Prof. Mehmet HABERAL - Founder and Chief of Primary Executive Board

Dear audience. This is Campus Talks Program and our guest on today’s program is the founder of Başkent University and honorary president of the board of directors, Professor Doctor Mehmet Haberal. Dear professor, thank you very much for spending time with us first of all.

Başkent University has been contributing to the international reputation of our country for over twenty years. It is one of the major institutions that could truly become the cradle of science and distribute knowledge to the whole world. Is it possible to tell us briefly what has been done since the establishment process of the university?

First of all, I would like to thank you and your team. The media is very important. If you cannot make yourself heard, you will not be able to achieve anything. Now, I want to tell one of my memories about Harvard University's first hospital, which is called Massachusetts General Hospital.

The chief of the surgery department of that hospital is a very close friend of mine. I invited him; he was the one who sent the picture you saw in Universal Washington in Seattle. I invited the staff of the surgical department and a few others. They came and gave speeches at the conference I had organized for them.

We were sitting in the cafeteria of our television building. They said to me that they would ask me a very difficult question. I asked them what it was. They said “You have built hospitals; you have built a university and many other things, so how did you come up with starting your own TV channel?” and I asked “Is this the question?

They said “Yes, that's it!” I said, “Listen, you have come here and gave a talk, haven’t you? If there were not this television channel, your conference would only have appealed to 300 or 500 people in the conference hall. However, thanks to this channel, many people around the world have found the opportunity to see you. I said that’s why I started it”. They exclaimed “Wow!, we haven’t thought about it.” It's the case. This is the job you are doing. Indeed, written and visual media are very important. It informs people. This is the most important reason for establishing Channel B; to give people the right information and to be able to transmit what our citizens think of to others. I thank you for what you are doing now. You will now present Başkent University at both national and international level. If you ask me why I established this university and why Başkent University ... Now, look, I gave a lecture last week. The topic of the conference was the future of education in universities today. Now, first we have to know where our country has come from where to where.

I always mention this: Lucky us, we have our own country. I always commemorate Atatürk, who founded this country, his fellow fighter and martyrs with mercy and gratitude. I did the same thing behind bars because if they had not established this country at the cost of their lives, we would not be here today. Of course, establishing the country was not that easy. While they were fighting forces in the country, they were also fighting powerful foreign forces, so this country was established in war. Can you imagine? When this country, the Republic of Turkey was newly established, the number of literate people was less than 5%. Can you imagine? And Turkey made it in those conditions.

Look, when I started elementary school, there was no elementary school building. I started in the guest room of my aunts, right there was no high school in Rize; there was only one secondary school in my county. Ahmet Altınkılıç the late had it built. We were in such a situation. What happened then? One primary school was built in my neighborhood, this school, and I carried stone to there when it was being built. Then I came to Zonguldak.

I studied there and I moved to Mehmet Çelikel High School. Imagine, the number of high schools is so small that you can count on the fingers of one hand. The most well-established high schools were in Istanbul or in Ankara. Apart from that, there was Afyon High School, our late president Süleyman Demirel was an Afyon High School graduate. There are Erzurum High School and Trabzon High School. So the other high schools can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Mehmet Çelikel High School, where I studied, is the first high school in Turkey to have been donated to the Ministry of National Education and was built by a businessman for the first time in 1938.

In 1961, universities started to place students by examination. I graduated from there. Then I moved to Ankara University.

But that year, the Medical Faculty of Ankara University accepted students ranking the highest, we ranked the highest. It provided us an excellent education, indeed. The education at Ankara University Medical Faculty was excellent. Considering the circumstances of those times, our professors educated us perfectly. Hacettepe Dentistry and Medical Faculty was established in 1962. It is a coincidence that my sister was also among the first students. She started the faculty of dentistry. Then I finished the university. I moved to Hacettepe, and I worked in the General Surgery Unit. I realized that Hacettepe was a separate world indeed.
Now, when we compare the conditions in today’s Ankara University to the conditions of those times, it was far more difficult. But when we looked at Hacettepe, we saw that İhsan Dogramaci had made a serious difference. It was such a place that I used to work 24 hours a day there. Patients used to flooding into the hospital. We have passed through those times. Think about a hungry person who sees water, bread; we worked that willingly. Now I’ll give an example, I was transplanting kidneys. I had patients who used to drink 10 to 12 liters of water a day. We used to transplant livers. That's how we started Hacettepe. Hacettepe is a cornerstone of our country in healthcare and medicine. I commemorate all my professors with mercy and gratitude.But Mr. Ihsan has a special place. İhsan Bey and Hacettepe are special for our country. After Hacettepe was founded, university law came out in 1967 and it became a university. In many places like Erzurum, Eskişehir, Sivas, Samsun, İhsan Bey established medical faculties. Of course, they went very well. I became a specialist.

