Dr. Coşkun Şahin - Chief Technology Officer - Türk Telekom Group

He has graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1987 and he got his Master's degree in 1990 in the same department, his Ph.D degree in Controlling and Computer Engineering in 1997. After working for TÜBİTAK Information Technologies Institute between 1991 and 1997 and working as a researcher and a technical manager in automation, defense industry and consumer electronics sectors, he has been working in different positions in GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) sector since 2001.

He has been working as the Vice President of Technology at Avea and was appointed as the Vice President of Technology for Turk Telekom on April 30, 2014 to lead technology, network and operations organizations across Turk Telekom and Avea. TTNET was also included in his responsibilities in September 2014. He has several international scientific and technical articles, technical reports and 7 patents in electronics and communications fields.

George Bouma - Team Leader, Sustainable Development, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub

George Bouma has recently shifted to Istanbul as Cluster Team Leader, Sustainable Development which focuses on employment and social inclusion, sustainable management of natural resources and green growth in the region. He has worked in UNDP for the last 5 years previously as a Global Policy Advisor on mainstreaming poverty-environment issues into development planning and promoting social and environmental safeguards to development.

George has gained about 25 years experience in both development cooperation in areas of poverty reduction and as a technical expert in project environmental impact assessment (infrastructure, oil and gas, urban development), strategic environmental assessment, pollution control and management, water and sanitation and natural resources management.

He has a Master’s degree in International Development from Melbourne University, Australia and a Master of Science degree from Murdoch University, Australia.

Kamal Malhotra - UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey

Kamal Malhotra assumed his positions as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for the Republic of Turkey on 8 April 2013.

Prior to this appointment (late October 2008-31 March 2013), Mr. Malhotra was the UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia; UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam and UNFPA Representative for Malaysia.

From 1999 to 2008 he worked in UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy, New York as Senior Adviser on Inclusive Globalization (and Cluster Leader) (2002-2008), Civil Society Empowerment Adviser (2001-2002) and Senior Civil Society Adviser (1999-2000).

Before joining UNDP, Mr. Malhotra was Co-Founder and Co-Director of Focus on the Global South, (1995-1999) a global policy research organization located at the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute in Thailand. During this period, he was also a part-time Regional Adviser on Macroeconomic Policies and Children’s Rights for Save the Children Fund (UK) for South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Prior to this, Mr. Malhotra was Director of the Overseas and Aboriginal Programme at Community Aid Abroad (Oxfam Australia), based in Melbourne, Australia from 1988 to 1995. He also served with the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the Philippines (1982-1988) in various positions as Research and Rural Credit Specialist, Associate Director, and Director, International Extension.

Mr. Malhotra holds an MA in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York, with a specialization in economic and political development, a Master’s in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, India with a specialization in finance and economics, and a BA in Economics (with Honors Degree), from the University of Delhi, India.

Mr. Malhotra is widely published with over 75 journals and other articles on the multilateral system and development cooperation. He is also the lead author or co-author of more than five books including the UNDP led Making Global Trade Work for People (Earthscan, 2003) and Globalization and the Least Developed Countries (UNDP, in cooperation with the UN-OHRLLS and the Government of Turkey, 2008). He also initiated and led Virtuous Cycles: The Singapore Public Service and National Development (UNDP, 2011) in cooperation with the Government of Singapore.

Emine Etili - Head of Public Policy, Turkey

Emine is responsible for Public Policy for Turkey at Twitter. Her responsibilities include engagement with the Turkish government and regulators on relevant policy issues as well as Turkish civil society and business community. Prior to joining Twitter, Emine worked in various roles in the private, government and civil society sectors, most recently managing external affairs at Endeavor Turkey.

Emine earned a BA degree from the University of Virginia and an MA degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is @EmineEtili on Twitter.

Nilay Erdem - Facebook Head of Public Policy, Turkey

Nilay Erdem is Facebook’s Head of Public Policy, Turkey. Prior to joining Facebook, Erdem worked as a Director at BTS & Partners for many years. Erdem also worked for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies in Turkey. She offered consultancy services in activities carried out in Turkey of pacesetter social media, e-commerce, sharing-economy companies and payment service providers in Silicon Valley. She has written a large number of articles and reports on information and communication technology law and policies and provided various trainings on the same subjects.

