Demirören Group founder laid to rest

ISTANBUL

Erdoğan Demirören, the late chair of the Demirören Group, was laid to rest in Istanbul on June 10.

A special ceremony was held earlier on June 10 in front of the Demirören Holding building in Istanbul’s Şişhane neighborhood, attended by members of the Demirören family and employees of the Demirören Group.

His body was sent to the Fatih Mosque for a religious ceremony.

Following the religious service, Erdoğan Demirören was laid to rest in the family grave at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery.
Erdoğan Demirören, the chairman of the Demirören Group, which owns the Demirören Media Group including daily Hürriyet, passed away on June 8 at the age of 80.

He had been receiving treatment at Istanbul’s Florence Nightingale Hospital’s intense care unit from May 31.

Family members, politicians including Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak, Environment and Urban Planning Minister Mehmet Özhaseki, Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, and Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmuş attended the service at the Fatih Mosque.

Also among the attendees were main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Gürsel Tekin, and former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller.

“We will always be remembered”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 8 issued a statement on the death of Erdoğan Demirören. 

“I have received news regarding the death of founder and the chairman of the Demirören Group with great sadness. Erdoğan Demirören, a precious industrialist and a businessman who made great contributions to our country, will always be remembered,” Erdoğan said in the statement.

“I would like to extend my condolences to his family, his loved ones and the business community,” he added.

Speaking at the religious ceremony at the Fatih Mosque, Parliament Speaker Kahraman praised the late Demirören as a “modest, humble man.”

“I worked with him for eight years on the board of trustees of the Istanbul Commerce University. He stepped into the business world at an early age and he had a deep intellectual knowledge,” Kahraman added.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said he was mourning the death of a great businessman.

“He dedicated his entire life to his country, to the country’s industry and to the advancement of the county’s development. He has done a lot for our country. He had provided jobs for thousands of people. He was a good man. May God rest his soul in peace,” Yıldırım said.

“President Erdoğan, who phoned his family to extend his condolences, cannot attend the ceremony. I am here at the ceremony also on the president’s behalf,” he added.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said the late Erdoğan Demirören was a close friend of his.

“He made great contributions to the country and he was a great philanthropist. He was like an elder brother to me. May God bless his soul,” Çavuşoğlu said.

“He was a great businessman who undertook very important investments in Turkey. He was a pioneer investor in the Turkish energy sector. His group played a pioneering role in industry by undertaking investments in a sector where there a number of foreign players,” Energy Minister Berat Albayrak said.

“I hope we will have more such local groups that believe in our economy and our industry. May God bless his soul,” Albayrak added.

Vahap Munyar, daily Hürriyet’s editor-in-chief, noted that Erdoğan Demirören had recently acquired the Doğan Group following the acquisition of Milliyet and Vatan newspapers.

‘Great loss for Turkey’

Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, a board member of Doğan Holding, said Erdoğan Demirören was a great businessman. 

“I had known him from my childhood and he was my father’s [Aydın Doğan] friend. With his death, Turkey has lost one of its values. His children will carry on. We are all very sad,” she said.

Ali Sabancı, board member of Esas Holding and the chairman of Pegasus Airlines, said Demirören was a “brave businessman.”

“He was a brave businessman. He always tried and most of the time he succeeded,” Sabancı recalled.

Sports world in mourning

Ali Koç, the recently elected chairman of Fenerbahçe, said Demirören made valuable contributions to Turkish sports and Beşiktaş.

“This is a very sad day for me. We used to talk about sports all the time. The sports world and the business community will miss him,” Koç futhered.

“I will always remember him with his smile on his face. He was a good man and we had great times together. He never discriminated against people from other sports clubs. He was always a compromising figure,” said Fatih Terim, the coach of Galatasaray football team.