During my specialization, I used to be involved in general surgery and burns, and especially experimental liver transplantation. We had a colleague who came from the States and came to work in Hacettepe. Our unit became very important with him. Dear Yılmaz, Nevzat, Hakim and Hasan, all of whom we worked with were there. So, Hacettepe was indeed a special place. Then, we thought that as we managed to do such well at that time, but we can do much better now because when we think of chronic kidney disease or liver disease at that time, people used to ask what they had to do.

We would say there was no treatment, and we used to leave helplessly. But after those times when I started university, I learned that my teacher in the States- his photo is here - unfortunately he passed away on March 4th, used to transplant livers to people. We learn them too late. Of course, however we should look at how much Turkey has made progress. People who went to the States or Europe used to tell how developed the States or Europe were, like there was nothing achieved in Turkey but everything used to come from abroad.

Then I decided to go to the USA. I first got education on burns for a year at the medical faculty of the University of Texas. There were three units in America. One of them was in my university there, another in Boston, and the other was in Cincinnati. I went to Texas first, and I first learned what burns are. Look at it this was the burning unit. This is the first place where I went, and these were my professors. I stayed there for a year and then I went to Denver. This is my professor, whom I worked with for a year and a half, and I learned how to transplant livers from him.

We did research later. Then I returned to Turkey in 1975. We were the first people to do short-term military service. Look at this. We did military service, but it was actually short-term military service, but still took long. We did it in Etimesgut, but there was no water or any facilities. It was a military service in a real sense. Later, I went to the American Hospital, of course I was doing military service at the same time, and I was studying on how to start transplanting.

And finally, my professor, İhsan gave me this opportunity. I visited İhsan Bey together with Mithat Bey, who was the head of the delegation of our university. Ihsan Bey said to me “Okay, let's see how you will do this job, take the conditions of Turkey into account”. The good thing was I had Hacettepe University and its dialysis center to work in. Of course, there were no laws in Turkey, and there was a gap about this issue. Nobody but only me knew what transplantation was.

As I was training people, I used to challenge the official procedures. Imagine, at every staff, doctors, nurses, medical technicians, whoever comes to your mind, I trained all. As I was doing military service, I was also doing research and experiments meanwhile.

Ihsan Bey asked me how long it would take me to do it. I answered that I had to find two drugs, if I could get them, I would do it in two months. Ihsan Bey laughed and said: I you succeed in six months, I will kiss you from the forehead. He had to kiss my forehead two months later because we managed to transplant two months later.

On November 3, 1975, you see here we transplanted a kidney to Mürüvvet Hanım- unfortunately, she passed away. But I do not know how old you are, but the 70's were very troubled years for Turkey. We used to need even 70 cents a year.

Turkey has gone through these distressing periods. But Ihsan Bey asked me where those drugs were and gave me a check for 50 pounds from his pocket. Then I imported those drugs with the money, and we started transplantation in Turkey. There was a child nephrology unit in Hacettepe. It was a big opportunity for me at that time. There was no law. We were only transplanting with the patient’s consent.

I decided to make the government make a law because we could only transplant to immediate family members. Other patients were sad. Unfortunately, many people used to pass away with strong bodies. For that reason, I spoke with my friends at the foundation called European Organ Transplant Association, and I asked them to send me the kidneys from the healthy organs of people who died. At least I had to show our people that the kidneys of our deceased people could save the lives of the patients. I wanted to make a start with it at least.

Listen, on October 10, 1978, think about those years, there was a flight from Ankara to Istanbul at 9 o'clock, and the return flight was at 11 o'clock. Phones were not as common as it is now. There was no cell phone or vice versa at that time. There was only Telex. My friends sent me a telex. They said that they would only send the kidney to Lufthansa, and it could arrive to Istanbul at 12 o'clock in the evening. I said “Ok, send me the kidney, I will not find a solution”.