Nilay Erdem earned her Bachelor’s degree in Law from Istanbul University and her Master’s degree in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) from East Anglia University.

Mert Fırat - Actor, Founder of www.ihtiyacharitasi.org

Mert Fırat was born in Ankara in 1981. After graduating from high school, he went to Sweden to receive training in radio and television.

Later he moved back to Ankara and earned a Bachelor's degree in Theater from Ankara University Faculty of Language, History and Geography.

He has starred in a series of television programs and movies since 2005. He also played the lead role in the film “Love in Another Language”, the script of which was written by Fırat himself along with director İlksen Başarır. Fırat also wrote the script for the film titled “Atlıkarınca” (Merry-go-round).

Fırat, who has been involved in theater for many years performing on various stages, still performs in striking shows titled “Bütün Çılgınlar Sever Beni” (All the Crazy People Love Me) and “Parkta Güzel Bir Gün” (A Beautiful Day at the Park) on the Moda Stage.

He took part in a wide range of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects and public awareness campaigns. He also taught acting and drama classes to children in Samsun İlkadım Learning Unit within the scope of “I Read, I Play” project carried out by the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV). He contributed greatly to setting up clubs for deaf and hearing impaired people and opening sign language courses by the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. He participated panels on incestuous relationships held by Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation. He played a significant role in making the issue of incest come to the forefront. He gave active support to the anti-fur campaign named “Take Off Your Fur, Wear Your Conscience” (Kürkünü Çıkar Vicdanını Giy) launched by the Bana Göz Kulak Ol Association.

Fırat, who took part voluntarily in various public awareness campaigns launched by the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV), the Foundation for Children with Leukemia (LÖSEV) and a variety of LGBT and youth organizations is still involved voluntarily in many different campaigns and activities.

Last but not least he played an active role in national and global activities on gender equality and violence against women. Within this scope he voiced the infographic video on violence against women prepared by BİANET and also provided volunteer support for the video to reach a large audience. Furthermore Fırat took part in video-making process of “The Ozgecan Law” campaign started on Change.org platform. He appeared in the public awareness film of the campaign. He supports the HeforShe campaign, a solidarity campaign for gender equality initiated by the United Nations.

Mert Fırat, who works with various associations and foundations on corporate social responsibility, appears as a partner in two different projects. Firstly he put the “Sanat Mahal” project into practice with his partners in Bursa. This is a new social enterprise project aimed at creating an art space for the neighborhood and the city. Secondly, Fırat, one of the founders of www.ihtiyacharitasi.org contributes actively to planning and functioning of the project.

Shelley Inglis - Regional Team Leader, Governance and Peacebuilding, UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub

Shelley Inglis is the United Nations Development Programme Regional Cluster Leader of Governance and Peacebuilding for Europe and CIS, and previously Policy Advisor and Team Leader of the Rule of Law, Access to Justice, Security and Legal Empowerment of the Poor Team in the Democratic Governance Group. Prior to UNDP, she was in the Rule of Law Unit in the Office of the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General working on system-wide policy coordination and coherence in the field of rule of law. She worked previously on security governance, human rights and rule of law for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Her experience includes providing guidance and support to UN field presences in conflict-affected and post conflict environments including, among others, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cote d’Ivoire, Georgia, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan, and Timor Leste. She has also drafted numerous reports of the Secretary-General and policy and guidance materials for the Organization, and conducted a wide range of workshops and training in her area of expertise.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Shelley worked extensively on the Balkans, CIS and Turkey, in particular with Save the Children US (1994-1995), and Amnesty International Secretariat and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (1999-2002) in Kosovo (UNSC 1244). She has also practiced public interest law, family law and criminal law in the United States. She is member of the New York Bar and term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A graduate of Columbia School of Law (JD) and Cornell University (BA), she serves as an adjunct professor in political science and human rights at Barnard College of Columbia University.

Barçın Yinanç - Journalist

Barçın Yinanç holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. She started her career in journalism in 1990 in Milliyet daily, one of the mainstream newspapers of Turkey.

She worked in Milliyet daily’s Ankara bureau as a Diplomatic Reporter, covering Turkish foreign policy issues, mainly, Turkish-EU relations, transatlantic ties, regional developments from the Middle East to the Caucasus.

She traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, covering Turkey’s presidents, prime ministers and ministers’ visits to these regions. She conducted several interviews with European political figures including heads of state, foreign ministers and members of parliament (MPs).

