Ipekis, the first factory of the Turkish Republic, was founded on the directive of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and was inaugurated by Atatürk himself on October 1, 1925. The company has now applied to the Turkish Patents Institute for license as a "recognized brand." The distinction of a recognized brand is granted to brands that have not only been accepted by the target audience but also have reached a level of recognition by all segments of the population, to the point where the brand name automatically forms an association in the mind with the product or the enterprise.

With the rise in foreign exchange rates, the Arab Spring and rising prices in China, buyers groups are once again turning their eyes on Turkey. While in the past, Turkish manufacturers had been losing customers to the competition in other countries because they were unable to match prices, they are now regaining these clients. From M&S to Zara, Tesco to Gerry Weber, the world-famous groups of buyers are expected to purchase a product volume of about 5 billion dollars from Turkey in 2012. The president of the Turkish Apparel Manufacturers Association (TGSD), Cem Negrin said that purchases from Turkey were expected to increase as of the second half of 2012. Negrin disclosed that Zara had bought 1 billion dollars in goods just by itself and that Li Fung had made purchases of 600 million dollars, adding that the 12 major brands with offices in Turkey were expected to reach a total buying volume of 5 billion dollars.

Now an important player in the European market, Turkish textiles and ready-to-wear apparel manufacturers came back from the fairs they participated in with boosted morale. Turkish companies were a significant presence at the international fairs held in January, including the Heimtextil, Domotex and Pitti Uomo fairs, and proved to be the first choice of major buyers. The orders that were placed set the Turkish companies off on a good start for 2012, which is expected to be a challenging year. The biggest sign that the crisis will turn into opportunity was apparent at the world's largest home textiles fair Heimtextil, which was held in Frankfurt on January 11-14. The 176 Turkish companies participating, among them Broderi Narin, Lüks Kadife, Epengle, Bezci Tekstil and Er-Fun, attracted an intensive flurry of orders on the one hand while at the same time they were besieged by the interest of European textile machinery manufacturers.

The year 2011 had a special meaning for our Association as its 50th year. While celebrating the 50th anniversary of its foundation, the Association had a full calendar of events over the year. With anniversary celebrations on the one hand and new projects launched for the future on the other, 2011 was busiest in the months of September and October.

The Association has completed the first stage of its efforts to set up occupational standards, a project it has been working on as part of the European Union harmonisation process in the field of textiles. Within the scope of the protocol signed with the Vocational Qualification Authority (MYK), the Association has set up 25 separate occupational standards in the sector and is now defining the "vocational qualifications" to be assessed at the "Textiles Certification Centre" that the Association will soon be establishing. This project, entitled "Project to Establish a Vocational Qualification Examination and Certification Centre for the Textile Sector," concerns the certification of the work force to answer the needs and expectations of the sector, creating a system at international standards, and establishing a test and certification centre for this purpose. The "Project to Strengthen Turkey's Vocational Qualification Authority and National Qualifications System" (UYEP) aims to ensure vocational training and education according to the needs of the business market, to support life-long learning, to strengthen the link between education and employment, and to facilitate harmonisation with the European Competency Framework. The project will be completed on May 3, 2013. Within the framework of the project, our Association will be setting up an examination and certification centre in Istanbul, with units in Adana, Kayseri and Çerkezköy forpractical and theoretical tests.

Söktaş, Europe's largest shirt fabric manufacturer, made an important innovative breakthrough in the 40th year of its establishment. The company's collaboration with the Cotton Research Institute led Söktaş, Turkey's first long-fibre cotton manufacturer, to create, as a commemoration of its 40th year of operation, a cotton fabric that looks like silk. Vice-Chairmen of the Söktaş Board, Muharrem Kayhan and Hilmi Kayhan organized a meeting at the Söktaş Pera Design Center on December 19, where it was announced that the cotton and fabric that had been developed had been named "Meander 71," inspired by the ancient name of Menderes Ovası (Meander Plains) and the year 1971, which was the year of the company's foundation.

One of Turkey's leading textile companies, Yunsa, has brought its growth estimates for 2012 up to 20 percent. Aiming to open out into new markets, Yunsa plans to grow in markets like China, Japan and Korea this year. Declaring that many things had changed in the woollen textiles sector after the crisis of
2008, Yunsa General Manager Cem Qelikog-lu continued to say, "Countries like China and India could not respond to the changing trends in the world. This increased the demand for us and for companies like us."

