Prof. Han is a member of faculty at the Department of International Relations at İstanbul’s Altinbas University. Previously he has been a member of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences of Kadir Has University, where he was also the advisor to the Rector. He serves as a member of the board of EDAM, a leading independent think-tank. Prof. Prof. Han is a Senior Associate Research Fellow on Middle East and North Africa for the l’Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI) in Milan and is an expert for and contributor to German Marshall Fund’s On Turkey Series as well as a member of GMF’s Turkey – US – EU Trilateral Strategy Group.He is the founding partner of İstanbul Economics Research, a company with expertise on conventional and digital research, polling, data analysis, political and market strategy.He was the director of the Research Center for Politics and International Relations at Istanbul University and Coordinator for Security Programs of TESEV and served as the International Relations Advisor for Turkish Exporters Assembly, the umbrella organization of Turkey’s exporting industries. He is a founding member of the International Relations Council of Turkey.
Anna Voloshenko has over 12 years of experience in steel market analyses and price reporting primarily in the markets of Turkey, Middle East and the CIS. She joined SteelOrbis in 2019 to head and manage the market intelligence department, overlooking the price developments in the steel sectors of Turkey, MENA region, Europe and partly the CIS. The markets of flats, steel slab and billet are among the current key responsibilities. In 2011-2015 worked at MetalExpert (Ukraine) information agency, reporting on the markets of Turkey, North Africa and the GCC; within 2016-2019 headed the Middle East department of the company. A graduate to Ukraine’s Dnipro National University, a master’s degree in the international trade and finance.
Alessandro Sciamarelli holds the position of Director of Economic Studies and Market Analysis at the European Steel Association (EUROFER) based in Brussels, where he carries out economic research and analysis linked to the steel sector. Prior to joining EUROFER, he held for over ten years equivalent positions at other Brussels-based European associations (namely in the mortgage lending sector and the cement sector) and, before that, he worked for the Economic Studies Office of a leading cement and construction group in Rome and for the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht. He holds a PhD in Economics (1999) and a degree in political science (1995) from the University of Pisa, Italy.
Born in Adapazarı in 1953, Asuman Gürsoy started working in the iron and steel industry in 1999 after 30 years in the banking sector. In 2019, he became secretary general of Turkey’s Cold Rolling, Galvanized and Painted Sheet Metal Producers Association (SOGAD). In addition, he continues to serve as sectoral consultant with responsibility for corporate relations of Turkey’s Flat Steel Import, Export and Industry Association (YİSAD) and Turkey’s Steel Foreign Trade Association.
Dr. Baris Bekir Ciftci is the Director of Industry Analysis at the World Steel Association. He is currently responsible of leading the Association's market analysis activities on the steel value chain from raw materials and energy markets to steel and steel consuming industries such as automotive and construction. Having joined the organization in 2010, he specializes in the analysis of steel value chain, conducts daily analysis of steel industry statistics, economic data and events, and provides commentary on the implications these may have on the steel industry. He has extensive experience in building quantitative models to assess the drivers of the steelmaking materials markets and steel industry developments, making forecasts for the steel-using sectors and steel demand. Dr. Ciftci has presented analysis and forecasts at numerous worldsteel committee meetings and events, and has also frequently presented worldsteel’s outlook and communications at seminars and conferences. He holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey and a PhD in Economics from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
Erkin Şahinöz, born in Istanbul, completed his undergraduate education in Mechanical Engineering at Boğaziçi University. He received a scholarship to pursue his MBA at the University of Nebraska in the United States and later completed his advanced studies in economics at the same university. In 2002, Şahinöz was honored as the most successful young businessperson in the state of Nebraska. He began his professional career in 1999 as a Research Assistant and worked as a strategic management and financial consultant to banks and real sector companies at the national consulting firm Business Development Center from 2000 to 2002. In 2002, he was transferred to the US Federal Reserve (FED) as an economist. He was promoted with a financial model that predicted interest rate changes of central banks using options and was appointed as the Director of the Economic Research Group at the FED. In 2007, he returned to Turkey and established the Strategy Coordination and Business Development department at Arıkanlı Holding, which also includes Yurtiçi Kargo. In 2009, he was appointed as the General Manager of Erste Bank, the largest bank in Austria, overseeing its operations in Turkey. He built Turkey's operations from scratch and provided investment banking, mergers and acquisitions services to foreign investment funds based in Turkey and London. He managed the corporate financing and IPO processes of many companies. Şahinöz also works as a columnist in several national magazines and newspapers, including Dünya Gazetesi. He regularly appears as a commentator on national TV channels. In addition to serving as an independent board member for various institutions, Erkin Şahinöz provides consultancy services to real sector companies in the fields of strategic management, corporate governance, digital transformation, branding, financial management, export market research, blockchain, and Industry 4.0. He is also a speaker at around 450 events annually, discussing topics such as neuromarketing, disruptive technologies, decision-making, economics, financial management, risk management, digitalization, blockchain, and branding.
Gokhan Mercanlı started his professional career in 1998 in the automotive industry. He has held various positions in Coskunoz Holding Group since 2003. He is currently deputy general manager responsible for purchasing at Coskunoz Metal Form Inc. During his years at Coskunoz he was responsible for automotive molding planning and was head of the OEM molding project during 2003-2009. He managed strategic purchasing of sheet and raw materials for the automotive company of the group during 2009-2016. During 2016-2018, Mercanlı was actively involved in setting up purchasing operations in the holding company and managed the shared sheet and raw material purchasing processes for the automotive and radiator companies. Since 2018, he has been responsible for purchasing operations related to growth in automotive mass production, automotive sheet and raw material, mass production parts and equipment, domestic and overseas investments, and industrial services. He has been also responsible since 2022 for the purchasing operations for the battery carrier factory founded by Coskunoz for the first time in Turkey for electrical vehicles. He leads the projects of strategic development of suppliers and long-term projects with suppliers. He is a member of the shared purchasing advisory board of the Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries, while he has actively participated in many social responsibility projects. He is a graduate of the mechanical engineering faculty at Uludag University and is married with one child.
