First Lady Sibel Tatar took part in an event organised by the Cyprus Turkish Entrepreneurial Women's Association (GİKAD), where she encouraged newly graduated young women professionals to combine creative ideas with business mastery in order to pave the way to success.

 

Addressing the ‘Entrepreneurship Camp’ of GIKAD in Girne, Mrs Tatar also pointed to the importance of entrepreneurship, social justice and responsibility in society.

 

Addressing entrepreneurial women in the camp, Sibel Tatar stated that she is happy to be together with the members of the association and bright young people who are preparing to enter professional business life after completing their university education. Mrs Tatar congratulated the Chairperson and the Board of Directors of GİKAD, who put their signature to such a meaningful and beneficial project, and referred to the words of Great Leader, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, where he said: "I am happy to see myself with such a strong and fit youth."

 

 

“KNOW THE VALUE OF TIME AND AGE”

 

Mrs Tatar, addressing the event, said: “You have taken me back to the days of when I graduated from İstanbul University Faculty of Law. As many people have said, I wish I was at that age with today's thoughts and  maturity.

“It's important to appreciate age and time. It is also significant to make good use of the time, which is your most precious asset and to live the moment.”

Mrs Tatar,  pointed to her “life in business” and the “experiences I gained along the way,” and advised the young women entrepreneurs to “work harder, to recognise and seize opportunities, to be open to changes, to use creativity, to adopy an innovative vision and be up to date on worldwide developments, to be ready for competition and to combine imagination with commercial mastery”.

Mrs Tatar also said it is “important to be open to learning new things from experienced colleagues,” adding: “One never seizes to learn as long as they live, at whatever age or position. One should never stop the thought of fulfilling their dreams, setting goals and believing in yourselves”.

 

 

“IT IS IMPORTANT TO APPRECIATE THE POWER OF CIVIL SOCIETY WHICH IS A GLOBAL FORCE”

 

Mrs Tatar also underlined the importance played by civil society in the organisation of modern-day societies.

“It is very important to understand the concept of Civil Society as a global force,” Mrs Tatar said. “Those who create the biggest changes in the world are the organisations that come together for their common goals. Isn't it the organisations that led women to success in their just struggle?

“Women are still spending efforts in different fields, for example, in providing equal opportunities in managerial positions," she added.


Mrs Tatar added that there is an ongoing struggle being put forward in unity against violence against women, and drew attention to the need to raise awareness on this very important issue in order to tackle this in the TRNC.

 


 

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RAISING AWARENESS IS CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS


Mrs Tatar continued: “Civil groups are organised for Social Justice struggles, such as on feminism, anti-racism, environmentalist purposes, discrimination and equal rights, standing against violence, protection of our culture, and for many other purposes. The phenomenon of social responsibility, which is increasing in importance today, gives significant responsibilities on both individuals as well as public and private institutions.”

 

Mrs Tatar stated that the understanding of social responsibility and community service has now become a "philosophy" for corporations. Increasing competition with globalising and developing information technologies has also changed customer demands and expectations. Customers are no longer only interested in the quality and price of the product and services they receive, they also check whether the institution has ethical values and fulfill their social responsibilities by serving the society.

 

“With the development of social responsibility awareness and consciousness, both individuals and institutions try to fulfill these responsibilities by serving the society in which they exist,” Mrs Tatar said. “The aim of the social responsibility approach is to provide social benefit and to make a difference in the society”.

 

Mrs Tatar added that being a ‘volunteer’ is defined as taking a job willingly without any obligation and ‘charitable person’ is defined as a someone who undertakes good deeds without any expectations.


Explaining that the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility was first mentioned in the book titled ‘Social Responsibilities of the Businessmen’ dated 1953 by the American Economist, Howard Bowen, the First Lady added that “we should now use the term a business person, not a businessman. In this book, Bowen emphasised that business should follow policies that align with society’s values. To touch on social service in education… young people studying at some universities in the world have the opportunity to develop their skills to serve the society individually during their education and after graduation, through social service education, which is a learning method as well as acquiring a profession. For this reason, universities today have aimed or should aim to educate their students towards the understanding of common sense”.


She said US-based universities perceive providing community spirit and participatory citizenship awareness as part of their educational mission as well as educating their students in science fields, whilst universities based in Germany also state that institutions should not only be the places where knowledge is transferred, but also should increase the awareness of being socially responsible.

“According to the results of a study conducted on university students in Germany, only 31 per cent of the students, who attend the normal education program, say that they have acquired comprehensive knowledge about their professional field, while the rate is 74 per cent for the students who attend the social service training seminars, Mrs Tatar explained. “As can be seen in the example, supporting the field of profession with participation in studies for the benefit of society not only provides a better understanding of the implementation part of the education but also raises awareness of individual responsibility towards society by taking an active role in studies.”

 

“Providing and extending such education not only at the level of higher education, but also in all other primary and secondary educations, will initiate the creation of and foster civil society existence, which is indispensable for democracy, for the development of society and for social justice,” Mrs Tatar stated.

 

Mrs Tatar congratulated GİKAD and wished the camp participants success in their future lives.