İnci GS Yuasa, a subsidiary of İnci Holding and GS Yuasa, continues its activities in the social sphere with the goal of “saving lives”. Making statements on the anniversary of the İzmir Earthquake of October 30, 2020, Cihan Elbirlik, Deputy Chairman of İnci GS Yuasa, emphasized the necessity of long-term thinking about earthquakes and the sustainable impact of the private sector in terms of awareness.
İnci GS Yuasa continues its long-term cooperation with AKUT, Turkey’s first non-governmental organization in the field of search and rescue, which has become one of the most important search and rescue organizations in the UN and EU, to promote disaster preparedness culture in the society.
İnci GS Yuasa; İnci Holding, a well-established company of the automotive supply industry in Turkey a subsidiary of global battery giant Japanese GS Yuasa and, continues its contributions in the social sphere within the framework of the goal of “saving lives”. In this context, the company continues its long-term cooperation with AKUT, Turkey’s first search and rescue non-governmental organization, and conducts awareness-raising activities to spread the culture of disaster preparedness in society.
In March last year, İnci GS Yuasa supported the renovation of AKUT’s logistics center in Manisa, named after their colleague Mert Küçükyumuk, who lost his life in the İzmir Earthquake on October 30, 2020. Mert Küçükyumuk Logistics Center contributes to AKUT extending its hand to everyone in need in Turkey, especially in Manisa and İzmir. Cihan Elbirlik, Deputy Chairman of the company, which also made a live broadcast with AKUT last year on the importance of NGOs raising public awareness on disaster preparedness and the responsibility of the private sector in this regard, made special statements on the anniversary of the İzmir Earthquake
Elbirlik: “We want to set an example of a sustainable business model between the private sector and NGOs.”
Noting that earthquake is a timeless issue, Cihan Elbirlik said, “We should never stop thinking about, working on and carrying out impact-oriented works on earthquakes, which is one of the realities of our country, due to sad events such as the İzmir Earthquake of October 30. As İnci GS Yuasa, we attach importance to channel our endless energy into this field. Today, AKUT Mert Küçükyumuk Logistics Center continues to lend a helping hand to many lives. It is our greatest hope that this impact will multiply over time and that kind of suffering is never experienced again. One of the common points we made in our broadcast, in which we emphasized the importance of being prepared for disasters and creating a culture of disaster preparedness in the society in the long term, was the difference the private sector’s support to NGOs makes. I sincerely hope that our project will be a role model in terms of a sustainable business model with NGOs and encourage change. As İnci GS Yuasa, we will pursue our solution-oriented efforts in this field, just like our contribution to the sector with our state-of-the-art batteries and innovative services.”
Commemorating his colleague Mert Küçükyumuk and his family and the citizens who lost their lives on the anniversary of the İzmir Earthquake, Elbirlik once again emphasized the importance of earthquake awareness, adding, “The more awareness we raise about disasters that change many lives, the more visible our impact will be. I believe this is a shared responsibility of individuals and institutions. We can change the scenario where a few seconds erase our future by being aware of what we need to do in those few seconds. Let’s not forget that ‘in an earthquake, buildings save lives, just like being prepared does’. I invite everyone to become a partner in this transformation.”
Recep Şalcı, who served as AKUT President from 2016 until September 2022 and passed the torch to Vice President Mehmet Murat Boz, said, “One of the most important AKUT collaborations that took place during the 6 years I served as AKUT President is this social benefit project we undertook with İnci GS Yuasa. As everyone knows, the most important supporters of AKUT, which is the first NGO of our country in the field of search and rescue and one of the most important search and rescue organizations in the UN and the EU, after its volunteers, are private sector organizations such as İnci GS Yuasa, which have disaster awareness and shoulder responsibility. This is a really good example of the NGO-private sector collaboration, because the spirit of this collaboration is based on ‘saving lives’.”
Mehmet Murat Boz, the new President of AKUT, emphasized that Manisa Mert Küçükyumuk Logistics Center is an important center not only for AKUT’s operations in the Aegean Region but also for all over Turkey, and stated that he hoped this project would set an example for similar projects in the context of both AKUT and all search and rescue NGOs.
About İnci GS Yuasa
Carrying out production and sales activities in the battery sector, İnci GS Yuasa is a subsidiary of İnci Holding and GS Yuasa. With three factories in Manisa and 1,000 employees, it is the largest battery manufacturer in Turkey. Adopting the principle of excellence in all its processes, İnci GS Yuasa delivers its products and services to consumers in more than 80 countries in 6 continents with its consumer-oriented approach and the new technologies it develops. İnci GS Yuasa operates with 110 main dealers, 150 energy experts, 260 authorized services and 4,400 retail outlets in Turkey. İnci Akü was also named the most valuable battery brand in the “Turkey’s Most Valuable Brands 2022” list prepared by Brand Finance, an international brand evaluation organization. Having established the sector’s first R&D center in Turkey, İnci GS Yuasa adds value to the sector and its stakeholders with its innovative perspective and technological products, and works with the vision of becoming the most trusted energy storage company with its sustainable environmental approach.
For more information, please visit our websites www.incigsyuasa.com and www.inciaku.com.
About AKUT
AKUT Search and Rescue Association, the first non-governmental organization of our country in the field of search and rescue, has saved the lives of nearly 3 thousand people and reached almost 3 thousand volunteers in approximately 4 thousand operations since its establishment in 1996. With the awareness that life is sacred and most precious, it has also rescued 1,453 animals. In 5 years, AKUT traveled 52,000 kilometers and reached 5.5 million people in 52 provinces and 174 districts with its mobile training project. Every year, it continues to provide “Basic Disaster Awareness and Earthquake Seminars” to hundreds of thousands of people in order to raise public awareness and create a more disaster-resilient Turkey. As the first organization in Turkey accredited by the United Nations, it successfully represents our country in disasters abroad where it receives calls for help. AKUT also became the first Turkish search and rescue team to enter the European Civil Protection Pool (ECPP) under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. It has been appointed by the European Commission as a partner in the consortium that will organize urban search and rescue and medical exercises under ModEX. It is the first Turkish urban search and rescue team to do so. AKUT meets all its training, operation, material, etc. needs with the donations of its supporters.