The Minister of Communication and Transport of those years, Late Güneş Öngüt was my close acquaintance. I talked to Mr. Güneş because I didn’t have a ticket; thankfully Mr. Güneş provided me a ticket. When I anxiously went there at 9 o'clock everybody was there. There was one back seat allocated for me. The plane would arrive in Istanbul at 11, and our plane departs at 11. However, the plane would land at 12 at night. The flight attendants called me, and, they said we'd find a way.

I asked them how they would make it. They said they would announce that the plane wouldn’t be able to take off for half an hour due to technical malfunction, and then we would announce it again and that could work. They really did it. At 12 o'clock, at midnight (showing the photo) the kidney you are seeing came in the thermos. Immediately, I took the kidney and came back. I transplanted it to the person you have seen here. I made transplantation started. However, there was something I had observed then that those kidneys could be kept for only twelve hours at that time.

I realized that the kidney sent to me could be kept over twenty-four hours. So I sent a message to all centers and told them to send me the kidneys that they were not going to make use of.

They didn’t use them; rather they used to send them to the pathology department. I took all those kidneys. For the first time in the world, I have proved the whole world that they can easily be kept in special liquids at +4 C degrees. All in all, our patient Ayşe Tuncer, whom I had transplanted one of those conserved kidneys for one hundred and ten hours and fifty-four minutes lived for twenty-five years as you can be checked in the literature. So, we changed the course of life. Of course, as soon as those kidneys arrived, I took them to the president of Religious Affairs.

The President of Religious Affairs was Tayyar Altıkulaç at that time. Mr. Altıkuçak appeared on a TV program with me. He said there was no objection in Islam to the use of the kidneys of dead people. After that, I submitted a parliamentary law proposal on this issue. Then, of course, there used to be a both parliament and a senate, and in both groups, especially the deceased senator brother Many representatives signed the law proposal I submitted.
Finally, the organ transplant law numbered 2238 was issued. Even today, this law is one of the most important laws of the world because transplantation became legal. In the third item of this law, we stated that any organs and tissues cannot be bought or sold for profit. However, this issue is one of the most serious problems of transplantation today.

No more statements can be added to the fourth item of the law concerning except concerning scientific issues. This law was first released on June 3, 1979, and first operation was acheved on July 27, 1979. A 22-year-old citizen who died on a motorcycle accident on the way to Eskişehir was diagnosed with brain death in Hacettepe. I went talked to his father and we said that his son could not be saved despite all our efforts. He said “thank you” gratefully, and he added that we had done everything but couldn’t change the fate of his son.

He said: “Do what you can do and, give me my son back”. This was really important. I mean, the trust of patient relatives to us, physicians, is very important. If we can keep this trust, then I believe that we can help more people. That kidney of that boy was healthy and I harvested it on July 27, 1979, you see here and transplanted it to this. In this way, we completed the kidney transplantation. Of course, another of my goals was transplanting livers. But by the way, one of the main things was although I used to bring kidneys and transplanted them to patients; some of them unfortunately couldn’t get the medicine because it wasn’t affordable.

They used to suffer again because they couldn’t purchase the medicine. I had to do something to change this situation. Finally, on 4 September 1980, I established the Organ Transplant and Burn Treatment Foundation of Turkey. I could bring medicine to patients thanks to the funds. There were a lot of patients, but only few machines. Appointments used to be scheduled to six months later. The patients who had to undergo dialysis used to be scheduled to six months later because there were not enough facilities. I finally decided to establish a dialysis center, and on 12 March 1982, we established a dialysis Center in Bahçelievler connected to this foundation. The background of Başkent University is based on this center. Of course, I did all of this, but the conditions began to change in universities. They started to be difficult because of the coup in 80s. Unfortunately, the country has suffered from these disruptions. Only two things good things happened. One of these was having the 130th article of 1982 Constitution with efforts of Prof. İhsan Doğramacı.

