Chobani founder urges world to ‘step up’ for Syrian refugees

ISTANBUL

Syrian Kurdish people stand in a factory used as a refugee camp in the town of Suruç, Şanlıurfa province, on Nov 9, 2014, near the Syrian town of Kobane. AFP Photo

Turkish-born Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of the U.S.-based Chobani Greek Yogurt, has called on the world to “step up on the Syria refugee crisis” in an article for CNN.com.

“Like many entrepreneurs, I am often asked about the secrets to building a successful career. The advice I give is that whether you’re in Silicon Valley creating apps, or in Unadilla Valley in upstate New York making yogurt, there are many common ingredients for success,” the businessman said in the article.

“But everything starts with opportunity, whether it is the opportunity to study, to work, to build something, or the opportunities afforded by a safe home, a stable society and a secure environment.
These were all opportunities that I enjoyed as a young boy in a Kurdish community in eastern Turkey and as a young man who came to America, inspired by the American dream,” he continued.

Ulukaya recently donated $2 million for Kobane, the Kurdish town besieged by jihadists on Syria’s border with Turkey.

After stressing that many people in the region where he grew up are not able to receive the opportunities he once had, Ulukaya underlined the increasingly heavy burden on Syrian refugees.

“When I watch the reports from towns like Kobane, I see a haunting despair in the eyes of refugees,” he wrote.

Click here to read the article on CNN.com