Telecom firm gives hand to Greek school in Gökçeada

Turkey's leading mobile phone operator Turkcell has renovated the technological infrastructure of a Greek high school on Turkey's northwestern island of Gökçeada and held an opening ceremony for it on May 17. 

Turkcell established a technology class, an open-air sports hall, an amphitheater, as well as a recreational facility including a botanical garden for the Gökçeada Private High School and Secondary School, which was reopened in 2015 after a 40-year closure.

The ceremony was attended by Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioğlu, GreekOrthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, Imroz Education and Culture Association chair Laki Vingas, Turkcell board members, Gökçeada Governor Muhittin Gürel, Gökçeada Mayor Ünal Çetin, the school's principal İoakim Makis Kamburopulos and former students of the school.

Speaking at the ceremony, Terzioğlu said that he himself was a member of a family that came to Turkey following a population agreement between Greece and Turkey after World War I.

"I really feel this. They [the Greek community's children] are luckier than their grandfathers and mothers, just like I am, compared to my grandmother and grandfather. As a member of a family that came to Turkey with a population agreement after World War I, and at a time when the world is scared of migration, it is hopeful and inspiring to watch people's stories going back home," Terzioğlu said.

Patriarch Bartholomew, who was born in Gökçeada, also delivered a speech at the ceremony. "So blessed that our state institutions and Gökçeada residents are giving support to our efforts, and a big company like Turkcell established a facility in this far away village for a school under the management of the İmroz Education and Culture Association that's striving for education,"...