economy of turkey

Hakan
Güldağ

Journalist, Writer

Biography

Hakan Güldağ is a name that has been promoted to management by stepping up one by one in the journalism profession. Dünya Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Hakan Güldağ gives remarkable speeches Turkey’s economy, economics journalism, freedom of press and journalism.

Güldağ’s acquaintance with publishing dates back to 1985, he has strong news sources with its up-to-date information and equipment especially in production, agriculture and services in Anatolia, holds the pulse of the country in terms of sectors and business lines. He is known for his accuracy in his analysis .

He served as the Secretary General of the Istanbul Branch of the Economics Reporters Association. In 2005, he was elected to Brussels-based European Economic Press Federation (EBP) Executive Committee Member. Since October 2010, Turkey Journalists Association of Vocational Monitoring Committee members and Turkey Media and Communications Assembly of Turkey (TOBB MIM) serves as President.

Sadi Uzunoğlu, Prof. Dr.

Sadi Uzunoğlu
Prof. Dr.

Ekonomist, Akademisyen

Yatırım Ekonomisi

Sermaye Piyasaları

Sermaye Araçları

Finansman Teknikleri

Makro Ekonomik Gösterge

Aktif Pasif Yönetimi

Biyografi

Sadi Uzunoğlu, ekonominin karmaşık yapısını basit bir dille halka aktarmasıyla ün yaptı ve para piyasalarını hem teorik hem de birbirinden ilginç yaşanmış örneklerle tarihsel bir perspektiften ele alıyor. Uzunoğlu’nun ekonomi dinletileri keyifle öğretiyor.

Ekonomist Prof. Dr. Sadi Uzunoğlu, Uludağ Üniversitesi İktisat Bölümü’nden mezun oldu. Sadi Uzunoğlu, akademik çalışmalarına 1985 yılında İstanbul Üniversitesi, İktisat Fakültesi’nde Araştırma Görevlisi olarak başladı. Ekim 2001 tarihine kadar aynı üniversitede doçent olarak görevini sürdüren Uzunoğlu, akademik kariyerine İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi’nde devam etti. Sadi Uzunoğlu, çalışmalarını 2004 yılından bu yana Trakya Üniversitesi İİBF’de sürdürüyor.

Uzunoğlu, akademisyen ve ekonomist kimliğini kusursuz bir şekilde sentezlemesi sonucunda mikro ve makro ekonomiye dair isabetli öngörülerde bulunuyor. Güçlü bir ekonomik duruş sergilemenin yolunun üretimden geçtiğini kaydeden Uzunoğlu, ancak ve ancak yüksek teknolojiye sahip, katma değeri yüksek ürünler üreterek dışa bağımlılıktan kurtulmanın mümkün olduğunu her fırsatta dile getiriyor.

Dünyanın ekonomik sınavdan geçtiğine işaret eden Sadi Uzunoğlu, “Artık eski alışkanlıklardan kurtulup kendimiz ve dünyamız için daha bilinçli yaşama zamanı” diyor.

Uzunoğlu’nun konuşmalarında da sıklıkla ifade ettiği önemli bir tespitini şöyle özetleyebiliriz; “Sıklıkla yaşanan finansal krizler dikkatleri finansal piyasalar ve işleyişi üzerine yoğunlaştırdı. Bankalar, finansal sistemin en önemli kurumları olarak başı çekerek ön plana çıktı. Artık ekonomi denince akla maalesef, finansal sistem ve bankalar gelmeye başladı. Reel ekonomi ikinci plana itildi. Oysa reel ekonomi olmadan finansal sistemin var olması mümkün değil.”

Uzunoğlu, aktif bir yazar ve çok sayıda kitabı var; Para ve Döviz Piyasaları, Temel Ekonomi, Finans Matematiği Çalışma Kitabı, HP Uygulamalı, Güncel ekonomik Sorunlar: Dünya Ekonomisi, Güncel ekonomik Sorunlar: Global Kriz.

