Koç Holding maintains a firm commitment to preserving and disseminating Turkey’s cultural heritage by supporting the Aygaz Library. Every year, a new book is added to the Aygaz Library, an ongoing project since 1996. The First Year of the Second Constitutional Monarchy Period was published in 2008 in collaboration with Yapı Kredi Publications to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Second Constitutional Monarchy period.
As a primary cultural activity of Koç Holding, Aygaz has placed great importance on developing and enriching the appreciation of the population of Turkey. Aygaz has supported the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and the Arts since its inception. Art is one of the most influential elements of a society’s advancement, and Aygaz believes everyone should protect our artistic heritage. In furtherance of this effort, Aygaz and Opet have co-sponsored the International Istanbul Theatre Festival since 2003. The three-week 16th International Istanbul Theatre Festival took place between May 15 and June 4, 2008. In addition to many plays and performances, the festival hosted various workshops, discussions, panels, and film showings. Eight international and 25 Turkish theatre and dance groups put on more than 70 shows, all watched with great interest by international journalists, theatre groups, and art lovers.
Aygaz also sponsored the photograph exhibition, “Atatürk and Women during the First Years of the Republic,” at Dolmabahçe Palace between March 8 and March 23, 2008. The exhibit demonstrated the value Atatürk placed on women in the progression of a society. The photographs depicted leading female figures of the period, such as Afet Inan and Sabiha Gökçen, in the parliament, at war, in official meetings, and in various social areas. The exhibit had 64,144 visitors.
Since 2007, Aygaz has been sponsoring TEKSEM, an organization that was established in 2001. The TEKSEM motto is "Life, Arts, and Positive Thinking without Disabilities.” The play, First Aid Accident, was performed in Istanbul on November 2, 2008 and in Ankara on December 28, 2008 in cooperation with TEKSEM. The play plans to tour Izmir, Izmit, Gebze, Bursa, Samsun, Trabzon, Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, Malatya, Istanbul, Edirne, Çorlu, and Antalya in 2009, with a total of 5,200 people expected to see the play through 2009.
The Otokar subsidiary of Koç Holding continued to support the arts and cultural activities in its region in 2008 as well. Under the sponsorship of Otokar, the Kırkpınar Festival, organized by the Kırkpınar Art Foundation, was held between June 23 and July 30, 2008. Otokar employees showed great interest in the children’s play, My Pretty Shoes, and in the play, Heart Thief, performed at the festival on July 2, 2008 and July 11, 2008, respectively. Children staying at the Arifiye Nursery of the Turkish Social Services and Child Protection Agency came to watch a performance of My Pretty Shoes as part of this festival.
In an effort to preserve Turkey’s automotive heritage, Tofaş established the first and only automotive museum in Turkey in 2002. Since the museum’s opening, 184,000 people have visited the Bursa Tofaş Anatolian Automobiles Museum, built on a 17,000 m2 tract of open land given by the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality next to the Historical Umurbey Hamam. The museum exhibits the story of the wooden wheel discovered in Anatolia thousands of years ago and relates the fascinating progression of vehicular technology up to the modern-day Turkish automotive industry. The completely restored Historical Umurbey Hamam and Turkish House, which opened in February 2008, acts as an exhibition hall for the museum.
Tofaş published the book, The Industrial Heritage of Anatolian Automotive Industry and TOFAŞ, to enlighten everyone in the automotive industry. Prof. Dr. Önder Küçükerman wrote the book after meticulous research on the topic.
By sponsoring excavations at Hierapolis, one of the five largest ancient cities in Turkey, Tofaş has been helping since the 1990s to unearth a very important civilization in Anatolian history. The ruins of the city consist of the Temple of Apollo, the Frontinus Gate (city’s main gate), Frontinus Street, the Necropolis, houses a theatre, a hamam turned into a museum, an agora, a bathroom structure, a triton nymphaeum, and a colonnaded road. Recent excavations include a theatre being restored to a 6,000-seat venue where concerts can be held. Every year, 80 academicians, technicians, and students from eight Italian and four Turkish universities and the International Research Centre (IBAM) inspect the ruins and excavations carried out by the Italian Archaeology Committee (MAIER).