It enabled foundations to establish universities that were not profit-oriented. At the same time, another law was added to the other organ transplantation law numbered 2594 regarding organ foundation as a result of my attempts. We were able to get more organs thanks to it. As stated in the first act: in order to receive the organ of a person declared brain dead, a close relative must be present. When this was the case, it was a problem.With the 2594 law the statement that, if the patients diagnosed with brain death do not have first degree relatives with them on the condition that it is reported that the death of the patient is not due to the taken organs their organs could be taken, was brought and was said that the autopsy could be done after this procedure. After this, we easily performed the operation. In 1988 we started liver transplant. Heart transplantations actually started after this.
Of course, when these were happening, transformations started at the university. We had many problems especially with YOK (Turkish Council of Higher Education) as a result of the law. I formed a university group. Bulvar Plus was not like this back than. It was under a condition that allowed us to have organizations easily. I held meetings there. I brought in all the banned leaders and let them speak. There is also the famous Petitions of the Intellectuals (Aydinlar Dilekcesi). I’m not sure whether you know it or not, but the book is still in my library. Four of us from Haceppete at the time had signed that petition. My mentor, Prof. Husnu Goksel was the lead organizer. Me, Mr Husnu, our professor Zafer Oner, and Mr. Bozkurt Guvenc signed it.
They gave us the harshest disciplinary punishment. We went to the Mamak state of emergency attorney to testify. They didn't give me tenure for six years. It was different in higher education. In short, we had a lot of trouble. While events were taking place, I opened Block A on September 16, 1985. It was the first time organ transplantation hospital had opened in Turkey. I created dialysis centers in Adana, Istanbul, Izmir and other parts of the country. These centers are still part of the foundation right? Yes, all of them. I did everything under Turkey Organ Transplantation Burn Treatment Center.
And so much progress was seen. We had problems in terms of training and executing. During this time professor Ihsan formed Bilkent University in 1984. thought to myself: New planting field, new seeds. I should make such organizations that, we would be getting new patients but also having problems, problems during operations. We had serious issues time to time. I realized it was time to create a new system. I had to do something new otherwise I was not beneficial to the patients. When I created the dialysis center in Ankara, we received patients from all around the country. Bahcesehir became the host of the country. Patients told me to open new centers in other parts of the country like Adana, İzmir and İstanbul. Can you think about it? 40 to 50 patients from Istanbul, Adana, Izmir and many other parts of the country were coming to the dialysis center. It was an obligation for me to open new centers in other parts of the country. In the meantime, laws were abolished. The system in the country was smoother. And finally in 1991, the project of green card was in the agenda. Do you know what greencard is?
It is the card that was established for low income families to receive health benefits.
Remember back to those times, people stayed in the hospital, they couldn't leave the hospital because they couldnt pay their medical bills. Do you know who created the green card?.
I will say you but .
Yes, I invented the green card.Bringing green card was an important step. Millions of people were benefitted by the card. We resolved a lot of issues with the card.
Suleyman Demirel became the prime minister, but unfortunately Turgut Ozal died, so Suleyman Demirel became the president. Minister of Interior Ismet Sezgin became ill in 1993.
He was close friends with Mr. Ihsan. Mr. Ismet stayed in a hospital in Gulhane, commander of Gulhane invited me there. He said Mr Ismet is here and he has a kidney stone problem, can we discuss about this? We decided to break his kidney stone. I was there when the operation took place.
Mr. Ihsan was there as well. We were talking. At the time, I was thinking about establishing a university. In 1986, I formed the Haberal Education Foundation, a family foundation.
So you were already giving the medical training required by the university?Yes of course, I was already providing training there.
So infrastructure had started already?
In 1992, we turned Block A into a training hospital. Yildirim was the minister of health at the time. Ismail Mencioglu worked as a general manager. With the signatures of these two, I turned it into a training hospital. That used to continue.
So, not just the university had formed, but all the functions were actually in place.Yes, of course.
We give trainings; we do a lot of things. These things are not together. The places are all scattered. In Adana, Izmir, Istanbul. I also formed a hospital in Izmir and named it Zubeyde Hanim Hospital. They asked me what would be the name of the hospital. I said isn't Zubeyde Hanim there? So it will be Zubeyde Hanim. Hospitals already existed. So, when I was talking with Mr. Ihsan, he said why aren’t you opening a hospital? I told him I was already thinking about it. He said let's go to my office. He called his legal adviser. He said, let's research about how to establish a university, let's do this, and let’s do that, what will be the name? When I told him I was undecided, he said it should be Haberal University. So I asked him why Bilkent University wasn't named Dogramaci University. He said let's call it Baskent University and I agreed. So Ihsan Dogramaci is the naming father of Baskent University. This is the answer to your question, " How was Baskent Univeristy established?" And I established this university with the law of governmental decree. In September 14, 1993 Baskent University was established with the Law 515. At the time CHP (Rebublican People's Party) appealed to the constitution in order to cancel the law.
Constitutional Court decided that if establishments created by law do not create a statute in six months, they would be shutdown. I went to the parliament. With board of trustee Nurettin Tokdemir, we went to Public Education Committee. In November 24, 1993, statute about Baskent University was accepted in 15 minutes. In January 13,1994 Law 3963 was created about Baskent university and the university was established.
How was the timeline after the establisment? How were new faculties opened? How was your philosophy reflected on the institution because we are talking about an institution that has connections internationally. It has many alumni who are successful. The diploma given by your university is important.