The Turkish textiles and clothing industry is moving ahead despite the economic crisis that has taken hold around the world. Preparing to close off 2011 with a new record in exports, Turkey spent the year taking steps to turn crisis into opportunity, achieving this in the textiles and clothing sector as well. Although not quite at the level desired, Turkish textiles and clothing manufacturers continued to tap into their resources in Research and Development and nanotechnologies during the year to create brands, designs and innovations. Companies that limited themselves to only contract manufacturing were challenged in the exports aspect of their businesses. Despite all the difficulties, however, textile exports in the first eleven months of the year displayed an increase of 24 percent, while ready-made clothing exports rose by 12.6 percent.

Turkey is still the world's largest producer of cotton sourced from non-genetically modified organism (GMO-free) seeds and is now carrying this benefit into clothing. The "GMO-Free Turkish Cotton" label that has started to be attached to cotton bales at Izmir's cotton gin factories is now being attached for the first time to denim pants manufactured by Bossa.

The interest of foreign clothing brands in Turkey has been steadily growing in recent years. Many ready-to-wear apparel manufacturers contracting clothes in Turkey have come here on their own. Some were brought in by the textile manufacturers they were contracting their business to. An important reason for the foreign influx into the Turkish market was the shopping center development trend that started with a few breezes after 2000 and which has turned into a virtual hurricane in the last few years. The rapid development of shops and retailing in the Turkish market has inevitably attracted attention and European retailers suffering from the economic crisis, particularly the big worldwide chain stores, have started making their way into the Turkish market. Marks&Spencer, Zara, Mango, Adidas, Levi's, Stefanel are some of the retailers that have long since settled themselves in the market. While they are now busy spreading out into the cities of Anatolia, new retailers continue to come into the market every day. H&M, Napapijri, Jack&Jones, Kipling, Z and Co, Catimini, Kenneth Cole, Austin Reed, Hummel, Brioni, Vilebrequin, Lovable, Kline, Brooksfield, Daniel Hechter, GAS, Replay and others...

First it was Greece, then Italy, and then other European countries began to experience the apprehension of some uncertain times. Turkey's low level of public debt positively differentiated the country from Europe and its macro status seems good, despite the cold winds that are blowing in from the West. The industrial production index that was recently announced, the inflation and unemployment data are signaling that the country will be meeting its 2011 targets. The one matter that is expected to continue to be a problem is the current accounts deficit. Here is the latest macro data for the remainder of 2011:

The Turkish Textile Employers' Association has traditionally held an annual seminar for over 20 years, and this year the seminar examined the issue of "Opportunities and Threats in the Region", in view of the changing political and economic winds of the times. Held in Antalya from October 28 to November 1, 2011, the seminar opened with a call for unity and solidarity from Halit Narin, the Association's Chairman of the Board. Many experts participated in the conference, including Dr. Fareed Zakaria, editor of Time Magazine, host of CNN's Global Public Square and columnist for The Washington Post, Emma Sky, political consultant and resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, Shiego Katsu, President of Nazarbayev University and former World Bank vice president, and Dr. Christian Keller, senior economist at Barclays Capital. In his opening speech at the conference, Halit Narin emphasized how important it is to work together to reach a goal, saying "All of us - workers, employers and bureaucrats - must be like a fist, like a single pomegranate. The distinguishing feature of a pomegranate is that it consists of thousands of intertwined pieces bound together."

The Turkish Textile Employers' Association is being showered with thanks for its efforts at the International Exhibition of Textile Machinery (ITMA), held in Barcelona, Spain from September 19-21, 2011. Our association took 400 people to the exhibition, including students, academicians and representatives from trade unions and textile companies. Halit Narin, our Association's Chairman of the Board, led the delegation, whose members made announcement after returning from the exhibition to express their gratitude to our association and their satisfaction with the event. Söktaş Chairman of the Board Muzaffer Müfit Kayhan said in a thank-you letter sent after returning from the exposition, "The trip you organized to the exposition made a significant contribution to our sector, our company and the participants.

In the textile capital Denizli, the ancient city of Laodicea, excavation works that have been going on since 2003 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Celal Simçek uncover some interesting findings. This past month, the head of a statue of Athena, known as the "Goddess of Divine Intelligence" as well as the "Goddess of Textiles" was found at the dig. The Laodicea dig is currently in high gear and so far, the unearthing of one large and one small theatre, a stadium, an assembly building, an agora, baths, a basilica, a sanitation network, a water distribution station, an aqueduct, a monumental fountain and other structures have attested to the location's being one of the most important settlements of the Roman era. Accepted throughout the world as the capital of textiles, Laodicea was once a significant commercial centre with its wool and textile exchanges.