Dear Rotary Club Antwerp Rotarian Friends,
This email is sent as a part of our club project, to introduce our region, our city and our club to Rotary clubs abroad. We will be sending such emails to different clubs abroad every month. We hope that these emails will lead to good friendships and partnerships on great projects.
First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Gökhan Gömeç, I am the Chairman of Adana Seyhan Rotary Club International Services Committee. I would like to give you some information about our region Çukurova, where our city is situated in Turkey and our city Adana. Furthermore, I would like to give you some information about our club Adana Seyhan Rotary.
Çukurova, formerly known as Klikya; is a geographical, economic and cultural center in southern Anatolia, which includes Adana, Mersin, Osmaniye and Hatay provinces. With a population exceeding 5 million, it is one of the regions with the greatest population density in Turkey. Specifically Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area is the business and cultural center of Çukurova. A large part of the Çukurova region is a large, flat and fertile area, which is one of the most suitable areas for agricultural production in the world. Throughout history, Çukurova has been the escape point from Europe to the Middle East and is the shortest crossing point from the northern Middle East and Central Asia to the Mediterranean Sea and is the hub of transportation with its two major ports and oil terminals.
Adana is Turkey's sixth largest metropolitan city in terms of population density. The city is Turkey's one of the leading agricultural, industrial and cultural centers. Adana was one of the first cities to industrialize in Turkey. Along with the construction of Seyhan Dam and developments in agricultural techniques, there has been great improvements in agricultural yields in the 1950s. In Adana; cotton, wheat, soybeans, barley, grapes and citrus fruits are produced in large quantities and the city is the marketing and distribution center of Çukurova agricultural region. Half of the corn and soybeans grown in Turkey are produced in Adana. 34% of the peanuts and 29% of oranges in Turkey are grown in Adana. The textile and leather industry is the major industrial sector that accounts to 29% of Adana's production. Another large sector in Adana is vegetable oil and processed food production industry.
Adana Seyhan Rotary Club is the second oldest club in Adana, which was established on 06.04.1976 and is under 2430. District of the Turkish Rotary. There are currently 65 Members in our club consisting of qualified professionals. Adana Seyhan Rotary Club has undertaken important projects since its foundation. As Adana Seyhan Rotary Club, we can list some of our works and projects as follows:
- The first Rotary club to organize a district conference in addition to the Rotary clubs established in Istanbul and Ankara.
- The first Rotary club to organize district assembly in addition to the Rotary clubs established in Istanbul and Ankara.
- The first Rotary club to establish a district governor in addition to the Rotary clubs established in Istanbul and Ankara.
- After being appointed as a Special Officer by the Governor, one of our members founded the Almaty Rotary Club of Kazakhstan, the first permanent Rotary Club abroad founded by us. Rtn. AHMET HAMDİ DEMİREL who has succeeded this is a member of our club.
- The first Rotary club to have successfully completed ROTARY ANATOLIAN HIGH SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION with the support of its members and sponsors. (886 Students are educated in 34 classrooms)
- Apart from Rotary clubs established in Istanbul and Ankara which has members completed this earlier, the first Paul Harris Fellow in our region Rtn. MUSTAFA ÖZGÖREN is a member of our club.
- Apart from the Rotary clubs established in Istanbul and Ankara which has members completed this earlier, AYŞEGÜL ÖZGÖREN is a Rotarian Spouse who is a Rotarian Spouse and the first Paul Harris Fellow.
- The first Rotary club to receive the highest donation from matching grants under the RotaryFoundation (Güneş Pişiricileri Project).
- The first Rotary club to receive donations from the REGIONAL DONATIONS (BKB) under the RotaryFoundation (Project for Teaching Health Personnel to Reduce Infant Mortality).
- The first Rotary club in the Donation in-Kind to have provided in-kind assistance to an overseas club (Compressor Donation Project).
- The first Rotary club to publish a comprehensive BOOK in Turkish and English to promote Rotary(Lets introduce Rotary to our children).
- In Cukurova University with the donation from matching grants of Rotary Foundation, we are the first Rotary club to provide ONLINE reading of all the local and international books available of the university.
- The Rotary Club which launched the Chess Tournament in Adana for more than 25 years and made it the most important chess tournament in the city.
- The Rotary Club organizing International RYLA.
With this e-mail I would like to invite you to our city of Adana and our Adana Seyhan Rotary club and hope to meet you fellow Rotarians in the near future.
Best Regards,
Gokhan Gomec