I had one goal here: one on one education and quality.
When given the circumstances in Turkey in 1994, how did you manage the one on one ratio?
One of the reasons why I decided to establish a university is because being a doctor depends on the relationship between master and apprentice. One on one education is very important. The reason why I formed this university is to raise students with one on one education. The other one is the quality. After establishing this university, I looked for answers to how I can best manage the university. Second president of board of trustees Prof. Dr. Mithat Coruh, gave a speech at am important conference. I said OK, I found it. The way to do it is quality. I established the first Quality Administration Center in Turkey. It was 1994. Baskent University works with the most updated version of quality system (ISO). We inspect ourselves. We do not need somebody else to inspect us. Of course Turkish Standard Institute comes to inspect us too, that's different but we inspect ourselves.
When you say inspection, people understand it in financial terms. What is your perception on this issue?
It's everything, academic, financial. Whatever is included in quality, we inspect. From the security guard at the gate to CEO, we inspect everybody. A rule: whoever does not smile, can't work with us. This is the rule of this institution. When you enter the front door, a rule: you need to obey the rules set by Baskent University. If not, you will leave. We do not have another system, this is our system.The root of the system is quality. Today, Baskent University's educational and health institutes work with the latest version of the quality system. That's our exception.If it hadn’t been this way, we wouldnt have achieved any of this.
Higher education, Vocational High Schools…
All of them, this is the first time it's implanted in an education system. It wouldnt be possible for it to be otherwise. There is no success where there is no inspection. Even if there is success, it is temporary. As you have stated, Baskent University has proven itself. Look, this is a booklet that shows it’s quality. We didn't receive these quality documents and awards by begging for them to give it to us.
These are national right?
Yes, these are all national.
These awards are given by visiting the conditions and education on campus without your notice right?
Of course. Let me explain it. They invite us. We do not wait at the door, we go in. All these documents are given to our school. Look this is 1913, this is 1915, this is 1916 (points to writings on the booklet). These documents were all given in different locations. This was given in Paris, this one in Frankfurt..2012, 2013, 2016 They are also up to date? Of course, they are all awards given to us by establishments. Hence, actually the root of the system is quality. Baskent university's root is based on the quality system. That's why quality's competitor now is quality. Baskent's competitor is Baskent. That's the system.
Now Mr. Mehmet, I would like to ask you a question. You were able to establish and apply this system. Success of this system is a different story; I will not even go in there. What are your perceptions on students educated with this system?
Look, the goal is quality education and health services.What did I tell you before: one-on-one education. Did you ever hear the statement that Baskent accepts thousands of students? You didn't because we established the system accordingly. I said what is the maximum number of students we can admit to give the best quality education? I first accepted 40 students, not 300 or 400. Mr. Turgut was the dean at the time, he used to beg me to admit more students to the Faculty of Law. I rejected each time. This is Law School. Students graduated from here will deliver true justice. Did you know we are the first institution to have a law school with s court room in 1998? Go and see for yourself, a law faculty with a court room Why? Because of one-on-one education. Students go and learn in their. Once they graduate after they gain experience, they move on to a real courtroom. Medical students have internships, law students gain experience this way. I found the School of Tourism, and then opened Patalya Hotel in Kizilcahamam. Main reason was one on one education. There is a saying : write what you say, do what you wrote, if you do not know it you wont know. We have new faculties called: Gastronomy and Fine Arts Faculty. Students will learn what it means to be a cook. Look we have a campus like this.
When I first went there, Mr. Mehmet said you are going to a mountain top. This is the mountain top. Look what happened to the mountain tops. Now they advertise, Baskent's villas with a forest view. This is Baskent. When I first came here, they said there is no water. There was only one tree. Villagers dried manure and hunted for living. When I first saw the Baglica village, I told the chief: Either you or me will fix this village. It was in such a bad condition that there was a creek in the middle of the village where women did laundry, chickens were running around, and all houses were adobes. What happened now? It became a city. All the planting fields became concrete jungle. My repertory is crowded because I come from Hemsin Plateau and Firtina Creek. I know what it means to be a farmer. I have experience working at a bakery. Let me take you to Patelya Hotel in Golbasi and show you how to make pide. Turkey was an agricultural country. We bought the best flour from Ankara. I started bakery in 1955 with the request of my father. Do you know what happened? Planting fields became concrete. I came up with a slogan once " Fields should not be concrete, Turkey shouldn’t be hungry". Unfortunately , Turkey that used to export wheat, hay and beans is now importing hay. We had everything in our village. I am not the Mehmet Haberal who pours tea, I am Mehmet Haberal who makes the tea. We used to collect tea with our bare hands. We don't have that now. There is no productions. You cannot wait for us if there is no production.
