Ahmet Çalık, the Chairman of Çalık Holding, was honored with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in recognition of Mr. Çalık’s valuable contributions to strengthen economic relationship between Turkey and Japan.
On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Ambassador Akio Miyajima presented the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, the third highest order bestowed by the Japanese government and the highest ordinarily conferred order, in an award ceremony hosted by the Ambassador Akio Miyajima.
In his speech, Ambassador Miyajima, representing the Government of Japan, praised the courage of Mr. Ahmet Çalık, Çalık Holding Chairman, to push the limits as a businessperson, and underlined the honor and great happiness for him to present the Imperial Award to Mr. Çalık. Emphasizing that Mr. Çalık has acted as a true bridge between Japan and Turkey, Ambassador Miyajima said: "I have heard a lot of praise from Japanese executives working with Mr. Çalık such as ‘extremely reliable, honest and loyal to its promises’, ‘always acting thoughtfully’, ‘a strong, valiant and unbreakable Samurai’. Turkey and Japan are geographically far apart yet close in heart. I want to offer my thanks once again to Ahmet Çalık for his contributions to the two countries' long-standing friendship for many years, and I wish his support and cooperation to further improve the relations between Japan and Turkey will continue.”
Ahmet Çalık, who was deemed worthy of the award by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and was conferred by Ambassador, Akio Miyajima, stated that this was an outcome of more than 30 years of cooperation and collaboration with the Japanese. “I must emphasize with all my sincerity that as I become more and more familiar with the Japanese culture, and the business sense of the Japanese business world which is founded on knowledge, discipline, integrity and mutual respect; my affection, respect and admiration for this country and its people increasingly grow with each passing day. Without doubt, my Japanese friends whom we collaborate and closely work together with have greatly contributed to the award of this honorable Order. This award is actually an indicator of the success of Turkish-Japanese cooperation that we have built in various geographies. I would like to once again emphasize, in particular, as it has been the case so far, I will make every endeavor to further enhance economic, social and cultural relations between these two friendly nations, which – although located at the two ends of Asia and geographically distant from each other – are very close in culture.” Çalık continued: “I would like to once again extend my heartfelt gratitude to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, to all my Japanese friends, in particular to His Excellency
Ambassador Akio Miyajima, and to my colleagues and my family, who have contributed to the award of this order. I would like to specially thank Iijima San, Special Adviser of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan, who have honored me today by coming from Tokyo to join us. ”
His Excellency Binali Yıldırım, former Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the last Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, emphasized that the relations between Japan and Turkey continue to thrive on a political, economic and commercial scale, and said: “Ahmet Çalık, an esteemed figure of our business world, is an entrepreneur, and investor whom we have known for many years now. He is a successful businessperson of ours. He is actually our face to the world. He has outstandingly boosted his investments and growth activities that he initiated back in 1980s, and achieved significant duties for the development and welfare of our fellow countries. He has thus, in a sense, waved the flag of our country in civil diplomacy. He set a successful example for our businesspersons at a time when they sought an opportunity to expand abroad.”
Isao Iijima, Special Adviser of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan, speaking at the ceremony, said: “I sincerely congratulate Çalık Holding Chairman Ahmet Çalık on being honored with ‘the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon’. It is Mr. Calik's warm personality and strong reputation that have had leading names from Turkey's political and economic world come together at his conferment ceremony today. I believe that he will continue to act as a bridge between the two countries. I congratulate Mr. Çalık once again and wish him all the success.”
The ceremony also featured President of the Republic of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi, Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Süreyya Sadi Bilgiç, AK Party Spokesman Ömer Çelik, Turkey's Ambassador to Tokyo Murat Mercan, and Hisao Nishimaki, the Consul General of Japan in Istanbul, as well as key figures from the domestic and international business world, academicians and artists.
Ahmet Çalık, focusing on projects with visionary investments in the region that the society benefits from, and conducting successful business partnerships and projects with various Japanese companies throughout a wide range of industries on a global scale for more than 30 years, has been awarded various prizes and titles by several institutions of Japan due to his contribution to the socioeconomic development between Turkey and Japan.