Istanbul Chamber of Commerce

As part of their concern for the commercial and industrial problems of the 19th century, the Ottoman State desired to bring together the representatives of the industrial sector into one institution. To this end, the Trade and Agricultural Council, which had been established in 1876, was very productive. Subsequently, Mehmed Said Pasha (1838–1914), who had been appointed as grand vizier (prime minister) in 1879, put a start to the processes that were necessary for the establishment of trade, industry and agricultural guilds. Acting upon Said Pasha’s directive, a draft charter consisting of 11 articles was prepared for the establishment of a chamber of commerce that would be similar to those in Europe, particularly the French examples. This draft was accepted by the Council of Ministers (Meclis-i Mahsus) on 18 January 1880. The Council of Ministers ruled that the chamber was to be referred to as the Ticaret Odası and quoted the decision in the text of the charter as follows: “The establishment of a Ticaret Odası in Istanbul by the Meclis-i Mahsus has been ratified by Abdul Hamid II II on 19 January 1880. Thus, for the first time in the Ottoman territory the process concerned with the establishment of a local chamber of commerce has been completed. The stage to proceed to next will be the completion of the organizational processes and the start of the activities of the Dersaadet (Istanbul) Ticaret Odası.”[2]

The administrative structure of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası was very different from that of a modern chamber of commerce. While modern chambers have separate committees to carry out executive and supervisory functions, all the functions of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası were carried out by one institution. According to the first regulations of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, 24 members formed the chamber council. In order to be a member of the council, one had to be at least 30 years of age, have dealt with trade for at least 5 years, not have been implicated in any felony or murder, nor have committed any shameful crime that damaged one’s reputation or honor or to have been bankrupted; if the candidate had gone bankrupt, then they should have been able to regain their honor and name before becoming a member. The members of the council were selected by a majority secret ballot; if the votes were tied, the elder candidate would be selected. It was forbidden for two members to be selected from the same company. The members were selected by a twenty-person election committee, headed up by the minister of trade and agriculture; half of the commission was appointed by the minister, the other half by merchants. A majority vote among the members of the chamber would select a president and a vice-president, who would be ratified by the Ministry of Trade. The members of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası were elected for three years; that is, every year one-third of the members were newly appointed. If a member did not participate in the meetings for a period of six months without stating a good reason, they were considered to have resigned. The Dersaadet Ticaret Odası would act on its own initiative or would be instructed in how to act by the Ministry of Trade when applied to, thus providing opportunities for the advancement of trade; this included functions like taking the necessary measures to develop trade and industry, carrying out changes required in trade functions, customs duties, the construction of ports, the functioning of steam boats in the rivers, post offices and telegraphs, railway construction, repairs of roads and bridges, the establishment of stock markets, and the publication of trade newspapers.

The internal regulations were prepared immediately after the establishment of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası and were presented to the Ministry of Trade for its approval. In this charter, the status of the Ticaret Odası was organized according to the total sovereignty of the state; this remained the status, without any serious change, until 1950.[3]

A “preparatory committee” headed up by Azaryan Efendi, which was known as the Cemıyet-i Ticariye (Trade Council), was established to prepare internal regulations. An “interim-institute” started to function with an official ceremony in April 1880; this body continued to operate until 14 January 1882. The organization of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası had been prepared by this same date. At the moment that the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası started to operate officially the Cemiyet-i Ticariye ceased to function; that is, the Cemiyet became the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası on 14 January 1882. The Cemiyet-i Ticaret met ten times until it was transformed into the Ticaret Odası, meeting to discuss the regulations of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, which had been prepared by the commission. The members were informed that the charter of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası had been approved by the ministry and the charter went into execution on 27 December 1881.

The internal charter of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, dated 16 August 1881 was organized in a detailed way, setting out the function of the duties and authorities of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası. The internal charter, which consisted of six main sections, included many articles concerned with the aim and duties of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, the method of convening, the duties of the president, the functioning of the Ticaret Odası and its procedures, the duties of the merchants, the position of the head secretary and officials, as well as with the income of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası.[4]

According to the internal charter of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, the Ticaret Odası had its own seal. On the top part of this seal was a “Crescent Moon and Star” symbol, while in the middle was inscribed: Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, surrounded by the French phrase Chambre de Commerce de Constantinople. All the documents that were dealt with in the Chamber of Commerce were to be stamped with this seal.[5]

The members of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, who were summoned after the ratification of the internal charter, took the decision to carry out an official opening of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası; it was decided that the first meeting was to be held on 14 January 1882. Before the opening of the Chambers of the Commerce, 200 lira was loaned to the Cemiyet’s accountant Benzona Efendi by Azaryan Efendi, who was the chief of the Cemiyet at that date, to spend on fittings and office supplies. Some time later the members of the Ticaret Odası were convened again and it was decided that the opening ceremony of the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası, which was to go into operation on 14 January 1882, would be held in its own building and that this should be in a neighborhood that would be easy for tradesmen to reach. Upon this, the Dersaadet Ticaret Odası went into operation in flat No. 12, a property belonging to Mehmed Ali Pasha which was located on the shores of the Golden Horn. It was seen to be suitable that the opening ceremony be held in the same location. The Dersaadet Ticaret Odası was opened with a simple ceremony in the Mehmed Ali Pasha Han (Business Quarters). At the opening, the minister of trade and agriculture, Raif Efendi, was present and made a speech.[6]

The Istanbul Commerce University was established by the ICOC Waqf and started to offer education in the 2001-2002 academic year; the president of the university is Dr. Sabri Orman, while the head of the board of trustees is Erhan Erken, a member of the ICOC Council. The university has started to provide education in its own buildings in Küçükyalı, which were purchased in 2007, in addition to its quarters in Üsküdar.

3,860 students are pursuing undergraduate degrees while 412 students are completing post graduate courses. The Istanbul Commerce University consists of 5 faculties, an English preparatory department, and one vocational high school, 3 institutes (social sciences – science and engineering – foreign trade), 2 centers (the EU application and research center and the continuous training center) and 1 unit (the IT security application and research unit).[8]

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce has introduced 14 schools to the Turkish educational world; from the beginning of 2010 there are 4 vocational schools, an autistic children’s educational center, 8 primary schools - one in Lice, Diyarbakır and the others in Istanbul - and one multi-program high school.[9]

• 1968 – İTO Primary School (Karamandere Village, Şile)
• 1971 - İTO Kadınlarçeşmesi Primary School
• 1973 - İTO 50.Yıl Primary School (4.Levent, Kağıthane)
• Diyarbakır, Lice Primary School
• 1977 - İTO Kanarya Primary School
• 1986 - İTO Bağcılar Primary School
• 1987 - İTO Anatolian Vocational High School (Okmeydanı)
• 1990 - İTO Anatolian Technical High School (Bayrampaşa)
• 1998 - İTO Ümraniye Primary School
• 1999 - İTO Vocational Training School (Beyoğlu)
• 2000 - İTO Çatalca Multi-Program High School
• 2008 - İTO Anatolian Vocational Career High School (Pendik)
• 2008 - İTO Autistic Children’s Education Center (Bağcılar)
• 2008 - İTO Kadınlarçeşmesi Primary School (the old school was torn down and the school was rebuilt)

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce has also built 13 schools, one in Istanbul and 12 in different regions of Anatolia, in commemoration of Turkish martyrs. These schools are listed below:[10]

• In memory of Martyr Private Erkan Aslan;

An 8-classroom primary school in the Balaban Village of the Eğil Province of Diyarbakır, with 10 residential quarters for employees

• In memory of Martyr Gendarme Private Süleyman Turan:

A 12-classroom primary school in the Altıntaş Province of Kütahya.

• In memory of Martyr Private Burhan Yalçın;

An 8-classroom primary school in the Kumçatı Village in the central province of Şırnak with 10 residential quarters for employees.

• In memory of Martyr Private Zeki Avenli:

A 16-classroom primary school in the Araklı province of Trabzon

• In memory of Martyr Gendarme Corporal Mustafa Gözütok;

A 24-classroom primary school in the Davraz region of the central province of Isparta

• In memory of Martyr Gendarme Specialist Sergeant Tahsin Onuk:

An 8-classroom primary school and 6 residential quarters for employees in the Söğütlü township of Kelkit province in Gümüşhane

• In memory of Martyr Private Servet Aktaş:

An 8-classroom primary school in the Alişar village in the Battalgazi province of Malatya

• In memory of Martyr Private Dursun Sıvaz:

A 40-classroom primary school in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul.

• In memory of Martyr Yusuf Kolay:

An 8-classroom primary school and 10 residential quarters for employees in the Şeyh Halil township of the Yıldızeli region of Sivas

• In memory of Martyr Major Kibar Korhan Koç:

A 12-classroom primary school and 6 residential quarters for employees in the Terme Region of Samsun

• In memory of Uzman Sergeant Mehmet Güçlü:

A 10-classroom primary school in the Bozon village of the Mezitli region of Mersin.

• In memory of Martyr Major Ömer Aktuğ:

An 8-classroom primary school and residential quarters for employees in the Topluca village in the Çamlıhemşin region of Rize.

• In memory of Martyr Private Muhterem Ak:

A 10-classroom primary school and 6 residential quarters for employees in the Sızma township of the Selçuklu province of Konya