Konuşma Konuları

Yatırım Ekonomisi
Sermaye Piyasası ve Araçları
Türkiye Ekonomisi ve Makro Ekonomik Göstergelerin Yorumlanması
Dünya ve Türkiye Ekonomisindeki Gelişmeler ve Beklentiler
Bankalarda Aktif – Pasif Yönetimi
Yeni Finansman Teknikleri
Bankalarda Kaynak Maliyeti Hesaplama Yöntemleri ve Finansal Matematik

Şebnem K. Özcan

Şebnem Kalemli
Özcan

Professor of Economics and Finance at University of Maryland, Research Associate, “Center for Economic Policy Research” and “National Bureau of Economic Research”

Biography

Şebnem Kalemli Özcan is one of the world’s leading names in economics. Having worked for many years in the world’s leading economics research institutions and universities, she has a wealth of experience and knowledge at her disposal. Nowadays, she explains economic issues in lay terms and with her distinct energy.

Şebnem Kalemli Özcan is highly sought-after across the world for her opinions on economics. She served as the chief economist for The World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region. Teaching international finance at Harvard University as a visiting professor, she became one of the three academics elected to the IMF Authority in 2012, where she works in cooperation with all the teams of the IMF and, in particular, the research department. She is an economist whose articles have been published in many of the leading international economy magazines. She has given speeches in many different parts of the world.

Kalemli Özcan is a senior researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Center of Economic Policy Research, one of the most highly esteemed centres in the world for economic research. She is also a member of the European Central Bank’s Duisenberg Academy.

Şebnem Kalemli Özcan lectures on international finance at Koç University as a visiting professor. She is one of the most sought-after economists for her opinions on the global economy. At the same time, she is one of the most successful researchers and analysts at Kahin Roubini’s research company.

In addition, she is the first Turkish social scientist to have been awarded the European Commission’s Marie Curie International Reintegration Award for her study on European Financial Integration in 2008.

Kalemli Özcan believes wholeheartedly in the value of the studies and projects that she carries out. She believes that interdisciplinary studies of social science will reinforce each other and analysis of the economy will become easier and more useful.

Who is Şebnem Kalemli Özcan?

She received her Bachelor’s from The Middle East Technical University’s Department of Economics, and received a Master’s and then a doctorate in Economics from the University of Brown, USA.

She worked as an assistant professor, an associate professor and a full professor at Houston University. She has given courses at Bilkent University and Koç University. She has lectured as a professor at Harvard University. She held the position of chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa Region for The World Bank. Kalemli Ozcan is a member of the Duisenberg Academy of the European Central Bank, and works as a senior researcher for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Koc-TÜSİAD Economic Research Fund, and the Center of Economic Policy Research.

Speech Topics

• International Economy and Development

• The Impact of Population and Living Conditions on the Economy

• Financial Uncertainty and Financial Integration: Crisis

• The Impact of Banks’ Risk Management Activities on the National Economy

• Ways of Gaining the Biggest Advantage in International Financial Markets

• Long Term Investment Strategies of Different Countries

Emre Alkin

Emre
Alkin

Economist, Consultant, TV commentator, Vice Rector at Altınbaş University

Biography

The era of making money by selling goods and services is over. Today’s winners are those who properly apply the concept of time.

With his unique style, Dr. Emre Alkin brings a fresh approach to his analyses of the economy. Alkin is able to explain economic developments (e.g., critical data, fluctuating foreign exchange rates and stock markets, hot money, etc.) that can occur on any given day in a lucid manner without boring or tiring the audience. He can convey his views about the economy and politics in an objective manner which he bases on reliable sources.

One might be tempted to think of Alkin as a classical “professor,” but this is far from the truth of the matter. He is a very energetic and open-minded person, always eager to learn, and is capable of making unexpected connections. In short, many people wait to hear his unique commentary before making decisions about the economy.

