Welcome to Kayseri!
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Kayseri, is the home of one of Turkey's most prominent politicians. It is also the birthplace of a new phenomenon: Islamic Calvinism.
Halil Hakkoymaz is a man of few words. He throws two crumpled bills, 200 lira (about €100),on the table as a donation. The building contractor in this central Anatolian city of Kayseri often pays a visit to the cramped office of the soup kitchen to help out. But today, he has another gift for the poor. A serious accident had occurred at a job site, but the victim came out of it virtually unscathed. Most grateful for the outcome, Hakkoymaz intends to sacrifice a sheep. “In Your name, I sacrifice this animal,” says the small, wiry butcher in Hakkoymaz’s direction. He places the knife’s edge to the animal’s throat. “Allahu akbar (God is great),” he calls out. Afterward, Hakkoymaz gets into his old station wagon and drives back to his construction company.
There are 30 soup kitchens in Kayseri, most of them financed by businesspeople. For them, it is natural that they should work hard as well as be benevolent and Godfearing. Kayseri exemplifies both a blend of a strong faith in Islam and the positive aspects of a modern world. Indeed, piousness and economic success are interwoven, potentially surprising for supposedly backward Anatolia. The city is evidence that Islam can have a positive influence on economic success. With its 1.1 million inhabitants and a workforce of 150000, the province of Kayseri produces 70 percent of all furniture sold in Turkey and 1 percent of the denim worn around the world. The industrial zone outside the city spreads out over 2350 hectares and is home to more than 500 production facilities. It also features 100 kilometers of paved streets, more than many of Turkey’s rural districts. Even though the city is in the middle of Anatolia and therefore quite distant from any ports, Kayseri’s exports have doubled since 2000 to about €540 million. In the meantime, business owners complain about a lack of workers. Mosques and building cranes shape Kayseri’s skyline. The city has about 500 places of worship, and one of the largest is located in the industrial zone. Signs of piety appear everywhere, without any traces of religious extremism.
Kayseri’s faithful are not agitating; they would rather make donations. Since 2000, €230 million of private money has flowed into charities and foundations, estimates the Turkish weekly magazine Aksiyon. Many public buildings, such as schools, were built by private donors, and several hundred students receive grants and scholarships, especially for medical universities. The donors hope that the future physicians, nurses and medical techs will later improve medical care in the city. Thus, the donors believe their donations help to promote their city as an appealing place to live and work.
Kayseri’s business culture is characterized by proverbial frugality. “Turn off lights when not in use,” admonishes a sign in the Birlik Mensucat textile plant, a company with €55 million in sales.
Displaying wealth outwardly is also not proper. There is really no nightlife to speak of in Kayseri, even though businesspeople in Istanbul enjoy spending money in expensive nightclubs. “It’s not our style,” says Seffat Arslan, a furniture factory owner, wrinkling his nose. Profits in Kayseri are not frittered away, but are invested or spent on good causes. “My father told me, ‘Don’t lie, stay honest, and keep your numbers straight,’” says Mustafa Özhamurkar, CEO of Birlik Mensucat.
Kayseri’s success has much to do with early experiences with real poverty, which still have an influence on the rhetoric of the city’s business class. “We know that money needs to be earned by hard work,” says Ibrahim Yardimici, head of the pipe manufacturing company Erbosan. “I’m 65 years old now, but I can remember selling sesame rings on the street as a 7-year-old to make some money.” Today, he exports steel pipe to 70 countries around the globe.
The city’s thriftiness is not only evident in the culture of local companies but in the public administration as well. Mayor Mehmet Özhaseki, an AKP party member, recently sold the city’s fleet of vehicles and put his civil servants in leased vehicles—heretofore unheard-of for status-conscious Turkish government employees.
Özhaseki’s predecessor Sükrü Karatepe coined the term “Islamic Calvinism” to describe the special combination of piety and industriousness that pervades the area. The term reappeared recently in a study published by the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a European research institute. It gave an international public a portrait of Kayseri and initiated a debate about the compatibility of Islam and modern social trends. The results were something Kayseri’s citizens already knew beforehand: There is no contradiction between success and Muslim faith.
