Message from the President | Honorary Doctorate Ceremony Speech

Distinguished Governor,

Distinguished Rector, Esteemed Members of the Senate,

Distinguished Professors,

Valued representatives of the public and business communities,
Dear Guests,

Today, for me, is not simply a day on which I receive a title.

When a person is honored in the city where they were born, they inevitably find themselves looking back.

They reflect once again on where they began, the roads they have travelled, and what they have done — and why.

For me, İskenderun is not simply the city where I was born.

It is the place where I learned about life, hard work and perseverance; where I came to understand the true meaning of production, labor and industry.

For this reason, to return years later to the land where I was born and receive an honorary doctorate from the university of my own city is a source of indescribable pride.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the distinguished leadership, Senate and academic community of İskenderun Technical University for bestowing this honor upon me.

As I was preparing for this speech, I asked myself one question:

What is it that has brought me here today?

Working harder?

Dreaming bigger?

Taking risks?

Of course, each of these has played a part.

But when I look back, I see three things that have consistently shaped my journey:

My meaningful dreams, my maximalist approach in every circumstance, and my determination to turn both into reality.

Let me explain what I mean by meaningful dreams.

I never dreamed of becoming rich.

Owning more things or living a more luxurious life was never at the center of my ambitions.

But I did dream of making a difference…

Even while working in a nine-square-meter shop, I dreamed of building major industrial facilities, producing in Türkiye what had never been produced before, and competing on the same stage as the best in the world…

Many years ago, I visited a factory in Italy owned by an industrialist with whom I was doing business — someone we could truly describe as a master of our industry.

That industrialist, who has since passed away, drove me through the production lines of his facility in his classic automobile.

What stayed with me from that visit was not his collection of classic cars.

What stayed with me was the thought that a factory could be so vast that you could drive a car between its production lines — that an industrial facility could exist on such an extraordinary scale.

Not much more than 35 years later, today we supply raw materials from our own enormous Tosyalı facilities to that very factory, which is also one of Europe’s leading steel companies.

In other words, my dreams have never been about ownership; they have always been about creating value.

Throughout my business life, I have always been a maximalist.

And I have never tried to suppress that.

If an investment was to be made, I was never afraid to think big.

If a target was to be set, I was never afraid to set an ambitious one.

And I was never afraid to pursue the scale required to compete with the best in the world.

Because I do not believe that timid ambitions can produce global results in the steel industry.

Of course, bigger goals require larger investments, greater risks and heavier responsibilities.

But when the target is set correctly, the value you create for your country grows in equal measure.

At the same time, I learned something else very early in life:

A dream, by itself, means nothing.

Generating ideas is easy.

Announcing targets is easy.

What is difficult is turning an idea into a project, a project into an investment, an investment into a functioning factory, and that factory into a competitive business that exports and creates lasting value.

In the business world, this is called “execution.”

I prefer a simpler expression:

the determination to make things happen.

Perhaps this has been the principle I have valued most throughout my life as an industrialist.

At the end of the day, the scoreboard does not record what you said.

It records what you actually delivered.

I remember the first years when we went to Osmaniye.

In a region where heavy industry was almost nonexistent, we dreamed of producing steel.

And we did not stop at dreaming.

We built Türkiye’s first flat steel production facility developed from the ground up entirely by the private sector.

Then, through successive investments, Osmaniye Organized Industrial Zone evolved into a major steel production center.

Over the years, it was not only factories that rose there.

A new culture of production emerged.

New capabilities were developed.

Tens of thousands of jobs were created.

And around them, a powerful industrial ecosystem and an extraordinary industrial cluster took shape.

For me, this is also where the true value of an investment becomes visible.

The impact of a factory should continue far beyond its gates.

It should transform the city in which it operates.

It should create an ecosystem.

It should develop human capital.

It should encourage new investments.

It should change the way a region looks toward its future.

Dear Guests,

Despite a global pandemic that brought the world to a standstill, the disruption of supply chains, and the devastating earthquake that struck our region, we built a world-scale facility in Sarıseki with an investment of 2.5 billion dollars and an annual flat steel production capacity of 4 million tons.

At the time, we could have found many reasons to stop or slow down the investment.

Instead, we did exactly the opposite.

Because particularly in difficult times, an industrialist’s investment is not merely an economic decision.

It is a statement of confidence in the city where you operate.

It is a way of showing that employment will continue.

It is a way of saying:

“These days will pass, and we will still be here, producing.”

Today, thankfully, when we look at where Tosyalı has reached, we see that the journey that began in that tiny shop has grown into a production network spanning three continents.

In 2025, we produced 12.11 million tons of crude steel and rose to 32nd place in the global ranking.

We became Türkiye’s largest and Europe’s second-largest steel producer.

But for me, these achievements are not an end result.

At most, they are an intermediate station on our journey.

Our next goal is to rank among the world’s top 20 steel producers.

Years ago, when I said, “We will export one billion dollars’ worth of products from İskenderun,” there were those who thought the target was overly ambitious.

But that was not an empty statement.

It was our goal.

And today, thankfully, we export billions of dollars’ worth of products every year to markets across the world.

Today, we approach our investments stretching from Türkiye to Algeria, and from Libya to Spain, with that same mindset.

We do not see the Mediterranean as a geography made up of disconnected countries.

We see it as a vast production, energy and trade basin, with Türkiye at its center, connecting Europe, Africa and Asia.

You must be close to your raw materials.

You must be close to sustainable energy resources.