Alkin says that, in order to understand and predict what will happen tomorrow, one needs to understand the past correctly. He emphasises the importance of history when interpreting economic developments. According to Alkin, the era of making money by selling goods and services is over. Today, the only way to acquire a position of global leadership is to apply the concept of time correctly. This successful economist says that in order to gain power in the global market, strategies need to be developed where telecommunication, Internet, media and entertainment are applied together. He uses his academic knowledge and his business experience to promote the correct strategies for uncertain environments.

In addition to his academic work, Emre Alkin is also a TV commentator. Being a member of the board of directors in different sectors and providing consultancy to various companies, he always has his finger on the pulse of the worlds of business, academia and the media. The versatility of his commentary and his ability to understand different perspectives is possible thanks to the variety of his business experience.

There is an unknown side to Emre Alkin’s story: he is also a musician. He gives highly entertaining and informative speeches on the newest developments in music, the economy, politics or cultural history, where he compares different sectors.

Who is Emre Alkin?

He graduated from İstanbul University’s Faculty of Economics in 1991 and completed his postgraduate education in 1993 at the same university. He became an associate professor in 1997 and a professor in 2002. Between 1999 and 2003 he served as the advisor to the President of the İstanbul Stock Exchange, as the Secretary General of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, and as a member of the Tax Council in 2003. He also worked for Çukurova Holding, Doğan Holding and Altınbaş Holding. He is a member of the board of directors of Yatırım Menkul Kıymetler and has been a member of the board of trustees of the Anadolu Foundation since 2000. He worked as a columnist for various newspapers and has appeared on numerous TV channels to give his analysis of the economy. He is a Vice Rector at Altınbaş University and Secretary General of the Turkish Football Federation.

Speech Topics

• What to expect from tomorrow’s economy

• The new economic order and balance

• Crisis and risk management

• Nothing will ever be the same again!

Emin Çapa

Emin
Çapa

Journalist, Television Producer

Biography

He studied journalism at Istanbul University. He completed his two postgraduate degrees on the subject of the EU. In 1989, he began working as Tempo magazine’s first permanent economics correspondent. He served as the Chamber Director at the Chamber of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers. He was one of the founders of Genç Radio, one of Turkey’s first private radio stations. Due to his interest in industrial relations and issues concerning salary, he worked for the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK), after which he returned to journalism. He was Sabah Newspaper’s correspondent on industrial relations and the EU for five years. He began working as Advisor to the Chairman of TÜSİAD under the directorate of Muharrem Kayhan and later under the directorate of Erkut Yücaoğlu. Çapa’s hobbies and interests include amateur gardening, art history (art-politics and economic relations), military strategy, astronomy-astrophysics-astrobiology and history (especially the First and Middle Ages).

Emin Çapa is a well renowned commentator who is able to make economic issues appealing. With his engaging and lucid style of presentation and analysis, the CNN TÜRK Economy Director presents subjects normally seen as “difficult” to his audience using plain, comprehensible language.

Çapa has been working at CNN Türk in different positions since 1999. Çapa first served as Economic News Editor and has been working as Economics Director since 2004.

Çapa produces and presents the economics program “Paranın İzi (Trail of Money),” which is broadcast live every weeknight. The famous journalist also has a weekly program “Aklın İzi (Trail of Mind),” where, rather than complaining about Turkey, he focuses on different subjects of scientific interest. These subjects include topics such as “The first genius of the 21st Century and why is Turkey not educating any geniuses?”, “How big is big? Is Everest the highest mountain? What is the biggest star?”, “What is speed? The fastest creatures and man-made speed monsters”, “Why we age, can human ageing be stopped?”, “Foolishnesses that changed history”, “The fastest computers, how they can be so fast?”, “Luxury industries, why do we spend money on luxuries?”, “Are wars and the economy similar to each other? Similarities between countries defeated at war and bankrupted companies.”.

Çapa gives dynamic presentations at national and international seminars and organisations such as the Quality Congress, the Tourism Summit, the Izmir Quality Congress, the Marketing Summit and provides media training for senior managers of Turkey’s leading companies. He voluntarily organizes cultural trips with the themes “Palace and ritual”, “Harem and power”, “Empire and architecture”, “Sinan and Süleymaniye”, “Journey into the mind of a human (Archeological Museum)” for his friends and relatives.

