TÜSİAD starts discussion on next chairman

The Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) has started discussions on its next chairman following Muharrem Yılmaz’s surprise June 4 resignation from the organization amid a labor crisis in his own company.

Haluk Dinçer, the vice chairman of TÜSİAD, June 5 rejected rumors that he would replace Yılmaz.

“There were some reports in social media that I will be the next chairman. These are incorrect. TÜSİAD will choose a chairman by the next general assembly,” Dinçer told reporters in Ankara after meeting with main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in Istanbul. “This is a process and no decision has been made by the governing body. A member from the governing body will be chosen as the chairman and will take the position until the next general assembly. We are expecting an announcement in one week.”

Yılmaz said he took the decision to resign to prevent claims targeting his company, Turkey’s largest dairy producer, Sütaş, from harming the larger association. “I hope my resignation from the TÜSİAD chairman office won’t be perceived as running away from this issue. TÜSİAD’s reputation is a very valuable thing for me,” he told reporters at a press conference in Istanbul on June 4.

For his part, Kılıçdaroğlu said Yılmaz’s decision was an example behavior for “all of us that politicians should also follow.”