The Koç Holding subsidiary, Tüpraş sponsors the Rhythm of Production concerts of the Kocaeli Chamber of Industry Chamber Orchestra. The Kocaeli Chamber of Industry formed a chamber orchestra composed of 18 young musicians who graduated from the Kocaeli University Conservatory in 2007 to promote and develop a classical music culture. The orchestra toured eight cities in Anatolia under the sponsorship of Tüpraş in 2008.
The tallest memorial in Turkey was constructed at Kartaltepe in Polatlı, Ankara, where the Battle of Sakarya was fought and won in 1921. Tüpraş contributed to this 32 meter high monument in memory of the soldiers who were martyred during the famous battle. The Dur Yolcu Soldier Memorial was dedicated in August 2008 in a magnificent ceremony.
Tüpraş sponsored the First International Nuri İyicil Violin competition organized by Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory and TEV. The competition was held in memory of Prof. R. Nuri İyicil, an invaluable faculty member of the Conservatory who passed away in 2005.
Tüpraş sponsored the Second International Stone Statue Symposium, organized in 2008 as part of the Cultural Festival held in Hasandede located next to the Kırıkkale Refinery. Sculptors from around the world were invited to this symposium held as an opportunity for sculptors to share their ideas, skills, and knowledge. Our intention was to encourage these artists of stone to expand their creativity on a global scale.
Tüpraş sponsored the Kupjack Miniature Rooms Exhibition at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum between December 16, 2008 and March 15, 2009. The miniaturist Henry Kupjack’s extraordinary work received praise from Turkish art lovers of all ages.
Yapı Kredi, a member of the Koç Holding Finance Group, continued to support culture and the arts through various activities in 2008. The bank sponsored concerts by the Razumovsky Ensemble and by the Vienna Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the 36th International Istanbul Music Festival. Yapı Kredi also sponsored a concert by the Vienna Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra featuring pianist Mihaela Ursula at the Izmir Bergama Asklepion Theatre on June 9, 2008 as part of the 22nd International Izmir Festival.
The winners of the 12th Yapı Kredi Insurance Afife Theatre Awards were announced at a ceremony at the Lütfi Kırdar International Convention and Exhibition Center on April 21, 2008. In addition to special awards, the winners were selected in 14 categories by the Voting Council from the Selection Council’s list of nominees. Many famous celebrities from the worlds of business, art, and theatre attended the evening’s festivities.
Yapı Kredi Culture, Arts, and Publishing continued to receive rave reviews for their published books, art exhibitions, and various other cultural events. Since its founding, Yapı Kredi Publishing holds the largest share of the Turkish publishing market, a trend continued in 2010 as well. Moreover, Yapı Kredi Publishing brought readers more than 1 million books, 207 new titles, and 422 reprints. The total number of titles published since its founding is over 3000 works.
Seventeen fascinating exhibitions were held at the Yapı Kredi Cultural Center during 2008. The modern art exhibition series continued at the Kazım Taşkent Art Gallery with a wide array of exhibits. These include:
• Cengiz Çekil’s What Time Is It?;
• Halil Altındere’s influential, I’m not sure if this is an exhibition;
• Cüneyt E. Koryürek’s Turkey’s Olympic Adventure;
• In the Ballpark by the internationally renowned modern artist Ayşe Erkmen;
• Pınar Yolaçan’s Maria photographs;
• Retrospective by Özer Kabaş; and
• Photographs by the famous Finnish photographer Elina Brotherus.
Sermet Çifter Hall also hosted numerous exhibitions, including:
• An Architect From the Ottomans to the Turkish Republic, from the National to the Modern: Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, dedicated to architect-photographer Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, who left a deep impression on Turkish architecture;
• The Ship’s Been Quiet for Fifty Years, Yahya Kemal through Private Letters and Correspondence on the 50th Anniversary of His Death, dedicated to the poetry master Yahya Kemal;
• Painter of Life and Light: Fausto Zonaro, an Ottoman Court Painter’s Masterpieces and Life in Istanbul, bringing the memoirs of an oriental painter to light;
• A Pioneer of Thought: Mazhar Şevket İpşioplu, commemorating the 100th birthday of Mazhar Şevket İpşioğlu;
• Ending my journey before reaching my city'– Nazım and Vera from Moscow to Istanbul bringing Nazım Hikmet’s personal belongings to Turkey;
• Güneş Karabuda’s If the Walls Could Speak: Paris – May ’68 on its 40th Anniversary, covering events occurring during 1968;
• A Human and a Soldier: Kâzım Karabekir, a display of the hero of the Eastern Front; and
• A Photograph’s Lens, Sabahattin Ali: What He Captured and What He Didn’t, offering a different perspective of one of the most important names in Turkish literature, Sabahattin Ali.
Important exhibitions have also been held at the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum:
• Roman Reliefs from Aphrodisias, fifty-two magnificent sculptures which enlightened visitors on the art of marble sculptures in Aphrodisias, one of the leading sculpting centers in the ancient world; and
• The History of Paper Money from the Ottomans to the Turkish Republic, relating the history of paper money with interesting examples of ancient currencies.
Complementing their culture and arts agenda, Yapı Kredi Private Banking has sponsored the excavations at Aphrodisias and has long-supported the studies of the Geyre Foundation in revealing the secrets of this ancient city for the enjoyment and education of future generations.
Carry Your Name to the Future with an Ancient Relief was the theme of a special auction held on January 17, 2008, at the Rahmi Koç Museum in support of the New Sebasteion Hall where 80 original reliefs found in Aphrodisias are exhibited. In May of 2008, on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Geyre Foundation, reliefs discovered at Aphrodisias went on display in a new exhibition hall. The construction of the 770 m2 New Sebasteion Reliefs – Sevgi Gönül Hall started in March 2007 as an addition to the current Aphrodisias Museum in Karacasu, Aydın. Supported by the Geyre Foundation and Yapı Kredi Private Banking, the hall opened on May 31, 2008.
These works of art created by the most prestigious sculptors of the era have also been assembled for an extensive exhibition organized by Yapı Kredi Culture & Art in Istanbul. The Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Museum is the host of this exhibition, “Roman Portraits from Aphrodisias.” A total of 52 magnificent pieces – 51 from the Aphrodisias Museum and one from the Istanbul Archaeology Museum – are on display at the exhibition. The promotional activities carried out during the exhibition have contributed to the public’s awareness of the ancient city of Aphrodisias. The exhibition was open to all art lovers from September 26, 2008 to January 25, 2009.
The project, The Frigate Ertuğrul: A Turkish Frigate in Japan, is sponsored by Yapı Kredi Pension Company Initiated in collaboration with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) and with contributions from the Turkish Institute of Nautical Archaeology (TINA) in December 2006, the project intends to recover the wreck of the Frigate Ertuğrul that sank in Japanese waters in 1890. Additionally, the project serves to honour the martyred sailors and survivors of the disaster along with the Japanese fishermen who helped them, both in Japan and in Turkey. The research studies and dives were performed by a team of leading national and international figures in the field of nautical archaeology.
In addition to nautical studies, other activities were held to memorialize the Frigate Ertuğrul. Two of these activities were the Meeting of the Relatives of the Ertuğrul Crew held on January 3, 2008, and a children's book prepared with the support of Yapı Kredi Culture & Art Publishing to enlighten future generations on the Frigate Ertuğrul. The Frigate Ertuğrul project is also supported and closely monitored by government officials. President Abdullah Gül visited the city of Kushimoto in June 2008 as part of his trip to Japan. He attended the ceremony at the Ertuğrul Monument and visited the Ertuğrul Museum. The project won first prize in the “Sponsorship” category at the Golden World Awards, organized by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).
The 21-metre-high Çatalhöyük Mound, located near Çumra, Konya, in central Turkey holds secrets from 9,000 years ago. Inhabited by a population between three and eight thousand people for 1,400 years from 7,400 B.C. to 6,000 B.C., Çatalhöyük is one of the most important and most impressive archaeological sites in the world. Yapı Kredi has been one of the main sponsors of the archaeological excavations since 1997.