Turkey’s entrepreneur of the year crowned

ISTANBUL

(L to R) Doğan Gazetecilik Chairwoman Hanzade Doğan Boyner, Turkish Science Minister Nihat Ergün, Bozlu Holding Chairman Şükrü Bozluolçay and Ernst&Young Turkiye Country Mustafa Çamlıca pose during the ceremony. AA photo

Bozlu Holding Chairman Şükrü Bozluolçay, a lifelong contributor to nuclear medicine and cancer treatment in Turkey, was presented with the entrepreneur of the year award yesterday at a ceremony in Istanbul.

The annual ceremony, which was hosted by international consulting agency Ernst & Young and sponsored by daily Hürriyet and broadcaster CNNTürk, took place at Çırağan Palace, drawing members of the business and media world, along with Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün.

Hanzade Doğan Boyner said the awards aimed to support the spirit of entrepreneurship in the country.

“There is a saying in Turkish that says nothing successful goes unpunished,” Doğan Boyner said. “We are here to prove otherwise. We support the spirit of entrepreneurship, and we support this project for a greater Turkey. We, as Hürriyet newspaper, have the innovative and free way of thought in our genes.”

The award was presented to Bozluolçay by Ergün and Doğan Boyner.

“We, as the Turkish government, have eliminated the risks obstructing entrepreneurs and have opened new channels by means of diplomacy,” Ergün said, adding that these attempts would produce results if entrepreneurs took calculated risks.

Bozluolçay is the leading name in Turkey in the field of nuclear medicine and is known for contributing to providing affordable cancer medication to patients, as well as founding nuclear medicine centers nationwide.

The entrepreneur, who is a former nuclear doctor, owns Marmara Nuclear Medicine (MNT) centers for nuclear medicine health in Turkey, Romania and Moldova that provide cancer diagnosis and treatment services. MNT will begin operations in Georgia, Ukraine, Iraq and Bulgaria soon while also expanding its domestic reach. Bozluolçay also founded another company called Monrol Nuclear Products, which manufactures, imports and exports radiopharmaceutical products.

Turkey’s biggest pharmaceutical group, Eczacıbaşı, and Monrol have a 50-50 joint venture known as the Eczacıbaşı Monrol company that exports to 23 countries.Bozluolçay’s company developed a robotic system to be utilized for producing nuclear medicines, winning plaudits in the United States, and has been working on another to eliminate the side effects of chemotherapy treatment.His companies also work with the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) in producing and developing better ways for cancer patients.