Dr. Bülent Katkak (29 May 1953, Istanbul) is known for his works in the fields of culture, art and tourism, Chairman of the Board of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye, Clinical Psychologist, Doctor.
After graduating from the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University, he completed his doctorate in the Department of Psychiatry, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine. Since 1988, he has been the founder of Eman Turizm travel agency with pioneering and innovative ideas in the tourism sector and served as a member of the Board of Directors and Audit and vice president at TÜRSAB. Since his student years, Dr. Katkak has been a member of non-governmental organizations and Fenerbahçe High Council Board and held various positions. Those NGOs are as follows: “Milli Türk Talebe Birliği, Türkiye Yeşilay Cemiyeti, Beyoğlu Sosyal Market Vakfı, Şişli Camii Vakfı, İTO Bilgiyi Ticarileştirme ve Araştırma Vakfı, İstanbul Kültür Sanat Vakfı, Türkiye Gezginler Derneği, Topkapı Sarayı Sevenler Derneği, Boğaziçililer Derneği, Okmeydanı Spor ve Eğitim Vakfı, TÜRÇEK Derneği, Balkanlar Medeniyet Derneği, Fahri Trafik Müfettişleri Derneği” etc.
He still serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Istanbul Enderun Eğitim Foundation, the Chairman of the Board of the Kültür Kenti Foundation and a member of the Board of the Turizm Seyahat Acentaları Foundation. Having been in Beyoğlu and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality councils for three terms (15 years), Dr. Katkak served as the Chairman of the Culture, Art and Tourism Commission and was on the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Advisory Board. Having been the Chairman of Beyoğlu City Council for 12 years since its establishment, Dr. Katkak has been on the IMM City Theaters Board of Directors for 6.5 years.
Başaran Ulusoy, who assumed the 16th Chairmanship of the Board of Directors of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye between 8 June 2011 and 17 April 2012; is a businessman who has held the Presidency of TÜRSAB (Association of Turkish Travel Agencies) for many years.
Having served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice and the Main Member of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, Dr. Ugur Ibrahimhakkioglu is the 15th Chairman of the Board of TTOK in 2006-2011.
Acting as the 14th Chairman of the Board of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye between March 5, 2005, and April 24, 2006; academician and bureaucrat Prof. Dr. Mustafa İsen is also a 25th and 26th term deputy of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Tourist guide and traveler Melih Ferit Epikmen, one of the pioneers of tourism in Türkiye, was elected as the 13th Chairman of the Board of Directors of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye on July 9, 2003 and continued this duty until March 5, 2005.
Çelik Gülersoy, who has carried out very valuable works for İstanbul particularly and for Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye, started to work at Touring after graduating from Istanbul University Faculty of Law. He served as a civil servant in 1947, assistant manager in 1957, legal counsel between 1961-1965, and General Manager from 1965 to 2002. Çelik, who worked with 11 presidents of TTOK, became the Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2002 and continued his duty for one year. Çelik Gülersoy was given the title of Honorary President as a result of his work for Touring.
Prof. Dr. Güler Temizkan was elected as the President of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye when the calendars showed the date of May 1, 2000, becoming the first and only female president of the Institution. Working as a Professor in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Temizkan completed his duty as the Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2002.
Nejat Olcay, the 10th Chairman of the Board of Directors of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye, who served between 1997 and 2000, is a graduate of Istanbul University Faculty of Law and has accomplished important works in the banking and private sector.
Hadi Sağnak, who became the Deputy Governor of Istanbul in 1956, is the 9th Chairman of the Board of Directors of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye, serving between 1990 and 1997.
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kemal Kutlu is Touring's longest serving chairman (14 years), after Reşit Saffet Atabinen, upon being elected Chairman of the Board of Directors between 1976-1990. Kutlu, who is a Professor in Road and Traffic Chair, is a graduate of ITU Civil Engineering.
Archaeologist and Art Historian Feridun Dirimtekin, one of the honorary members of the institution, who was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors after the Sequestrator Period (Yed-i Adil Dönemi), successfully continued this duty until 1976.