In 2001, she became a TV reporter for CNN Turk, later becoming a program editor for the same channel. She has been living in Istanbul since 2004.

She currently works as an opinion editor for Hürriyet Daily News, where her columns are also published. She also conducts the paper’s weekly interviews. She is a contributor to The Majalla Magazine. She is at different intervals invited to provide her comments to various international media outlets like BBC Radio, Al Jazeera English, France 24.

She speaks fluent English and French and very basic German.

Pınar Dağ - Journalist, Academician and Founder of www.dagmedya.net

Pınar Dağ, who is an Economics graduate, studied Journalism at the London School of Journalism. 
She has taught Research and Data Journalism in various institutions in Turkey and does research in the field of business data for Grassroots Research Company, based in San Francisco. In addition, Pınar Dağ is the co-founder of Dağ Medya, an online newspaper in Turkish and www.verigazeteciligi.com, an online web portal which provides regularly educational Data Journalism content. She has been carrying out studies in Data Journalism for more than two years and has been lecturing senior students of the Department of New Media on Data Journalism at Kadir Has University since 2013. She translated the first Data Journalism Handbook into Turkish with a group of volunteers. She is currently working on 'School of Data - Turkey' project.

Gülsin Onay - Pianist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Gülsin Onay's subsequent, truly international career has spanned 70 countries across all continents, from Venezuela to Japan. Gülsin Onay has given concerts in the major musical centers of the world.

An exceptional Chopin interpreter, Gülsin Onay was in 2007 honored with the award of a State Medal by the Polish nation. She is also acknowledged worldwide as the finest interpreter of the music of Adnan Saygun, whose works feature prominently in her concerts and recordings, and whose 2nd Piano Concerto (which she has premiered in Turkey and abroad) was dedicated to her.

“An exceptional pianist, endowed with virtuosic brilliance and boundless energy, and an interpretive power both intelligent and emotionally sensitive”, Gülsin Onay has recorded 20 albums that illustrate the breadth of her repertoire as well as her interpretive power.

Gülsin Onay takes a special interest in the promotion of charitable causes, giving charity concerts all around the world – most recently for children in Lebanon, under the auspices of UNICEF, whose Turkish National Committee appointed her “Goodwill Ambassador” in 2003. Since its inception in 2004, Gülsin Onay has been the artistic advisor of the Gümüşlük Classical Music Festival.

Selin Girit - Journalist

Selin Girit has been a BBC journalist for over a decade. She joined the BBC in 2004, working for the BBC Turkish Section within the World Service. She has presented and produced BBC Turkish's flagship TV programme "World Agenda" for four years. Prior to that she presented, produced and contributed to numerous radio programmes of BBC Turkish. Since 2013, she works as a bilingual correspondent for the BBC, contributing to all the platforms across the corporation in both English and Turkish. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Boğaziçi University and a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Politics of the EU. She is very passionate about theatre and has also an MA degree in Text and Performance Studies from the King’s College Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. She is currently based in Istanbul, after living in London for 10 years.

Milica Begovic - Innovation Specialist at UNDP

Milica Begovic Radojevic is an innovation specialist at the UNDP Regional Centre for Europe and the CIS in Istanbul. She works with teams (UNDP and local/national partners) across the region to find out new ways of tackling problems, test out fresh ideas and new perspectives in UNDP context. Previously, she worked as the Economy and Environment Team Leader in UNDP Montenegro for almost 5 years. She supported Montenegro as it moved towards a low emission market economy in a way which promotes the well-being and prosperity of communities and their environment and local economies.

She designed strategic programs that promote the efficient use of energy and renewable sources of energy to assist the country in strengthening the resilience of its ecosystems, economy and communities. She also designed disaster risk reduction programs, worked to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises working in and around protected areas, connected businesses across borders, and supported national and local partners with the management of protected areas.

Prior to joining UNDP, Ms. Begovic Radojevic worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) between May 2005 and September 2006, followed by a posting at the UN as a Coordination Officer.

Ms. Begovic Radojevic is a Montenegrin national and holds a PhD degree in International Relations, a Master’s degree in Political Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and ICT from the University of Alabama, USA.