“If there were, we wouldn’t have such a big industrial zone,” says Ikbal Cavdaroglu, a local AKP party member and businesswoman. She was the first woman in Kayseri to start her own company, which is an accounting firm.
The Koran itself emphasizes the right to private ownership, and Muhammed was a wealthy businessman. Kayseri’s most famous son, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül (and Presidential hopeful), recently told the BBC that the people of his hometown practiced “the kind of Islam that we need. They go to the mosque and they are pious, but at the same time they are very active in business.”When Gül wanted to show Olli Rehn, the European Union’s commissioner for enlargement, what makes Anatolia tick, Gül brought him to Kayseri.
The reaction of surprise to the boom says something about Europeans in particular, finds Fuat Keyman, a professor of political science at Koç University in Istanbul. “They have noticed that there is another Turkey outside of Istanbul,” he says. ESI director Gerald Knaus points out that Kayseri’s success is representative of many areas in Anatolia. Other cities such as Konya, Gaziantep and Eskisehir are also experiencing considerable growth.
Some critics dislike the comparison with Calvinism because they sense an implied Christian superiority. Gül and most of the business owners in Kayseri do not have a problem with Calvin, even if his doctrine of predestination linking economic success to religious choice cannot be exactly transposed to the Muslim faith.
“God loves those who work hard—and that applies to us,” says Arslan, the furniture company owner. For that reason, business leaders in Kayseri would be pleased if the rest of Turkey followed their example to some degree. “If all of Turkey were like Kayseri, then we wouldn’t have any problems with Europe,” he says and takes a drag off his cigarette. Then he goes back to talking about future business plans. Arslan wants to build a factory in the neighboring, economically challenged province of Yozgat. To be in Allah’s good graces? Perhaps, admits Arslan, but especially as a tax write-off, he winks.
This article first appeared in Roland Berger Strategy Consultants' award-winning executive magazine, think:act. The editors of think: act can freely choose the content and tone of any article. The items printed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants!
Halil Hakkoymaz is a man of few words. He throws two crumpled bills, 200 lira (about €100),on the table as a donation. The building contractor in this central Anatolian city of Kayseri often pays a visit to the cramped office of the soup kitchen to help out. But today, he has another gift for the poor. A serious accident had occurred at a job site, but the victim came out of it virtually unscathed. Most grateful for the outcome, Hakkoymaz intends to sacrifice a sheep. “In Your name, I sacrifice this animal,” says the small, wiry butcher in Hakkoymaz’s direction. He places the knife’s edge to the animal’s throat. “Allahu akbar (God is great),” he calls out. Afterward, Hakkoymaz gets into his old station wagon and drives back to his construction company.
There are 30 soup kitchens in Kayseri, most of them financed by businesspeople. For them, it is natural that they should work hard as well as be benevolent and Godfearing. Kayseri exemplifies both a blend of a strong faith in Islam and the positive aspects of a modern world. Indeed, piousness and economic success are interwoven, potentially surprising for supposedly backward Anatolia. The city is evidence that Islam can have a positive influence on economic success. With its 1.1 million inhabitants and a workforce of 150000, the province of Kayseri produces 70 percent of all furniture sold in Turkey and 1 percent of the denim worn around the world. The industrial zone outside the city spreads out over 2350 hectares and is home to more than 500 production facilities. It also features 100 kilometers of paved streets, more than many of Turkey’s rural districts. Even though the city is in the middle of Anatolia and therefore quite distant from any ports, Kayseri’s exports have doubled since 2000 to about €540 million. In the meantime, business owners complain about a lack of workers. Mosques and building cranes shape Kayseri’s skyline. The city has about 500 places of worship, and one of the largest is located in the industrial zone. Signs of piety appear everywhere, without any traces of religious extremism.
