Dear Friends,
My name is Serpil Keskin. I was born in Istanbul and wish to share with you some historical information about my forefathers’ arrival to Anatolia.Our family belongs to the Turkic tribes of Central Asia who settled in Anatolia following the Ankara battle between Bayezid I the Thunderbolt and Tamerlane.
Our forefathers where nomadic shepherds who first settled in Gumushane, a fertile region for growing cattle and then moved to the grazing lands of Trabzon, along the shores of the Kumyatak river. Our family gave great importance to children’s education; some of them were imams who taught reading and writing to the village children and opened the first school of the village.
I belong to the fifth generation in the steps of Hasan Ali Yücel, the fourth Minister of Education of the Republic of Turkey. He was the first pioneer to implement modern national education systems in Turkey, following the steps of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk. Hasan Ali Yücel sponsored the translation of world classics in Turkish and promoted the foundation of modern Turkish universities such as the Istanbul Technical University.
He was honored by UNICEF, who named 1994 “the year of Hasan Ali Yücel, a great and innovative leader in the field of public education ”
I, Serap Keskin, am proud to be a member of this great family trying to walk on the path and follow the ideals of my ancestors.I have graduated from the Balıkesir Tourism and Hotel Management College followed by the Business Administration Faculty of the Anadolu University and attended many courses and seminars in order to develop my professional experience and skills. I have always been a child who loved to read and learn and following my graduation from University, I have worked in many 5 star hotels and tourism agencies where I contributed to the success and development of these companies, by strengthening their infrastructure and know-how.
I like hard work and always try to solve problems by reading and consulting senior people who have experience and knowledge in the field.In 1998 I established a tourism company, started organizing medical congresses and decided to promote the health tourism sector in Turkey. In 2007, we organized a “Fight against Obesity and Healthful Nutrition” campaign, followed by conferences on public health and preventive medicine. I started spending most of my earnings in order to develop public health awareness and services. Health care must be provided on time and extensively in order to avoid serious public health problems due to genetic crop manipulation and unhealthy food production and consumption, which may lead the way to life threatening diseases such as cancer.
We have established our Association recently and still have a long way to go. I am very happy to have started young and hope that public awareness in this field will encourage new and active members to join us and add strength and vitality to our program.
We walk on the path of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, our great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who said “ I trust and rely on our Turkish doctors” and “The future belongs to the young generation”
Let’s hope for the best and work diligently to provide a healthy life to our citizens.
Best regards,
Serpil KESKİN