Speech Topics

• Evaluation of the economy and financial issues

• Contemporary economic and financial commentary

Şeref Oğuz

Şeref
Oğuz

Journalist, Writer

Biography

Şeref Oğuz, Turkey’s leading economic journalists and economists from journalists.

His spirit, does not fit into the economy, has led him to play critical roles in informatics and technology. For example, Şeref Oğuz, who signed the world’s first virtual rally (1996), produced numerous articles, writings and interviews on “freedom and virtual culture”. Seref Oğuz, who traveled around Anatolia, giving New Economy Conferences to SMEs, worked as Economy Manager and columnist for Sabah Newspaper for many years.

Oğuz is a graduate of Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, he completed his master’s degree and economics at the same university. He made researches at the University of London and started journalism. Oğuz, known for his research on information economy, new economy and change, is one of the founders of Internet Society. Oguz, who took a break from journalism over the years, took on the role of Koç Holding New Economy consultancy in 1999. Oğuz served as Koç Holding Information Group Consultant. He gave Virtual Culture classes at Bilgi University e-MBA academic staff. National Competitiveness Research Institute, makes Turkey Intelligence Foundation Board membership. Oguz, Turkey Chess Federation Board of Directors at the same time, the Internet Committee member. Şeref Oğuz was also a member of the Assembly Information Group outside the parliament.

Deniz Gökçe

Deniz
Gökçe

Economist, Football Critic, Writer

Biography

He was brought into the spotlight thanks to his calm attitude during the economic crisis. He helped his audience approach turbulent times with common sense. He consistently reminded us of “the other side of the coin” with his positive and creative responses to events, when many people panicked at the very mention of a crisis.

“Do not mourn or be pessimistic”

Deniz Gökçe endeavours to simplify the complicated world of the economy for his audience. He attracts a lot of attention by going beyond the conventional pessimistic discourse and adopting a realistic and optimistic approach.

“There are many common points between the economy and football”

According to Gökçe, the economy and football share many common characteristics. Gökçe considers that both economy and football emphasize the importance of competition. “There are at least two sides in both football and the economy. Catastrophes are bound to happen both in football and in the economy in environments where competition is not respected and where opponents or rivals are despised.”

Gökçe gives speeches about the economy and offers his predictions for the future of the Turkish economy as well as the world at the macro and micro level. In his speeches he uses economic data and reports in order to address economic concerns but also provides a sincere and realistic roadmap.

Who is Deniz Gökçe?

Born in 1942, Deniz Gökçe graduated from the İstanbul German High School. He attended the Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University, after which he obtained his MBA in Finance at Georgia State University in the USA and a PhD in Economics. After working as a lecturer at Georgia State and Emory Universities, he began teaching at the Economy and Management Departments at Bosphorus University in Turkey. In addition to his academic activities, he offers consultancy services and provides training sessions for numerous companies. Alongside his regular column in Akşam Newspaper where he presents his analyses of the economy, Gökçe is continuing his academic career at Bahçeşehir University as the Head of the International Finance Department.

Speech Topics

• The new world order in the economy

• Competition

• The Turkish economy: a macro perspective

• The Turkish economy: a micro perspective

• The changing world and the Turkish economy

• Social and economic aspects of football

Bahadır Kaleağası

Bahadır
Kaleağası

President of the Paris Bosphorus Institute

Biography

“The EU initiative process has had a positive impact on Turkey’s present and future economically, politically and culturally.”

Dr. Bahadır Kaleağası is one of the few experts in Turkey who specializes in the EU and EU’s foreign economic affairs. Kaleağası views Turkey-EU affairs from a different perspective: “An alternative and an option are two different concepts. An alternative means an equivalent option. Currently, there is not an alternative to the EU from Turkey’s standpoint which would conveniently protect our national interests, strengthen our democracy, and create a more solid Turkey in the future. It is not so easy to create new ideas and alternatives on a global scale; therefore, we need to be much stronger in our claim for the EU.”