Kayseri’s faithful are not agitating; they would rather make donations. Since 2000, €230 million of private money has flowed into charities and foundations, estimates the Turkish weekly magazine Aksiyon. Many public buildings, such as schools, were built by private donors, and several hundred students receive grants and scholarships, especially for medical universities. The donors hope that the future physicians, nurses and medical techs will later improve medical care in the city. Thus, the donors believe their donations help to promote their city as an appealing place to live and work.
Kayseri’s business culture is characterized by proverbial frugality. “Turn off lights when not in use,” admonishes a sign in the Birlik Mensucat textile plant, a company with €55 million in sales.
Displaying wealth outwardly is also not proper. There is really no nightlife to speak of in Kayseri, even though businesspeople in Istanbul enjoy spending money in expensive nightclubs. “It’s not our style,” says Seffat Arslan, a furniture factory owner, wrinkling his nose. Profits in Kayseri are not frittered away, but are invested or spent on good causes. “My father told me, ‘Don’t lie, stay honest, and keep your numbers straight,’” says Mustafa Özhamurkar, CEO of Birlik Mensucat.
Kayseri’s success has much to do with early experiences with real poverty, which still have an influence on the rhetoric of the city’s business class. “We know that money needs to be earned by hard work,” says Ibrahim Yardimici, head of the pipe manufacturing company Erbosan. “I’m 65 years old now, but I can remember selling sesame rings on the street as a 7-year-old to make some money.” Today, he exports steel pipe to 70 countries around the globe.
The city’s thriftiness is not only evident in the culture of local companies but in the public administration as well. Mayor Mehmet Özhaseki, an AKP party member, recently sold the city’s fleet of vehicles and put his civil servants in leased vehicles—heretofore unheard-of for status-conscious Turkish government employees.
Özhaseki’s predecessor Sükrü Karatepe coined the term “Islamic Calvinism” to describe the special combination of piety and industriousness that pervades the area. The term reappeared recently in a study published by the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a European research institute. It gave an international public a portrait of Kayseri and initiated a debate about the compatibility of Islam and modern social trends. The results were something Kayseri’s citizens already knew beforehand: There is no contradiction between success and Muslim faith.
“If there were, we wouldn’t have such a big industrial zone,” says Ikbal Cavdaroglu, a local AKP party member and businesswoman. She was the first woman in Kayseri to start her own company, which is an accounting firm.
The Koran itself emphasizes the right to private ownership, and Muhammed was a wealthy businessman. Kayseri’s most famous son, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül (and Presidential hopeful), recently told the BBC that the people of his hometown practiced “the kind of Islam that we need. They go to the mosque and they are pious, but at the same time they are very active in business.”When Gül wanted to show Olli Rehn, the European Union’s commissioner for enlargement, what makes Anatolia tick, Gül brought him to Kayseri.
The reaction of surprise to the boom says something about Europeans in particular, finds Fuat Keyman, a professor of political science at Koç University in Istanbul. “They have noticed that there is another Turkey outside of Istanbul,” he says. ESI director Gerald Knaus points out that Kayseri’s success is representative of many areas in Anatolia. Other cities such as Konya, Gaziantep and Eskisehir are also experiencing considerable growth.
Some critics dislike the comparison with Calvinism because they sense an implied Christian superiority. Gül and most of the business owners in Kayseri do not have a problem with Calvin, even if his doctrine of predestination linking economic success to religious choice cannot be exactly transposed to the Muslim faith.
“God loves those who work hard—and that applies to us,” says Arslan, the furniture company owner. For that reason, business leaders in Kayseri would be pleased if the rest of Turkey followed their example to some degree. “If all of Turkey were like Kayseri, then we wouldn’t have any problems with Europe,” he says and takes a drag off his cigarette. Then he goes back to talking about future business plans. Arslan wants to build a factory in the neighboring, economically challenged province of Yozgat. To be in Allah’s good graces? Perhaps, admits Arslan, but especially as a tax write-off, he winks.
This article first appeared in Roland Berger Strategy Consultants' award-winning executive magazine, think:act. The editors of think: act can freely choose the content and tone of any article. The items printed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants!
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