant contact with them. We mobilized all the resources of OSTİM. There was a request to provide equipment for AFAD to use in the earthquake zone. We supplied it and sent it to the region. Through the OSTİM Employment Office, we worked to employ earthquake victims who came to Ankara; we registered nearly 3,000 people. We connected 300 people with our companies.”
19 volunteers from OSTİM OSB (Organized Industrial Zone) participated in search and rescue efforts in different areas of Hatay with 6 separate fully equipped vehicles. Four separate groups formed from industrialists in our region, along with expert teams and fully equipped vehicles, took part in search and rescue and aid efforts in Adıyaman, Hatay, and Kahramanmaraş centers.
In OSTİM, in accordance with the directives of the Ankara Governorship, three separate warehouses were allocated for the storage and sorting of foreign aid, primarily from European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Serbia), Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The aid, arriving in over 140 trucks, was unloaded and sorted in these warehouses with the participation of OSTİM OSB personnel, OSTİM Technical University academics and students, OSTİM Investment Inc., OSTİMSPOR athletes, employees of other OSTİM institutions, volunteer company representatives and employees, industrialists, businessmen, company employees from OSTİM, and volunteers from the surrounding community. The aid was then dispatched to the earthquake zone. The work is still ongoing.”
OSTİM Chairman Orhan Aydın stated that OSTİM has been mobilized for aid from the very first day and that they have been in contact with state institutions regarding the aid organization. Aydın noted that everyone lined up to help, and that over 200,000 citizens have come to Ankara as guests.
Orhan Aydın stated the following: “From the very first day, thank God, after watching the news on television, we all entered an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty about how we could help and what we could do to help in the face of the disaster. But as soon as we started thinking about what we could do, OSTİM's phone rang for the first time. Our Ministry of Industry and Technology requested the procurement of metal shears, drills, jackhammers, etc. That night, we procured these from our OSTİM companies and delivered them to AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency). This is a solution center; OSTİM is the first place that comes to mind. This actually shows that we can stand behind what we have been saying all along: OSTİM is a center for solving all problems. This mobilization was created not only with our contribution but also with the contribution of all our industrialists, of you.”
“We haven’t been able to pull our souls out from the rubble yet.”
Everything that was done was thanks to the contributions of all our stakeholders, our industrialists. Our industrialists mobilized. We only acted as an interface, providing them with certain resources to help them. It's not just about the activities here. Everyone is trying to do their part. We saw that our nation has an incredible level of sensitivity. Everyone contributed their efforts without asking for money. Our aid depots were a great resource. Over 500 people worked in the depots daily. Everyone lined up. We only prepared the environment. And this traffic continues. We said, "Thank God OSTİM exists." Students, our village heads, our industrialists, our company employees, our OSB personnel—in short, everyone mobilized. We are grateful to all of them, may God bless them all.
The images on the screens never end. We haven't been able to pull our souls out from under the rubble. The problems continue. Right now, we are focused on what needs to be done for the people there, how it should be done, and what we can do individually, institutionally, and regionally. Our government is also trying to do its part.
Over 200,000 of our citizens have come to Ankara as guests. Our Ankara Governorship is trying to resolve the accommodation issue. Our state is resolving the accommodation issue, but each of these people was a businessman, tradesman, artist, civil servant, worker, or farmer, just like you and me. The last scene I saw on screen was this: 'I used to run a haberdashery shop, and now I'm walking around in someone else's socks.' That's the kind of situation we're facing.
“9,000 earthquake victims are entrusted to our care”
The Ankara Governorship considers these citizens our guests. They want to find a solution for them by the end of the year. The Governorship invited the management of the organized industrial zones. We held a meeting. They said, ‘You industrialists are philanthropists. This is the first time we've made such a request; we want to entrust our guests to the 12 organized industrial zones in Ankara. We need your help.’
We cannot lift our souls from the rubble without taking action. A person's soul cannot find peace without helping others. Everyone is helping somewhere, but this task has been assigned to OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone and other Organized Industrial Zones. The Governorship has allocated resources according to the population, size, and capacity of the Organized Industrial Zones. Currently, they have entrusted us with 9,000 earthquake victims. We have worked on initiating a campaign to distribute aid, with the method being entirely under state control; there are Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations in the governorships and district governorships, and they can see who the people are, their income, and expenses on their screens. The aid will be given to those deemed eligible by these foundations, and a receipt showing who received each donation will be provided to the donor.
We believe we can achieve this together, God willing. Our duty is to convey this to you. There are certainly people who want to contribute. We are a huge OSTİM community, with 6,500 businesses here. There is a request for 1,000 TL per month for one earthquake victim, for about 10 months. We will deliver this through our district governorships. You will also receive an SMS informing you who received the payment and which account number the money was deposited into.
First, we ask that you participate in this campaign individually. Second, we kindly request that you share this with your network, employees, family, and the institution, organization, association, foundation, school, etc., that you represent.
I can't find a better way to describe this than with the concept of trust. These people are entrusted to us, we are entrusted to each other, life, soul, property, possessions, money—everything is entrusted to us. God willing, we will protect this trust. Money is here today, gone tomorrow. Possessions are here today, gone tomorrow. Life is here today, gone tomorrow. That's what trust is like. We expect completely heartfelt and sincere contributions and participation. I sincerely thank the entire OSTİM community.”
You can register by specifying the donation amount and duration at http://destek.ostimonline.com/ or by calling 444 0 603 by Friday, March 10, 2023.
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