Hakan Çendik,Graduated from The Deck Department at Istanbul Beykoz Maritime Vocational High School, started his Maritime life in 1990. After his graduation he served as a Deck and Executive officer on Merchant ships. Mr. Çendik completed his undergraduate education at the Faculty of Maritime - Maritime Business and Managements department at The Dokuz Eylül University. Then received his Master's degree from Istanbul University's Institute of Marine Sciences - maritime Economics. Between 1997 and 2004, Mr Çendik worked as a manager for Maritime and Ship ownership companies. In 2004, mr Çendik established Angora Shipping and Trading Ltd. with the decision to set up his own business. With the investments made in 2004, the gained experiences and activities of ship-owners continue until today. Hakan Çendik has worked for many non-governmental organizations in the maritime sector. Mr. Çendik conducts the substitute membership of The Chamber of maritime commence (IMEAK DTO) and is The board member of the Turkish Naval Education Foundation ( TÜDEV). He is also the founder member of the Turkish Ship Brokers Association (GBD) and the Association of Coaster Ship owners and Operators (KOSDER). Through the years Mr. Çendik was as a member of the board of directions, served as General Secretary and was the Vice- president of KOSDER. At the present time, Mr. Çendik acts as The Chairman of board for KOSDER.
Kazuo Mike Fujisawa joined NKK Corporation in 1982 and has held management positions in sales, engineering and in an assistant role to CEOs. After NKK merged with Kawasaki Steel to create JFE Steel in 2003, he has held positions in the Corporate Planning Department and Overseas Business Planning Dept. He was on the committees and the Board of Directors of California Steel Industries from 2003 to 2016. He is the member of worldsteel’s Communication Committee and Economic Committee. He has spoken at a number of steel conferences around the world. Currently he is Principal, Global Business Development, JFE Steel Corporation.
Kürşad Aynas has been serving as the Sales Manager for Pipe Profiles and Secondary Manufacturers at Çolakoğlu Metalurji Inc. since 2018. He initiated his career at Borusan Group from 2001 to 2010 and held roles as Sales Manager in Steel Service Center, Energy & Heat and Pipe-Profile departments at Ereğli Iron and Steel Co., affiliated with Oyak Metalurji Group, from 2010 to 2018. A graduate of Zonguldak Karaelmas University with a degree in Mining Engineering, Kürşad Aynas successfully completed his Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) at Istanbul University.
After graduating from Industrial Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University, Mehmet Çakmur started his career in 1990. He took part in different roles in iron and steel trade until 2002. Between 2002 and 2011 he worked as the authorized representative for Turkey of Russian MMK Magnitogorsk. In 2011, he was appointed as export and sales director at MMK Metalurji plant, built by MMK Russia in Turkey. In 2017, he left MMK to found his own company M Steel Ltd., specializing in iron and steel trade, consultancy and agency. As of September 1, 2023, he became a board member at Kocaer Steel. He is also an acting chairman at Turkey’s Steel Foreign Trade Association and a board member at Association of Flat Steel Exporters and Manufacturers (YISAD).
Chairman, Turkey's Association of Flat Steel Exporters and Manufacturers (YISAD) / Business Development and International Affairs Director, Çolakoğlu Metalurji Metin Tayfun was born in Istanbul in 1955. He completed his high school education in Virginia, US. In 1977, received his mechanical engineering degree, followed by a master’s degree in industrial engineering, both from Texas A&M University. His work experience covers 3.5 years at Amoco Production in Texas, two years at Colakoglu Metalurji, then 26 years at companies including Borusan Group, Monroe Shockabsorbers, Caterpillar and Mannesmann Pipe. In 2010, he joined Colakoglu Metalurji as the company switched its production from long products to mainly flat products. He is a founding member of both the Thrace Industrialists Association and of Turkey’s Construction Machinery Industry Association, and is a board member of the Automotive Suppliers Association of Turkey (TAYSAD). He is also the chairman of Turkey’s Association of Flat Steel Exporters and Manufacturers (YISAD).
Mr. Yayan got B.A. degrees from Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University in 1977 and Faculty of Law of the Istanbul University in 1987. Then he got his PhD degree from the Istanbul University Faculty of Economics in 1997. Mr. Yayan has diplomas from University of Michigan on Economy of Development and Population; from the University of Sussex on Labor Market Information System and Japan Int. Coop. Agency on Development and improvement of Employment. Mr. Veysel Yayan started his career as Reporter at the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Trade in 1976. Then he worked at State Planning Organization, as Expert and Undersecretariat of Defense Industries, as Head of Department, Deputy Undersecretary and Acting Undersecretary until he retired in 1998. After serving 22 years for government from expert to Undersecretary levels between 1976-1998, he was appointed as Secretary General to the Turkish Steel Producers Association in 1998. On 25 September 2017, Dr. Yayan was appointed as Undersecretary to Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology. In August 2018, Yayan retired from government and returned to his position as Secretary General of Turkish Steel Producers Association. In addition to this position, Dr. Yayan has been the President of TOBB Ferrous and Nonferrous Metals Assembly since 2007.
Speaking Opportunities
If you are interested in giving a report on one of our steel conferences please kindly contact us.
e-mail: events@steelorbis.com