For many years, Kaleağası lectured training sessions on international protocol. In Turkey, he prepares and coaches chief executives of international companies for international meetings. In the training sessions, he addresses numerous topics, including macro-politics, economy, how to start a conversation, welcoming and saying farewell to guests.

In 1996, Bahadır Kaleağası has founded the TUSIAD European Union Representative Office in Brussels and was appointed the permanent delegate of TUSIAD and TİSK (Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations) in BUSINESSEUROPE – Representative Organization for European Business. Since 2008 he has served as the International Coordinator accountable for foreign affairs, in TUSIAD’s Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Washington DC and Beijing offices. He is the President of Bosphorus Institute – Paris, an academic member of the Institute for European Studies at the University of Brussels, the Turkish environmental protection organisation, the Honorary Chairman of the Brussels Energy Club – Brec and the member of many other corporate. Each year, he guests in many conferences and media broadcasts and provides counselling for international projects.

Bahadır Kaleağası is also a manager of Kalangos Foundation, an organization working especially on children’s heart health.

Who is Dr. Bahadır Kaleağası?

Dr. Bahadır Kaleağası is a graduate of Galatasaray High School – Istanbul, a former ABD exchange student of the AFS programme and an alumnus of University of Brussels and Istanbul University. Through years 1989-1996, he assumed roles as a researcher and a lecturer at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Institute for European Studies in University of Brussels, where he had graduated with top Marks as a scholar. His academic research and lecture subjects were mainly focused on EU’s decision-making system, EU-US affairs and international economic affairs.

The European Commission’s Jean Monnet Scholarship and NATO Research Fellowship were bestowed upon Kaleağası within years 1990-1993 and he has been to Harvard, Georgetown and Jerusalem Universities as an academic guest through various semesters. He assumed the spokesmanship role in one of the conference groups during the Maastricht Treaty negotiations, which constitute the foundation of EU. He participated in many projects of the EU and European Commission’s Forward Studies Unit and provided counselling to several public and private business institutions, both on domestic and international platforms.

Bahadir Kaleagasi is an internationally published author with many articles. He is the co-author of the books; “Towards a New Europe” (Brussels, 1993), “Les Défis de l’Elargissement de l’Union européenne” (Brussels, 1994) and “La Turquie en Mouvement” (Paris, 1995), “La République Laïque Turque” (Paris, 2003), author of “From Single Market to Monetary Union” (IKV, 1995), “The Roadmap to Europe” (Dünya, 2003), “European Galaxy and the Turkish Star” (Doğan Kitap, 2007), “Future of Europe, Questions of the Youth” (Boyut, 2010), “Planet G20” (Doğan Kitap, 2012) and is a regular media commentator for global economy and politics in Bloomberg HT, Anadolu Ajansı-Finans, Radikal and Finans Dünyası.

Speech Topics

Investment Planning
Early Identification of Risks
Corporate Profile and International Communications Strategy
Corporate Brand, Social Responsibility and Social Reputation
City and Location Branding
International protocol and business relations
International negotiating

Publicity and communication
International relations for directors of companies and NGOs
Lobbying
The EU and the world
Turkey-EU relations
Turkey’s international role, the EU process and internal dynamics

Atilla Yeşilada

Atilla
Yeşilada

Journalist, Economist, TV Programmer

Biography

Who is Atilla Yesilada?

Atilla Yesilada is Turkey’s leading political analyst and commentator. He is known throughout the finance and political science world for his thorough and outspoken coverage of Turkey’s political and financial developments. In addition to his extensive writing schedule, he is often called upon to provide his political expertise on major radio and television networks such as CNBC-E and Turkey’s CEM-TV.