Having served as the Dean of Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1975, Prof. Dr. Ilhan Akin was appointed as the chairman of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye between 1975 and 1976 by the Yed-i Adil Board.
Nuri Pere, who was the fifth president of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye between 1974 and 1975, is known for his work in the field of banking and played an important role in the development of numismatics (monetary science) in Türkiye.
Nejat Ferit Eczacıbaşı, who served as the fourth president of TTOK between 1966 and 1974, is among the pioneers of the pharmaceutical industry in Türkiye, as well as being the Chairman of the Board of Eczacıbaşı Holding. Eczacıbaşı is also one of the founders of the Turkish Education Foundation and the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), which has been organizing the International Istanbul Festival since 1972.
Ahmet Şükrü Emed, who served as the third president of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye between 6 May and 28 September 1966, is a specialist in the fields of Psychiatry and Neurology, and Parliament VI. term deputy.
Mahmut Nedim Gündüzalp, who served as the Turkish Grand National Assembly VII. and VIII. term deputy of Edirne for the period 1947-48 and the Minister of Commerce between 1947-48, was elected as the president of the institution on May 12, 1965, after the death of Founding President Reşit Saffet Atabinen. Mahmut Nedim Gündüzalp was the vice president of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye and held this position until May 6, 1966.
Reşit Saffet Bey, a diplomat, politician and intellectual; served as a member of the parliament for III. and IV. terms and was a founding member of the Turkish Historical Research Society. He became the founding president of Touring and Automobile Association of Türkiye in 1923 and continued his duty until 1965.
Reşit Saffet Bey, a diplomat, politician and intellectual, is one of the sophisticated intellectuals who grew up in the last period of the Ottoman Empire. III. and IV. He served as a Kocaeli deputy for a period of time and undertook many duties throughout his life, such as the founding member of the Turkish Historical Research Society and the first Turkish correspondent member of the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He was the founding chairman of Turing, which was founded on November 6, 1923, under the name of "Turkish Traveling Society", until 1965.
Reşit Saffet Bey was born on September 4, 1884, in Sarıyer, Istanbul. After graduating from Kadıköy Frerler College in 1900, he received a diploma from "Ecole Libre de Science Politiques" in Paris in 1904 and learned to use French as his mother tongue. Atabinen, who took various diplomatic missions in the following years, published books and articles and organized conferences for the promotion of national independence in Switzerland between 1918-1920. In 1922, he served as the general secretary of the Turkish Executive Committee in the first part of the Lausanne Peace Conference. While he was a deputy, he participated as a Turkish delegate in international scientific, economic, and political congresses and conferences held in different cities of Europe. He became the founding president of The Turkish Touring Automobile Club in 1923 and served as the Türkiye representative of the International Olympic Committee between 1933 and 1955.
Since 1 August 1930, Reşit Saffet Atabinen made great efforts in the publication of the "Türkiye Turing ve Otomobil Kurumu Belleteni" (Bulletin Officiel du Touring et Automobile Club de Turquie) magazine and personally managed the editorial affairs. As a result of these studies, Turing Magazine became one of the oldest magazines with its uninterrupted publication life.
His articles appeared in local and foreign newspapers and magazines, and he wrote many books. Some of his Turkish works are as follows; Ottoman History-Financial Lessons, Istanbul 1913, Origins of the General War, Istanbul 1916, Turkish Trade Routes in the Caucasus Skirts, Istanbul 1918, Traces of Turkism and Turkism, Turkish Hearth Publications, Ankara 1931, Traces of Turkish Blood and Civilization in Eastern Europe.
Among the main works he wrote in French are L'Effort Ottoman, Rudeval ed. Paris 1906, Les Turcs de Perse, Ed. Revue de Hongrie, Budabest 1911, L'Islam, des Turcs et la Société des Nations, Genéve 1919, La Politique économique de la Turquie Kemaliste, Libr. Persco, Paris 1934.
Reşit Saffet Atabinen, who made important contributions to the promotion of our country and the development of tourism with the international meetings he attended, the conferences he gave abroad, and the many activities he carried out through The Turkish Touring Automobile Club, passed away on February 2, 1965, in Istanbul.