Her main areas of expertise are as follows:
1. Social innovation, change management
2. Design thinking, user innovation, citizen engagement, foresight, social network analysis, tech and complexity science and development
3. Natural resource planning, disaster risk reduction, local development

Vladimir Vulic - Innovation Consultant and Co-founder of Digitalizuj.me – Montenegro

Vladimir, better known as Vanja to his friends, is the co-founder of Digitalizuj.me, a digital community trying to help citizens of Montenegro to understand and realize exciting new opportunities for social change and business in the digital environment by embracing social media and innovative business models.

Vanja is a management, innovation, and social media consultant, who has done work for clients such as UNDP Montenegro, Ministry for Information Society and Telecommunications (Government of Montenegro), Social Innovation Laboratory, British Council Montenegro, Bearingpoint...

He is the Program Director of Spark.me, one of the biggest tech/business conferences in Southeast Europe.

He has 10 years of experience teaching Strategic Management and Introduction to Management at the Faculty of Economics Podgorica, University of Montenegro.

Nana Tsiklauri - Public Service Development Agency, Ministry of Justice of Georgia

Nana Tsiklauri joined Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia in August 2013. Since then she has become actively engaged in establishing partnerships with various international organizations and donor agencies working in the governance domain. She is also intensely involved in the design and implementation of various projects and initiatives aiming at improving public service delivery in Georgia with a strong citizen-centric approach and focus on e-governance and public service innovation. Currently she is leading the Strategic Projects and Reforms Department of the Agency, while at the same time serving as the Deputy Chair of PSDA.

Before moving to the public sector realm, Nana worked with a number of international agencies and local NGOs in the field of development cooperation in various domains. Her experience in the public sector is underscored by a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), along with a Master of Public Administration degree from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). Nana also holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Tbilisi State University.

Over the last years she has focused on decentralization and local governance issues, agile governance models and citizen-centric public services. As part of the recent and ongoing projects, she has been actively involved in initiatives aiming at introducing innovations into the way public services are designed and delivered, fostering e-skills development and application of Human Centered Design to inform public policy.

Marcos Athias Neto - Director, UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD)

Prior to joining UNDP, Marcos was Global Technical Advisor for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Risk Reduction at ChildFund International, where he also served as Regional Development Officer for the Northeast US. Before working with ChildFund International, Marcos spent 17 years at CARE International; his last post was as CARE’s Director of Partnerships and Special Initiatives and Climate Change and Sustainable Livelihoods. In this role, he led CARE’s efforts to build climate change partnerships, especially with environmental organizations. During his tenure at CARE International, Marcos’ assignments ranged from six years as Regional Manager for Asia and Latin America at CARE UK, where he focused on resource mobilization, program design, monitoring and evaluation and supporting country offices with strategic plan development, to leading CARE USA’s process of establishing CARE’s presence in Brazil. In 2001, Marcos became CARE Brazil’s first National Director, working to build the organization’s first Board of Directors, articulating its strategic vision, and building its first programs and its first marketing, fundraising and communications strategy, managing a staff of 10 people. From 2006 to 2008, Marcos was CARE’s Program Director in Central America, overseeing a portfolio of $25 million and 250 people. His past experience with CARE also includes three years as Deputy Regional Director for Latin America, focusing on resource mobilization, knowledge management and constituency building.

Shamilka Samarasinha - EPAM Kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk iş danışmanı

Shamilka Samarasinha is a Business Consultant on Corporate Social Responsibility for EPAM, a US based public listed software product development services company, with a global presence across 20 countries, and staff strength of 10,000+.

She joined EPAM in February 2015 and has been instrumental in driving the recently concluded Hack4Tourism in partnership with UNDP Belarus and the launch of EPAM e-kids program – a program developed to build the capacity of children on coding with a specific focus on making IT an attractive subject choice for young girls. She has more than 15 years of professional experience, which spans from consulting, operations leadership and account management in both the private and public sectors.

Prior to joining EPAM, she was a consultant to Brandix, the single largest apparel exporter in Sri Lanka. She was responsible for developing their Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy. She was also the Country Manager - International Sourcing for Tesco Plc, based out of Bangkok in Thailand and then went on to overlook the Small Grants Program for the British Embassy, with a specific focus on emergency relief in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

She is currently based in Minsk, Belarus and has a broad overview of the socio-economic and political climate of Belarus and the region.

She has an undergraduate degree in Economics/Development Studies (Double Major) from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, USA and a Master's Degree in International Political Economy from Leeds University, UK.