Atilla Yesilada

Atilla Yesilada is currently senior partner of a small and independent think tank called IstanbulAnalytics, with a multinational client portfolio of over 100 fund managers, FDIs and major Turkish corporates. He also advises GlobalSource Partners as Turkey country consultant on economic and political affairs. Yesilada is a regular contributor to international TV broadcasts on finance and economics, as well as Turkish politics, while writing regular columns for Turkey’s leading financial websites VATAN and www.paraanaliz.com. He has formerly contributed to financial daily Referans and liberal daily Radikal. He manages English language website www.istanbulanalytics.comand used to presents cable channel Cem TV’s popular morning show Wake Up daily, which is recently rated number one among FM listeners. He previously worked as morning show host at Habertürk and CNBC-E.

Mr. Yesilada is also active in the conference circuit, having addressed large audiences in Dubai, New York City, Copenhagen London, İstanbul and several other Turkish cities.

Atilla Yesilada previously served as Research Director for several leading Turkish brokerage firms, including, Global Securities, Eczacibası Securities and Egebank. His specialties are macroeconomics, finance and the banking sector, as well as energy and media. While serving in this capacity, Atilla and his teams received over 20 awards for excellence in research and he was selected to the 1997 All-Europe Research Team of the Institutional Investor Magazine.

Mr. Atilla Yesilada received his BA in Business Administration from Eastern Illinois University. He also holds MA and PhD degrees in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Rennselear Polytechnic University, Troy-New York, respectively. During his studies in the United States, Mr. Yesilada taught economics and finance in various universities. He also held a research fellowship at the New York-based liberal think-tank Jerome Levy Institute, where he specialized on banking crisis.

Mr. Yesilada and his research partner Dr. Murat Ucer currently serve hedge funds, international investment banks, domestic banks and non-financial companies on yearly retainer basis.

Embassies, supra-national institutions and state agencies are also among our regular clients.

In addition to offering economic, market, strategy and political consulting services on a retainer basis, over the last three years, Mr. Atilla Yesilada has either conducted with his team, or co-operated with Dr. Murat Ucer and other experts on the following custom made research projects, among others:

A study on the real estate market and the possibility of bubbles in MENA

Nabucco Pipeline: Economic and Political Feasibility Assessment
Turkish Electricity Production and Distribution: Privatization Prospects and Strategy for Entrants
Turkish Agro-Industry: Prospects for Financial Investment Vehicles

Speech Topics

Economy
Current Affairs
Analysis of Daily Affairs

Abdurrahman Yıldırım

Abdurrahman
Yıldırım

Author, Commentator

Biography

Who is Abdurrahman Yıldırım?

Abdurrahman Yıldırım is a competent journalist and economist with to the point estimates on Turkish and global economy. He is among those who set the debate through TV shows, articles and commentaries.

Abdurrahman Yıldırım, graduated from Marmara University’s Press Institute, wrote articles on economy at Anadolu Ajansı, Cumhuriyet, Sabah, Yeniyüzyıl and Habertürk daily newspapers. He is known as a very good analyst and followed up by many people. Yıldırım also works on a number of books. He has 4 books on capital markets.

Yıldırım was granted with the ‘Economy Columnist’ award at the Economy Press Achievement Awards by research institutes and NGOs almost every year of his career.

Abdurrahman Yıldırım writes on the economy’s roadmap and markets and interprets hard-to-grasp analyses as easy as it can be done.

Yıldırım often analyzes the global and Turkish economy, future estimations and a sustainable economy using objective data and is known for building his estimations on facts.

Yıldırım makes solid arguments on the ever-changing FX markets and stock exchange and money markets. Yıldırım is focused on objective estimations passed with constructive suggestions and to the point analyses of the current situation.

Abdurrahman Yıldırım meets the TV audience at Habertürk and Bloomberg.

Speech Topics

Turkey and the World Economy
Economic Analysis and Forecasting
Sustainable Economy
Foreign Exchange Market, Stock Exchange and Money Markets

Can Fuat Gürlesel

Can Fuat
Gürlesel

Strategist, Chairman of Strategic Research Institute