Author - Ayça

Since taking office, the Governor of Izmir, Mr. Erol Ayyıldız, who has emphasized the importance of the Kemeraltı and environs renovation area, visited TARKEM to monitor the ongoing projects in the region. During the visit, Mr. Ayyıldız listened to a presentation about the works and stated, "Kemeraltı means Izmir. Transforming this area into a tourism destination will be beneficial for the entire city."

Mr. Ayyıldız congratulated TARKEM about the award we won last week on the “Sustainable Business Award” against formidable opponents. He stated: "We have brought a well-deserved award to our city. This award is a validation that we are on the right path with our efforts for the historical Kemeraltı. I wholeheartedly congratulate TARKEM. Mr. Samim Sivri, the Chairman of the TARKEM Board of Directors, expressed his sentiments, saying, "We entered this process knowing that this task would take years. At the point we have reached today, with the support of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, Izmir Governorate, Konak Municipality, as well as all professional chambers, we will work to make a region that belongs to İzmir and its people. We will accelerate our efforts to make the area an area that will work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, where young people enjoy being here, and where all cultural and historical values are revealed by preserving the nostalgic values of the old and the living. This visit gave us strength and excitement.”

We hosted Board of Directors of KalDer’s (Turkish Quality Association) İzmir Branch at our TARKEM office in Historical Abacıoğlu Han(khan). During the meeting we held, KalDer Board of Directors received information about the activities of TARKEM in the Historical City Center. They stated that they will follow the works in and around Kemeraltı more closely. Discussions are expected to take place again in the coming days with KalDer about possible collaborations for the field.

Mr. Bülent Eczacıbaşı, Chairman of Eczacıbaşı Group, visited Kemeraltı. He visited the region where the Eczacıbaşı Group was born. Which started with his grandfather Süleyman Ferit Eczacıbaşı opening his first store in Tilkilik and now Eczacıbaşı Group operates worldwide. Bülent Eczacıbaşı inspected the Portuguese Synagogue restored by Aegean Young Business Association (EGİAD). Later, Mr. Eczacıbaşı visited our office at Abacıoğlu Han and listened about the activities of TARKEM and our association, "Kentimiz İzmir Derneği." After the presentations, the group examined the building on Birinci Beyler Street, which was previously used as the Mr. Süleyman Ferit Eczacıbaşı Pharmaceutical and Perfume Factory, which was restored in 2014. They expressed their gratitude for the efforts made in the area. We thank Mr. Bülent Eczacıbaşı and the Eczacıbaşı Group for their kind visit.

As TARKEM, we respond to invitations from non-governmental organizations, professional chambers and all organizations that may affect the public, in particular the press. In these invitations, we, as TARKEM, explain the Historic Site, what we have been doing since the day of our foundation and what we have been doing in the short and medium term. The last of these invitations was from the editorial board of the newspaper "Gözlem Gazetesi”.

During this visit we made on November 27, 2018, we had the chance to share all our activities with friends; we invited them to hold their next editorial board at TARKEM office in Historical Abacıoğlu Han(khan). After a very productive meeting, we said, "see you next week" and finished our visit.