You must be present in your markets.

And you must transform all of these into an integrated production network in which each part strengthens the others.

The era in which companies produced solely where costs were lowest is now behind us.

The pandemic, wars and trade tensions have shown all of us this reality.

Today, our largest global competitors are no longer asking only:

“Where can I produce more cheaply?”

They are asking:

“Where can I produce my strategic products securely, and how can I guarantee the resilience of my supply chain?”

In other words, the rules are being rewritten.

And I see a very important opportunity for Türkiye in this new environment.

I firmly believe this:

Geography alone is not destiny.

Being located at a strategic point on the map merely gives you an opportunity.

What turns that opportunity into power is your factories, your energy, your ports, your technology, your human capital and your defense industry capabilities.

In short, it is your manufacturing strength.

For a country’s geopolitical rise to be sustainable, it must be supported by a strong industrial foundation.

That is why, today, steel is no longer just steel.

Energy is no longer just energy.

The defense industry is no longer just the defense industry.

Each of these is also an essential component of economic independence and strategic power.

Never forget: if you do not have your own steel, you do not have true independence.

Without your own steel, you are dependent on the outside world in automotive, defense, energy and infrastructure.

That is why producing high-quality and advanced steel has never been merely a commercial matter for us.

It has also been part of our ambition to deepen Türkiye’s industrial capabilities.

With the same perspective, we have never viewed the green transition merely as an environmental regulatory requirement.

We see it as one of the most important fields of competition in the period ahead.

This is why we invest in hydrogen-based production technologies, expand our renewable energy capacity and plan large-scale solar energy investments across different regions of Türkiye.

You cannot produce the green steel of the future with the technologies of the past.

And you cannot prepare for the competition of the future while remaining in today’s comfort zone.

Dear Guests,

We apply the same philosophy at BMC.

Beyond bringing the New ALTAY tank into serial production, we are developing capabilities in engines and power groups that will help reduce Türkiye’s dependence on foreign suppliers.

At Togg, we are part of another major national ambition.

The issue is not simply about producing an automobile.

It is about building, from Türkiye, a new-generation global brand with its software, battery technology, mobility ecosystem and technological capabilities.

And I believe this is precisely where one of the defining issues of the period ahead emerges.

The world is experiencing an extremely intense industrial competition.

China has built an enormous manufacturing capability and, step by step, is expanding its presence across the world in technological and industrial products.

The United States is working to bring industrial production back to its own territory.

Europe is protecting its strategic industries.

Countries are redesigning their incentive systems, customs policies, energy strategies and supply chains.

At the same time, declining global demand and excess capacity across almost every sector have transformed fierce competition into competition that can become destructive.

Türkiye cannot afford to remain a spectator in such a world.

And as the industrialists of this country, neither can we afford to constantly complain about circumstances.

We may not be satisfied with exchange rates.

We may complain about interest rates.

We may be concerned about energy costs, access to finance and unfair competition from the Far East.

These are all genuine challenges.

And of course, strategic industries must be protected from unfair competition through the right policies.

But we cannot build our entire strategy around waiting for conditions to improve.

As the productive force of our country, we industrialists cannot hide behind the difficulties we face.

Our job is to understand the conditions, transform ourselves accordingly and deliver results.

We will become more efficient.

We will use more technology and more artificial intelligence.

We will expand our scale.

We will transform our energy infrastructure.

We will focus on advanced, high-value-added products.

I also believe that government, industry and universities can no longer afford to operate independently of one another.

In particular, I would like to underline the importance of our universities and our education system.

Everything we do is achieved through people.

Every success we create is achieved through people.

If we cannot equip this invaluable resource with the right competencies and skills, it is inevitable that we will fall behind in the global race.

With the emergence of artificial intelligence in our lives, a completely new era has begun for all of us.

At Tosyalı, we are making major investments in this field.

As a country, we must also define our priorities and the capabilities we will need, and develop our human capital accordingly.

One fact is clear:

Without academic and scientific transformation, every other effort will ultimately remain incomplete.

Government – Industry – Universities.

When we bring these three forces together around a shared objective, I believe Türkiye has tremendous opportunities ahead.

Dear Guests,

Once again, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to İskenderun Technical University for deeming me worthy of this highly distinguished honorary doctorate.

I do not see this title simply as recognition of what I have achieved in the past.

I see it as a new responsibility placed upon me for what I must accomplish in the future.

May God grant us success and keep us from falling short of this responsibility.

On the occasion of this honorary doctorate ceremony, which has brought us together here today, I would also like to emphasize one final point:

No one achieves success alone.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my dear mother and to my late father, Hacı Şerif Tosyalı, who raised me and prepared me for life with the values they instilled in me;

to my siblings Fatih, Ayhan and Sevgi, with whom I have walked side by side since the very beginning of this journey;

to my cherished family, who have always stood by me;

and to my children, Şerif, Şeyda, Miraç, Yavuz, Kadir and Selim.

And of course, throughout this long journey, I have been fortunate to have invaluable colleagues and companions who have worked with me for many years and who have shared the same belief in our goals in both good times and difficult ones.

In particular, I would like to thank our Holding CEO, Dr. Suhat Korkmaz, and our Board Member, Hakan Eminsoy, as well as all our executives with whom I have walked this path for many years.

To every one of my colleagues, whether they are here in this hall today or not, and to all our hardworking employees, I offer my heartfelt gratitude for their dedication, loyalty, contribution and hard work.

I extend my deepest respect to you all.