What are you expectations from the students educated in Baskent University.
My expectation is for them to show this knowledge, internationally as well as nationally. I travelled to Washington recently, and I saw friends who are members of the American Surgical Association. Turkish people in the association invited me to a restaurant called Zeytina. One of the men who invited me said the chef of this restaurant is a Baskent alumnus. I thought he was joking. I met our graduate of 2006. The chef told me he graduated from a different faculty but he works there as a chef.
Our goal is to be successful internationally as well as nationally. Of course, our first goal is service to our country. Best quality education, best quality health services, whatever the area is. I established Channel B and told them to give the best possible news to our citizens.
You will not give commentary news or news without consent based on somebody else's saying. That is the rule, this is the system. We abide by quality. This quality service first belongs to our own country, then belongs to the entire world. You will give the trust to the qualified. I pass on the trust to the qualified, that's my rule. People whom I work with are usually experts in their fields. If they do not know what they are doing, they cannot work with me. They cannot work in Baskent University. This is our rule and system. If not, Baskent does not have a meaning.
We took videos and listened the experiences of Baskent students. We saw that they also have an international experience. They are academicians who strive to establish good relationships with their students.
There are exchange programs. When our students come back, they realize the quality of education given here. Education and health services are provided in the manner that we have designed. I never cared about quality, only quantity. Whoever knows his job, whoever does his job should be with us. When I established this institute, I said if you are going to work with be, you will be working 24/7. Working 24/7 is the password. I said: ok, this is what makes Baskent unique: all functions are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We strive for the best quality. Our student to faculty ratio in the school of medicine is 1.5 to 1.
Compared to Turkey it is great.
Of course, student to faculty ratio is 6 to 1. Is there more?
That is a really good number
Of course, I never chase down thousands of students. I am all for best quality education and health services. We as Baskent never take on a job that we will not be able to control.
I think this has something to do with your awareness.
Of course, knowing your job, being a doctor, lawyer, and education also knows your job.
You recently won a very precious award. We are talking about an award that was not given to anybody in ages: Royal Society of Medicine. Can you briefly talk about this exception?
I was never a solicitor.
When I was arrested, American Surgical College chose me as an honorary member. They were founded in 1913. This was the first time in 100 years that they chose an honorary member. The honorary member must be present during the meeting. I told them, I couldn’t make it. They said it was all right. I asked if my brother can go instead of me, they said it's ok as long as somebody comes. I was not aware of the fact that The American Surgeans Foundation had chosen me as an honorary member. American Surgical Association also chose me as an honorary member. Believe me, I do not know the subject that you are asking me about. I received an invitation to a college. They gave me a tour. They said this is Royal Society of Medicine. Inside the American Royal Society if Medicine, they have a conference room and a library that has 600,000 books. They have really interesting books. I told them our library had 1 million books, they were shocked. I invited them to our library. They came and I gave them a tour. This society was established in 1805. I mean this association founded 212 years ago.
Is it owned by the Royal family?
Yes, it consists of all the royal family members. It has more than 25 thousand members. Can you imagine? They gave many different awards and honorary memberships. In 2008, they decided to do something that would be distinguished from everything else they had done. I didn't know these before. They came here before, and then they sent me an invitation for a conference that was going to take place on March 8th. They did not send me the details.
So you were not notified about the awards?
No, they didn't tell me anything and I had prepared accordingly. They told me it was the first time they were giving an honorary award.
They are talking about 2010 right? That’s the date it was given.
