Ahmet Çalık, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Çalık Holding, was awarded the “Title of Honorary Doctorate” from the department of International Trade and Financing under the Faculty of Business Administration and Management Sciences of Malatya Turgut Özal University owing to his contributions to education in Turkey through his efforts for the development and improvement of our country in the fields of economy, society, and education, as well as his services in textile, construction, and energy.
Malatya Turgut Özal University (MTU) awarded Ahmet Çalık, Chairman of Çalık Holding, with the title of honorary Doctorate during the Inauguration Ceremony for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. While presenting the title of honorary Directorate, Rector Prof. Dr. Aysun Bay Karabulut expressed gratitude to Ahmet Çalık for his contributions to education in Turkey through his efforts for the development and improvement of our country in the fields of economy, society, and education, as well as his services in textile, construction, and energy.
MTU Rector Prof. Dr. Aysun Bay Karabulut started her speech with the following statements: “Today, we are elated for our Malatya, for our region, and most importantly, for our Turkey. We are in the second year of our foundation with 5 faculties managing 16 affiliated departments. We are a university that grows and develops further in every field, in every direction, and on every ground. With our dynamic structure complemented with an openness to improvement, we have an outlook of confidence over the 2023, 2053, and 2071 goals. In the past two years, our university has covered significant ground and become a brand of our city with the treasured support and contributions of our President, H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan”. She continued her words; “I believe that loyalty is one of the most noble sentiments of humanity. For those serving our country and Malatya, loyalty means standing tall behind their mandate like the great Bey Mountains. Mr. Ahmet Çalık is a role model, as a personality and as an entrepreneur, for the youth not only in Malatya and our country, but also in the geographies of our hearts. The awarding of the title of “honorary Doctorate” to Mr. Ahmet Çalık by the Faculty of Business Administration and Management for his contributions to the economy of Turkey and to education in Turkey through his services in the field of education merely represents a well-deserved move to give credit where it is due. What is happening today is actually an effort to fill in a gap, which was way overdue. We would like to thank Mr. Ahmet Çalık for the services he has offered to our Malatya, our country, and the geographies of our hearts. I believe that thousands of young individuals will follow the entrepreneurial path created by Ahmet Çalık and enter the relay race with great pride”.
Ahmet Çalık, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Çalık Holding, expressed his honour for having been awarded the title of Honorary Doctorate by Malatya Turgut Özal University and stated, “During my endeavours to working to realise initiatives of utility for our country, I have always given priority to contributing to the development of my hometown, Malatya. While I was launching my first initiatives, we chose Malatya as the location of our first major factory in textile. Therefore, being here with you and being awarded this title today have an enshrined place in my heart on this occasion of this title awarded by the esteemed university of our Malatya. I believe that Malatya Turgut Özal University, albeit a young university, will offer significant contributions to the development of the region and our country as it considers making science for the future and stability of our country a national responsibility and aims to pioneer in the fields of education, science, entrepreneurship, innovation, services, and social responsibility in a short period of time”.
Following the Honorary Doctorate Ceremony, Ahmet Çalık presented an Inauguration Lecture for the 2020-2021 Academic Year, offering insights and recommendations from his experiences in the field of entrepreneurship to students. In his lecture, Çalık indicated, “We are living through an era where we, as the business community, are also experiencing a period of transformation. The pandemic which we have found ourselves in has signalled the imminent change awaiting business models, transformation of sectors and the prospective rise of certain industries in the forthcoming period. As Çalık Group, we have confirmed our long years of involvement in a diverse range of industries and geographies as the right approach. During the crisis, we continued to launch significant investments, we worked and will continue to work even harder for our country”.
Recommending the youth to believe in themselves to achieve success in entrepreneurship, Ahmet Çalık continued his lecture with the following statements: “The forthcoming period is expected to witness a variety of economic, social, and technological developments around the world. Our lives will be introduced to new job positions and occupations in new fields. For the purposes of entrepreneurship, it is good to have and follow dreams, but do not set off on your journey without realistic analyses and risk measurements. You need to better yourselves and your business constantly. You need to be flexible, learn to have a long-term outlook, and not give up in the face of minor throwbacks and learn from your mistakes. I believe that all young individuals that set off on their journey on the basis of their motivation to benefit the society and the world will succeed and pave the way for a better future”.
Ahmet Çalık was awarded the title of “Honorary Doctorate” by Malatya Turgut Özal University as an addition to the titles of “Honorary Doctorete” previously presented to him by Matsumoto Dental University and Kindai Universities in Japan and Tirana University in Albania.