he businessman Ahmet Çalık was granted the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, one of the most prestigious awards in the US, for the projects delivered in the Central Asia and Middle East countries and for his contributions to improving the welfare of people in these geographies.
The medal was presented to Ahmet Çalık in New York by an officer of the US Army on behalf of NECO.
Çalık Holding's Chairman Ahmet Çalık was granted the 'Ellis Island Medal of Honor', one of the most prestigious awards in the US. Ahmet Çalık became one of the two figures to win an international award this year.
The ceremony for the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award organization delivered for the first time in 1989 by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) and officially recognized by the US Senate and House of Representatives, was held on May 11 in Ellis Island, New York. The medal was presented to Ahmet Çalık by an officer of the US Army on behalf of NECO. NECO's President Nasser Kazeminy congratulated Ahmet Çalık after the award ceremony and stated that Ahmet Çalık was granted this award for his contributions to the geography known as Turkistan and the Middle East and for the value he added to human life as a brave entrepreneur.
A special reception was organized for award recipients in Ritz Carton Hotel, Manhattan followed by exclusive ceremonies on the Ellis Island where guests arrived using ferries. Ellis Island, where immigrants set their foot first after travelling to the US by sea from various countries from 1891 to 1954, hosted ceremonies accompanied by the military band and a dinner was given in the honor of the event at the historical place serving as a museum today, which once welcomed immigrants.
"Businessmen are the ones to know best the value of peace"
Ahmet Çalık, Chairman of Çalık Holding, extended his thanks for the awarding of NECO's Medal of Honor and emphasized that businessmen are the ones to know best the value of peace and stability in the world.
"I am a businessman, too. I have been doing business for years across different geographies including the Central Asia, Balkans, Middle East and Africa. I am running a Group which employs more than 20,000 people with different religions, cultures, ethnicities and traditions in 17 countries across three continents. We have a proverb on this, 'Let man flourish and the state will also flourish'. So, our business life concentrates on this principle. Our company does not only focus on profitability but also on improving welfare level of people living in the geographies we operate in line with our people-oriented approach."
One of the First Businessmen to Do Business in Central Asia
Ahmet Çalık reminded that the Group was one of the first businesses to establish a factory and industrial plant in a challenging geography like the Central Asia.
"I am one of the first businessmen to invest in this region. In fact, we became one of the first groups to invest foreign capital in these regions with our textile factories. How we did it? We focused on two things. First one was to develop a differentiated business model. We transferred the strong financial structure and technological advantage of developed countries to these regions by means of project partnerships. We told Turkistan and the Middle East countries that we wanted to establish factories, industrial plants there. We told them that we wanted introduce the technological infrastructure and quality of developed countries in their countries. And we supported installation of cutting edge industrial plants of western countries in these regions. Our entrepreneurship played a leading role in the development, modernization and externalization steps of these countries. We made project partnership with the largest companies in the world and brought them in these regions. Maybe these big groups were to enter these geographies many years later, but we helped to enter these markets many years ago. The second thing is that we have become more local as we have grown. We have hired people living in those geographies in the factories we established. We rushed to meet any need in these regions including, schools, hospitals, roads, infrastructure or superstructure. We targeted not only profitability but also a people-oriented growth. And we achieved this."
About Ellis Island Medal of Honor
Ellis Island, located in the Hudson River off the New York City, served as a transit center for new immigrants arriving in New York between 1892 and 1954. Ellis Island was shut down in 1954 and was announced to be a national monument by the US President Lyndon Johnson. The island today serves as an immigrant museum to keep alive the memory of millions of people composing the American society. Highlighting that people who migrated from several countries in the world to form the modern American society and the country's strong democracy achieved this by leveraging their differences, the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO) works to ensure these values remain unchanged and are popularized around the world. NECO's mission is reported to be set based on the belief of the Nation's Founders that the essence of today's great American society is diversity. Ellis Island Medal of Honor was realized for the first time by NECO in 1989 and officially recognized by the US Senate and House of Representatives. NECO also undertakes the maintenance and restoration work for the Ellis Island, which is the greatest symbol of the immigration history of the US.
For a better world
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is awarded to US citizens from all professional and social classes who are distinguished in their own ethnic groups. Former recipients of the medal includes US Supreme Court judges, Nobel Award winners, US Presidents, athletes, artists, leading businessmen, and individuals who contributed to their own societies and changed the life of others through inspiring services. The famous Americans awarded this medal include the presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as iconic American figures Mohammed Ali, Rosa Park and Frank Sinatra. Turks who were previously granted this award are California-based businessmen Mike Mustafaoğlu, Kaya Tuncer and Ergün Kırlıkovalı, the physician Mehmet Oz, and Haldun Taşman, a successful philanthropist and businessman, Dr. Tamer Seçkin, one of the famous gynecologist in the US, Emrah A. Kovaçoğlu, another Californian-Turkish businessman, Kenan Şahin, a businessman from Boston, Matt Yıldızlar from Chicago, and the Greek-origin Turkish citizen Andre Dimitriadis from California.
Individuals who preserve and celebrate the history and values of their ancestors with commitment to create a better world for everyone are nominated for this award. Each candidate must fulfill one or more criteria below:
