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Q&A with Ishak Alaton- You have a very different approach to philanthropy. What is your inspiration? - YouTube
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I created, with deceased Nejat Eczac谋ba艧谋
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nearly 40 years ago an institution called TESEV
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(T眉rkiye Ekonomik Sosyal Et眉tler Vakf谋)
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It is a foundation. Then about 12 years ago
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with my good old friend, George Soros,
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we created the Open Society of Turkey.
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(T眉rk A莽谋k Toplum Vakf谋)
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which is also funded by New York Open Society
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Now, why did I choose a different path?
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Because of my background.
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I spent in Sweden nearly 3 years.
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I went to Sweden after my military service
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and I was working as a welder worker
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in Murtala Bergstrand*
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And then I became a member of
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the Social Democratic Party,
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youth movement in Stockholm.
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And I used to go to their evening meetings
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and I met all the young generation of Swedes
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for this Social Democratic Party.
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Social democracy in Sweden has been
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extremely successful.
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When you say social democracy, it has
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a social aspect then it has a democratic aspect.
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Democracy in Sweden, as you probably know
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is one of the highest with highest respect
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for human beings and especially for women.
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So, the 3 years I spent in Sweden have
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made "me". I became me, myself in Sweden.
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I became part of the Swedish mentality.
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And with this I brought back all these
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principles of transparency, honesty
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respectability, good name,
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good relationship with other human beings.
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And then having this urge to serve
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the society you are in.
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And then instead of going the normal way
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of building schools and building universities,
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already at a very young age,
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as I said 40 years ago, I though that
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I would contribute to the elevation
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of the standard of democratic thinking
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of new generation of Turks
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which I make part of, I belong.
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This was a kind of a search for a better life
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because I had a very difficult life during
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my young days with my father having
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gone into bankruptcy because of 'Varlik Vergisi'
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a terrible mistreatment of all the minorities
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Armenians, Greeks, and Jews.
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So, he went bankrupted.
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That's the reason why I couldn't go to any
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university. I hardly had the opportunity to
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finish the Saint Michel Lycee.
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This has been a quest throughout my life.
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I had a mentor in this small town Mutala.
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He was an aristocrat doctor.
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Very rich aristocratic family but he was
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taking care of the workers in that
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small town in Sweden.
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And we somehow became friends.
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Most probably because he had a very
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beautiful daughter. (Laughs)
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He became very close to me.
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He really liked me and one day he said
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something which I never forgot, he said,
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"I am analyzing your way of thinking"
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he said and "I am convinced that you will
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one day become a very successful businessman"
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"You have this in your genes" he said.
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"And being very successful, you will also
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become very rich. But, if becoming rich
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will put limits to your ability to express
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your thoughts freely then you will find out
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that the money you have created or
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the wealth you have created has become
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a golden cage.
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A prison where you have gone willingly.
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So, be careful not to fall into the trap
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of creating your own prison.
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And I never forgot this. He became my mentor
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throughout life in this direction.
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That's the reason why I appear
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very often on TV programs and I talk about
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democracy and human rights and
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peaceful negotiations in the South East
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and coming to a peaceful solution and then
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equality and not being, as I said, 'the other'
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and not seeing me Yahudi then human being,
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but human being first and then maybe.
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And this is a quest throughout life .
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And it gives me a kick to see that I progress.
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I can see that the new generation
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is changing.
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Not only because of this instilling of
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a mental change, but also because
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the world is changing. The whole world.
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Now go to London, you will see more
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foreigners than Londoners.
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The same thing is happening here.
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So, I am a very happy man in this respect
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that I did not build a university.
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I am building a lycee in 脟atalca
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for biotechnology, medical research
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for youngsters.
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But I'm not aiming at any university.
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