Dr. Ali Ercan Özgür - Founder of IDEMA

Ali Ercan Özgür holds a PhD degree in Local Governments and Decentralization Department from Marmara University with a doctoral dissertation on “Development Agencies in Turkey under the Auspices of the EU”. He is a graduate of Political Science and International Relations (Marmara University, İstanbul) and holds a MSc degree in Governance and Development Management from University of Birmingham, UK with a Master's thesis on “Aid Coordination and Effectiveness in Turkey”. He is British Foreign & Commonwealth Office Chevening Scholar for Master's degree, Marshall Memorial Fellow of German Marshall Fund of the United States and Black Sea Young Reformer. He is the co-author of the book “Local Governments System in Turkey, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic”.

Ali Ercan Özgür is the Co-founder and Managing Director of IDEMA International Development Partners (www.idema.com.tr). Beforehand he worked as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Turkey. He is also the Spokesperson for Brand Protection Group of Turkey composed of 300 key global brands in Turkey. He started civil society work at Youth for Habitat International Network (now Habitat Governance and Development Center) as International Relations Coordinator in 2001. Then he worked as the Local Governance Fund Manager at United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Branch (UCLG-MEWA), the Projects Coordinator at Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV), the Projects Director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Association of Turkey (CSR-Turkey) and the Good Governance Program Manager at Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV). Ali Ercan Özgür coordinated research and social projects with the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the World Bank and private sector. Özgür is the Member of Board and the Secretary General of the Corporate Social Responsibility Association of Turkey. He is the Co-founder and the Executive Director of the Karaköy Institute, the first private think-tank in Turkey.

Since 2001, he has volunteered for Youth for Habitat and been a member of national and international committees on sustainable development. He is the founder of sehircocugu.com and ihtiyacharitasi.org websites. He was a national youth delegate during the 2002 UNDP RIO+10 World Summit on Sustainable Development. Afterwards, he ran various sustainable development projects in Turkey. His expert fields are sustainable development, international and public-private partnerships, regional development, governance, development management, local governments and cities, corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, NGOs and civil society, international aid and funds.

Engin Yılmaz - Director of GETEM (The Assistive Technology and Education Laboratory for Individuals with Visual Disabilities) and Chair of ABFA (Association of Barrier Free Access)

Engin Yılmaz was born in Ankara in 1979. He graduated from Boğaziçi University with two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Guidance and Psychological Counseling in 2002. He graduated as the top student of the Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling.

He earned a Master’s degree in Cognitive Psychology from Boğaziçi University in 2005.

He worked as a counselor in a public high school between 2002 and 2007.

He began his PhD in Adult Education at Boğaziçi University in 2008. He successfully completed the doctoral qualifying examination and has been writing his doctoral dissertation.

He was selected as a student representative to the Disabled Students’ Commission of the Council of Higher Education in 2010 and has been working in the same position since then. He offered various computer training courses including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet for the blind and visually impaired between 2002 and 2012. He also played an active role in translating screen reader programs into Turkish. He taught iOS courses to blind and visually impaired people within the scope of Barrier Free Education Project launched in the period 2014-2015.

He also installed screen reader programs on computers used by employees working in the call centers of various institutions such as Turkish Airlines, Atlasjet Airlines, AVEA and HSBC Bank and therefore he played a key role in social integration in the workplace of blind and low vision employees. He wrote scripts to make Document Management System (DMS) of the Ministry of National Education accessible for all in 2015.

Yılmaz is one of the founders of the Association of Barrier Free Access. He played a significant role in developing an audio-based information system providing blind and vision impaired people with audible messages outlining bus station facilities and bus stop locations on the public bus network in Istanbul, designing an accessible voting system for blind and visually handicapped people, holding demonstrations among sidewalk activists for accessible streets and launching video description programs for the first time in Turkey. He also writes for the magazine Equal, Accessible, Barrier Free Life (EEEH). He has been working as the Director of the Assistive Technology and Education Laboratory for Individuals with Visual Disabilities (GETEM) since 2007.

He still serves as the Director of GETEM, Chair of ABFA, a member of the Disabled Students’ Platform, the Student Representative to the Disabled Students’ Commission of the Council of Higher Education and the Co-chair of the Audio Description Association.

