TÜBİTAK Awards to TÜBA Members
Incentive, Science, Service, and Special Awards given by TÜBİTAK found their owners with a ceremony held at the Presidential Complex on December 28, 2017. TÜBA Principal Member and Council Member Prof. Dr. Reşat Apak in the field of chemistry, 2006 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Assoc. Prof. Fatih Ömer İlday in the field of physics, Prof. Dr. Ömer Civalek in the field of engineering, and Prof. Dr. Sumru Altuğ in the field of social sciences took the Science Awards.
2013 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Prof. Dr. Şule Erten Ela, 2014 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Assoc. Prof. Önder Metin, TÜBA Associate Member and 2015 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Assoc. Prof. Filiz Kuralay in the field of basic sciences, Prof. Dr. Serkan Eryılmaz, 2013 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Assoc. Prof. V. Çağrı Güngör, Assoc. Prof. Tuğba Ölmez Hancı, 2014 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Assoc. Prof. Cem Sevik and 2015 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Prof. Dr. Ali Rıza Yıldız in the field of engineering, and 2012 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Assoc. Prof. Reşat Bayer, 2012 TÜBA-GEBİP Member Seda Ertaç Güler ve Assoc. Prof. Ebru Kaya took the Incentive Awards.
“These lands raised a great number of scholars who guided the history of science in the world.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended and delivered a speech at the TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) 2017 Awards Ceremony. President Erdoğan made the following remarks: “The only thing we need is the self-confidence passed down to us by our history and ancestors. What we need is not to follow or imitate, but to make best of the abundance of these lands as we did in the past. What we need the most is not money, oil, diamonds or weapons, what we need the most is to believe that we can succeed and convey this mentality to our students… Now we see the ones who are oil-rich, who have money; believe me we are far ahead of them. Money and oil don’t solve anything. For example, concerning the issue of Al-Quds, did dollars solve anything? Could dollars buy off the world? They couldn’t. They issued such threats, they made calls one by one, they contacted the whole world; but in the end 128 countries turned down the superpower by stating ‘You cannot buy off my will with dollars’, truth prevailed.”
Underscoring that Turkey has become a country which cannot even be compared with the Turkey of 15 years ago, a country which is open to new ideas and experiences, a country which acknowledges and rewards success, President Erdoğan stated that the importance attributed to science, scientists and R&D made great contributions to this outcome.
Indicating that the number of R&D centers increased from 16 to 762 while the number of design centers increased from 7 to 138, that the number of personnel working in R&D centers which was 10,000 in 2010 reached 45,000 today, President Erdoğan stated that there are now 69 technology development areas 55 of which are in operation and 14 of which are under construction while the number was only 5 in 2002.
Recalling that the first national earth observation satellite Göktürk-2 has completed its 5th year in space and that IMECE earth observation satellite project was launched this year, President Erdoğan announced that the first national communication satellite Türksat 6A shall be completed in 2020 and that Turkey seeks ways to launch its own satellite to the space by establishing a space base.
“Imitators are doomed to always stay one step behind others” said President Erdoğan and added: “We need to go beyond following and imitating, we need to become the followed and imitated one. We now need to set ourselves free from the shackles in our minds and the limits set for us.”
Indicating that the latest developments remind him of the fact that “if you incur debts today, you will receive orders tomorrow”, President Erdoğan said: “If we do not develop our own technology, if we do not release our own products, we cannot be truly independent.” The President underscored that political independence is bound to remain on paper unless it is reinforced in economic and technological terms. “Today, if Turkey does not compromise its independence not even slightly, this is thanks to the distance we have covered in different spheres from economy to production, from technology to defense industry” stated President Erdoğan and expressed his faith in the projects of scientists in setting an even higher standard for success.
Underlining that they expect to see new projects, developed by scientists, that would clear the way for Turkey and expand the horizon of the nation by generating excitement, President Erdoğan declared that they shall continue to support them in their scientific and academic endeavors.
Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Dr Faruk Özlü: “We, as sons of a nation that brought civilization and science where it went, aim to lead science and technology.”
Stating that they are in the services of entrepreneurs, companies and scientist with all institutions and qualified human resources, Dr Özlü said: “We will integrate science and technology policies and industrial policies. We will continue to work without rest for making Turkey a science center, a technology base and an advanced industrial country.” He pointed out the importance of self-confidence in the science and technology. Saying that the science and the scientist have always been appreciated, respected and helped in Turkey, Dr. Özlü stated that for hundreds of years, western science has taken reference from our civilization, our geography, and our scholars.
TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Ergin: “I congratulate the scientists who are awarded and the families who are standing behind them."
TÜBITAK President Prof. A. Arif Ergin talked about some of the projects he participated in his speech at the award ceremony, where he started his career as an engineer. He pointed the importance of political support for these projects. He said that that: “We can make critical technologies domestic and national only with determination and harmony. Even if you are producing 9 of 10 critical parts of a product today, a piece that you cannot produce can cause serious problems in the future. Even if you make the most perfect electronic circuit designs, if you cannot produce your chips domestically, it means that it is not in your hands to control those chips. At present, we are able to design and manufacture a chip in a limited scale at Semiconductor Technologies Research Laboratory in TÜBİTAK. I hope that the chip factory that we have completed the company installation process in partnership with the Undersecretariat of Defense Industry (SSM) will be able to mass production and we will have realized the dream that stretches before 1980. As a result, we will be able to produce a chip identity card, guidance detectors and chips for many products without touching hands of foreign producers.”
