A note for history
The book on Ziyaret Tepe, where archeological excavations shedding light on Assyrian history
have been supported by Tekfen Foundation for many years, has finally been published. A summa-
ry of this archaeological work that continued for 18 years,
Ziyaret Tepe – Exploring the Anatolian
Frontier of the Assyrian Empire
also demonstrates the cultural richness of these lands.
Tušhan (today known as Ziyaret Tepe)
was one of the provincial centers in the
Tigris region of the Assyrian Empire, which
ruled over Mesopotamia in history. Excava-
tions in Tušhan continued for 18 years and
were completed in 2014. Ziyaret Tepe will
be inundated once the construction of the
Ilısu Dam is finished, and the digs brought
to light a treasure trove of new information
regarding the Assyrian civilization. Follow-
ing the excavations, preparations began for
a book that will present this material to
the scientific community as well as history
fans. After a long and detailed work,
Zi-
yaret Tepe - Exploring the Anatolian Frontier
of the Assyrian Empire
has been published
recently with the support of Tekfen Foun-
dation.
The book summarizes the excavation
work carried out at the site while also pre-
senting a myriad of previously unknown
details regarding the Assyrian civilization.
The book tells of the daily life in Tušhan,
the components of an excavation from A
to Z and their story, accompanied by hun-
dreds of photographs and texts by archae-
ologists expert in the field.
Only a small portion of the thousands
of excavated material can be exhibited at
the Diyarbakır Museum, which has made
the book even more important as it will
bring the project to a much larger audience
and even get them to enjoy archaeology.
The book launch and press conference was
held at Soho House on Thursday, March 16,
hosted by Dr. John MacGinnis (Cambridge
University) and Professor Kemalettin
Köroğlu (Marmara University), two of the
directors of the Ziyaret Tepe excavations
and authors of the book, and Dori Kiss Ka-
lafat, Tekfen Foundation Board Member.
This newsletter is a pull-out summary of
Tekfen Group Companies Bulletin No.37
TEKFEN GROUP NEWSLETTER, January-March 2016
Bulletin
Editor’s note
The year was off to a fast start, and once again
we cover numerous, colourful topics.
We have a special company that has been wait-
ing its turn for a “visit” for a very long time: GAT.
The construction machines that have served
in the ice-covered steppes of Eurasia or in the
broiling deserts of Saudi Arabia, never once leav-
ing our workers on their own, undergo “rehab”
at GAT. In this issue, we talked to the amazing
team at GAT, and they told us their story.
I made note of two things concerning our arti-
cle that covered Toros Agri’s “Lean Production”
drive, one of which was that “leanness” is of pri-
mary importance in every area, and the other
was that, as in every system, the key to success
in Lean Production is believing in oneself and
doing everything accordingly. I wish Toros Ag-
ri success on this journey it has embarked upon
with great excitement.
New is good. Tekfen Construction will roll out
a new and important system this year. It’s the
performance-based rewards system or “bonus”
for short. We held our microphones to Tekfen
Construction President Levent Kafkaslı and HR
Manager Gülhiz İleri. We received clear answers
to questions that are on people’s minds. In this
new system, the company will make the em-
ployee win and the employee will let the compa-
ny win in return, and keeping the system alive
will depend to a large extend on how much we
embrace it with mutual respect.
Cordially,
Dori Kiss Kalafat
Corporate Communications
Director, Group of Companies
dori@tekfen.com.tr