According to the report, she hinted to the press that come January a new individual would be at the helm of the organization. Hürriyet reported that she had first floated the notion of stepping down during a board meeting last spring, but revealed yesterday that she would make the announcement official next month during the board of directors meeting.
Yalçındağ has been in the post for three years, as had the two chairs preceding her.
The chairwoman's announcement was made in Kayseri, during a meeting of the Federation of Industrial Associations, or SEDEFED, and the Kayseri Chamber of Industry. Yalçındağ, daughter of embattled media mogul Aydın Doğan, who has been slapped with a record high tax fine of TL 4.8 billion, has been accused by critics of politicizing TÜSİAD and bringing the organization into the orbit of Doğan Holding and more specifically, the Doğan Media Group (DMG).
During the latest high advisory council meeting, a well-publicized dispute erupted between Yalçındağ and a long-standing member of the organization, Yıldırım Aktürk, former undersecretary of the State Planning Organization (DPT) after Yalçındağ used the opportunity to slam the government for politicizing the taxation process and unfairly targeting DMG. Aktürk's outburst suggested that the Doğan group was manipulating the media for proffit.
Sidestepping any speculation surrounding the timing of her stepping down from power, Yalçındağ was reported as saying: "The period of service has been unofficially accepted as three years for a while now. So I will abide by that. We have been talking about officially limiting the presidential term to three years amongst ourselves.”
