Community Investment

Social Welfare

The social, cultural, and environmental wellbeing efforts in which Tekfen has been engaged since its inception are essential elements of its corporate culture. Mindful of putting some of the value that it creates to work in socially beneficial projects, Tekfen undertakes a variety of corporate social responsibility projects under the headings of “Education”, “Culture & Art”, and “Sustainable Development”.

Education

Coming to the support of science, culture, and art at all times, Tekfen Holding made a new addition to the roster of contributions that it makes to society by working in partnership with Tekfen Foundation in joining forces with Boğaziçi University in 2019, in an undertaking to be carried out in memory of Feyyaz Berker, one of Tekfen’s founding partners and a Robert College graduate who did much for his alma mater as a Boğaziçi University benefactor. The goal of this “Powered by Tekfen” project is to expand the scope of the university’s Boğaziçi Chronicles, Boğaziçi Lectures, and Open Lectures programmes and make them accessible to more people.

As an acknowledgment of the Tekfen Foundation’s support, the name of the Boğaziçi Lectures programme has been changed to “Boğaziçi Lectures Feyyaz Berker Series”, whose aim is to encourage national and international dialogue on current social and scientific issues by inviting world-recognised thinkers, scholars, and scientists to come to Boğaziçi University and deliver lectures. Having previously hosted important academicians in many different disciplines, the first guest lecturer of the new Boğaziçi Lectures series was Dr Feryal Özel. A Turkish astrophysicist and a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Dr Özel is a collaborator on the Event Horizon Telescope Project that released the first ever picture of a black hole. On November 7th, Dr Özel gave a lecture entitled “The secret behind Powehi: The first photograph of a black hole” at Albert Long Hall.

Supported by Tekfen Holding, Boğaziçi Chronicles is an international artist-in-residence programme whose aim is to contribute to Turkey’s cultural life and scene. The programme invites and plays host to world-famous theoreticians, artists, and performers who conduct seminars and workshops and/or give performances while residing on the university’s campus.

Open Lectures, the third Boğaziçi programme being supported by Tekfen Holding, will continue fulfilling its mission of encouraging scientific curiosity, free thought, and creativity among the public at large. Under this programme, members of Boğaziçi University’s faculty deliver lectures that explore a host of subjects and are open to all. 

Last year Tekfen Holding also sponsored the 2019 European Youth Parliament National Forum conference, the third to be hosted in İstanbul by Robert College. The conference, which was organized by RC’s EYP Club and took place on 26-29 October 2019, was attended by Portuguese, Italian, and Turkish students representing a total of twenty schools in their home countries.

Culture and Art

Tekfen Holding, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), has maintained a long-standing relationship with the festivals organized by the foundation in Istanbul. Within this framework, Tekfen Holding has contributed at various times to a range of IKSV events, notably the Istanbul Biennial and the Istanbul Theatre Festival.

Tekfen Holding supported the 17th Istanbul Biennial as a Special Project Sponsor and, within the scope of the 27th Istanbul Theatre Festival, contributed to locally produced works as the “Major Contributing Performance Sponsor” of Ayazmanın Yılanı, written and performed by award-winning screenwriter and actor Ercan Kesal. In addition, through its collaborations with the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet, Tekfen Holding also supported the 10th International Istanbul Opera Festival.

Sport

In 2018, Tekfen Holding became the main sponsor of the Darüşşafaka Basketball Team, extending its long-standing support for education and the arts to the field of sports. In 2019, Tekfen Holding also entered into a sponsorship agreement with the team, known as the “Black Panthers.”

During the 2019–2020 season, the Darüşşafaka Men’s Basketball Team competed under the name Darüşşafaka Tekfen in both the Turkish Basketball Super League and the EuroCup.