Kemal Sahin

Background

Sahin (which means falcon in Turkish) was born to a poor family in the village of Taşlıpınar in the Beyşehir district of Konya Province, Turkey.

Education

He completed a German-language course, then attended Technical University of Aachen (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule), from which he graduated in 1982 with a Diplom degree.

Career

He is also an environmental activist against erosion. His birth date is not known, but his family registered his birth on April 11, 1955. After finishing primary school in his village, secondary school in Beyşehir and high school in Konya, Sahin went to Germany on a scholarship in 1973 to study metallurgical engineering for Etibank, a large state-owned mining company.

As a student, Sahin was interested in trade.

After finishing university, he established his own textile-importing company, Santex Moden, in 1980 with a starting capital of 5,000 Doctor of Medicine. Within three or four years, he became a German millionaire before his 30th birthday. Today, he owns 27 production and trading companies, integrated facilities from cotton to cloth, 18 of which are united under Şahinler Holding in Turkey.

One of the biggest exporters in Turkey, the group also has its own steam and electric power station, a catering company, a building contractor and a holiday resort in Antalya Province, Turkey. The worldwide Şahinler corporation, with a turnover of one billion Euros, consists of two companies in Germany and one each in the Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, United Kingdom and the United States., as well in Turkey.

The group has about 10,000 employees.

Santex Moden ranks 25th in Germany and is among the 100 largest companies in Europe. Besides his entrepreneurship, Sahin has been:

President of the Sahinler Foundation, which is active in education, health, and welfare and provides scholarships to 450 orphan or indigent secondary and high school students. President of the TEMA Foundation in Aachen, Germany, an international foundation fighting erosion and favoring restocking and nature conservation.

Chairman of the Association of Turkish Businesspeople in Europe.

Chairman of the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce.

Achievements

• 1997 "Manager of the Year" by the Schitag Ernst & Young management consulting firm and by Manager magazine for entrepreneurial achievement. 1998 "Honorary Investor of Europe" by the Club of Europe. 2000 Order of Merit of Turkey for his extraordinary activities, by President Süleyman Demirel. 2000 Honorary doctorate by the Selçuk University of Konya for his achievements in education.

Membership

Honorary member of Euro-Türk (liberal Europe-Turkey alliance of friendship).