Serkan Emek - Digital Media Systems (DMS) Service Development Group Manager, Türk Telekom Group

Serkan Emek worked as the Digital Media Services Project Manager and the Mobile TV Product Development Manager in Türk Telekom Group and he has been working as a Digital Media Product Development manager for over four years in Türk Telekom Group. He also worked as the Conditional Access Specialist and the Conditional Access Operation Manager in Digiturk in his early career. He has sixteen years of professional experience on a wide range of fields such as product development, project management and business planning. He received his PhD degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Yıldız Technical University.

Barrier Free Tivibu Service is a service specially tailored to the needs of blind and visually impaired people. Video description (also known as “audio description”) provides narration of key visual elements, making television programs and movies accessible to blind and visually impaired viewers. Blind and visually impaired customers may also activate the talking guide feature by double tapping a button on their remote control.

Harun Tekin - Musician, Mor ve Ötesi

Harun Tekin was born on June 28, 1977 in Ankara. He graduated from German High School of Istanbul in 1996 and earned two Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Psychology from Boğaziçi University in 2001. Mor ve Ötesi, the Turkish rock band formed by Tekin and his friends in 1995 when Tekin was a high school student has released 7 albums and staged approximately 1000 concerts. He represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. He taught courses on songwriting at Bilgi University Department of Music between 2011 and 2013. Tekin, who writes for a wide range of newspapers and magazines, has been writing on a regular basis for BirGün newspaper since 2013. Tekin is keenly interested in philosophy of mind, ecology, politics, fanaticism and soccer.

Fatih Türkmenoğlu - MC, TV Journalist and Producer, Author

Fatih Türkmenoğlu earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychological Counseling from Boğaziçi University and Master’s degree in Human Resources Management (HRM) from New York University. He started writing in Sabah newspaper and prepared and presented the radio program “Köşebaşı” on Radio 2019. He started working as a correspondent for NTV in 1996. He has covered breaking news from across the country and around the globe and produced a wide range of television programs. He produced and hosted television programs such as “Renkler ve Sesler” (Sounds and Colors), “Sevgi İle” (With Love), “Her Mevsim Bahar” (Every Season is Spring), “Hindistan’dan Masallar” (Stories from India) and “Yolcu” (Traveler) in four and a half years.

He participated in a wide range of trainings and conferences at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta after having been invited by CNN International. In 2001, he started to work for CNN Turk and continued preparing and hosting “Sounds and Colors”. He began working as a reporter and producer for CNN Turk in 2003 and worked as a columnist for Turkish Daily News (the column’s name: A Day Out in Istanbul). He was also the volunteer chief editor of the monthly media organ “B” of the Boğaziçi University Alumni Association (BÜMED).

He has interviewed various world-renowned celebrities such as Hillary Clinton, Aga Khan, Glafcos Klerides, Liza Minnelli, Sophia Loren, Carla Bruni and many others. He has traveled to more than 70 countries in pursuit of countless stories and always brought humans factor into the forefront in a great deal of political and social news. He won the award for “Best TV Program” from the Marmara University Faculty of Communication in 1997 along with many other awards presented to him by various local organizations and private companies. He also received an award for the Best News Report at the CNN World Report Awards, 1999. He has been presented the “Broadcaster of the Year Award” many times by various institutions.

His first book “Üç Kuruş Fazla Olsun, Kırmızı Olsun” composed of 27 stories was published by Epsilon Publishing House in 2003. His second book “Amerikan Rüyası Tabirleri” was also published by Epsilon Publishing House in 2005. Türkmenoğlu conducted weekly interviews and wrote travel articles for the weekend supplement of Milliyet Daily newspaper. He prepared and hosted “Sahil Günlüğü” (The Coast Diary) for more than 10 years. He hosted CNN Turk shows “Görülmesi Gereken 50 Yer” (50 Must-See Destinations), “Afiş” (Poster) and “Hayat Gezince Güzel” (Life Is Beautiful When You Travel) for 13 years. The seventh edition of “Türkiye’de Görülmesi Gereken 101 Yer” (101 Must-See Places in Turkey) that he co-wrote along with Saffet Emre Tonguç was released and it was also translated into English. His last book “Hayat Gezince Güzel – Sahilde” (Life Is Beautiful When You Travel – On The Coast) was published by Inkılap Publishing House.

He participated in a series of seminars as a Visiting Research Fellow at Northwestern University last year. He produces documentaries, biographical and corporate films. He emcees at special events and teaches courses on media relations, presentation skills, Generation Y and positive psychology.