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İSO members to say ‘yes’ in referendum despite head’s opposition
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, leading İSO members emphasized the importance of approving the proposed reform package and said they will certainly vote in favor of it, as will scores of other business groups that have announced their support for the changes.
The proposed package has already been endorsed by the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO), the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD), the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), the Free Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (HÜRSİAD) and the Anatolian Lions Businessmen’s Association (ASKON), as well as by many local businessmen and trade associations from around Turkey.
İSO assembly member Zafer Çeliktaş said he would cast a “yes” vote even though Küçük gave the impression with his remarks that the entire chamber would vote against the package. “I say ‘yes’ to this change,” he stressed.
Chairman of the Sadırlar Textile and Industry Co.’s executive board, Mehmet Selçuk Sadır, who is also an İSO member, said he does not approve of Küçük behaving as though he speaks on behalf of all chamber members. “His opposition only binds himself, not us. Indeed, he did not ask us while saying ‘no.’ I have many friends at İSO thinking just like me,” he noted, adding that if the proposed changes are passed on Sept. 12, foreign investors’ interest in Turkey will be further increased. Sadır also said the reform is very important for making all government institutions transparent.
Another İSO member, Aydınlı Group executive board chairman Ömer Faruk Kavurmacı agrees with Sadır on the possible contribution to Turkey’s ability to draw foreign investment that could result from approval of the reforms. He said Küçük’s decision does not reflect İSO’s general feeling about the proposed package of constitutional amendments.
Dalgakıran Compressors Co. owner Adnan Dalgakıran and Hatemoğlu Textile Co. executive board member Efsane Turan, also İSO members, told Today’s Zaman that they would vote in favor of the package. Turan said approval of the changes will accelerate Turkey’s economic growth.
Young bosses also support reform in referendum
The chairman of the High Advisory Council at the Turkish Confederation of Young Businessmen (TÜGİK), Hazim Sesli, has said he will cast a “yes” vote in the upcoming public referendum on constitutional reform on Sept. 12, marking yet another voice of support for the changes from the business world.
In an interview with Today’s Zaman, Sesli explained that in order to have an entirely new constitution in the near future he decided to back the partial changes to the current Constitution, which, he argued, will pave the way for Turkey to become one of the 10 largest economies in the world. “I will say ‘yes’ in the referendum so that Parliament will be able to make a brand new constitution. I will go to the ballot box for Turkey to become one of the 10 largest economies in the world and for democracy not be interfered with once again,” said Sesli, who is also vice president of the Uşak Chamber of Trade and Industry. With Sesli’s announcement, the business world’s support for the proposed package of 26 constitutional amendments has been further strengthened. So far most of Turkey’s leading business groups have announced that they will vote in favor of the long-awaited package. Ercan Baysal Ankara
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