Of course. They came here, looked around, and decided accordingly. This is a different award. They give it to people who are successful at what they do. When they came here, they said there is something different here. “We saw Baskent, There was only one tree, now there are 4 million 500 thousand trees. Students are smiling, there are more than 11 thousand people working, and people are happy.” I received this award because I am a citizen of this country and I was given the opportunity to make such a thing. If Ataturk and his friends had not sacrificed their lives in order to save and establish this country we wouldn’t have been here today.
Mr. Mehmet, I congratulate you for thinking this way.
That is why I take this gift in the name of our nation. These people awarded me with this recognition, but what matters is how I achieved all this. If our country had not existed, if my teachers hadn’t educated me, if Mr. Ihsan had not established Hacettepe, if we hadn’t established Baskent, we wouldn’t be us. Everything is for our people. Usually everybody helps. I passed laws, I did all this work. If they hadn’t helped, I wouldn’t be able to do much. Trusting people is important. Baskent is a product of trust, sweat, and self-sacrifice. This is Baskent University. We are not a university funded by the government. Baskent University is a product of elbow grease. As of this day, we have not received any government funds.
This exactly defines the point where Baskent has reached. It is the culture that is taught to students.
That’s what it is. These establishments are Republics establishments. I founded these establishments for our nation. These establishments are not mine or any of the members on the managerial role.
When I was in jail, news about my ownerships came up and I said let me correct something sir and told them that I feel honored to have established these foundations, I did so for the service of my nation. None of them are our personal property, it is the nations and people’s property. Yes, there are about 11,000 people who are working, but they are working for the nation.
We have around 14,000 university students and 3,000 students in Adana. Baskent University has another characteristic: we take care of everything on our own terms except banking and transportation. We build our own construction, I formed a ranch, and dairy products factory. These shirts that you see here are made by us. We have a collection named ALAF. ALAF is the name of the bait that we give to our cows during spring time. I created a farm and we produce 100 tons of milk a day in Kazan. We also produce our own butter, and cheese. That factory is called ACKAR. ACKAR is the name of the place where I herded our sheep in the village. Because we do our own constructions, we finish our hospitals latest in six months. We also make the cherry woods that you see around you.
You do not go out of your expertise in these works.
We import good from other countires using our own companies. As I have said before, if there is work to be done, we do it ourselves. With the exceptions of transportation and banking. We are in the process of establishing those as well. Our college students do not think about where to by their clothes. We produce all their clothing. We handle cafeteria jobs on our own. Our dairy is 100% natural in ACKAR. They had quality. You cannot see anything other than quality in our institution.
Your life experience is to bring Baskent University to a good place. You produce everything on your own, you are determined, and you educate experts. You give back to the community. You are able to provide this community with education, culture, and life experience
Look, we seek for service. We seek accountability, we seek inspection. After I do all these work, I say maybe I am doing something wrong, inspect me. That is my philosophy. We as a university have already established our industry.
You already established and brought your university up here.
We had already done that. Right now, our business is in the Anatolian Organizational Industrial Region. We are partners with them by bringing them service. Our students are benefiting from their experiences. We set up an institution for higher education in Kazan. I would recommend you to go visit that place. You will feel like, you have entered a workshop. There is a revolver and production machines. To tell you the truth, we own the production and produce. Production is very important. If you do not produce, you will need others. What did Ataturk say? To reach the levels of modern civilizations, this is a proud moment. I have another slogan: From wood fire to laser. Because I studied under a wood fire, today I use laser. This is actually Turkey’s success. Turkey moved from wood fire to laser. Is it enough? No, it’s not because modern countries travel to the moon, and planets. If we do not travel there, the work that we have done would not be enough. That’s the goal now. Goal is up there. Planets are the goal. So, it’s possible. Look at what we did , we achieved firsts in this country.
I was the first person in the world to perform liver transplant. Furthermore, we performed both a kidney and liver transplantation from the same person. How did we achieve this? With the opportunities that Turkey has provided us. But this is not enough. We have to produce. If we want to move forward in the world as a country, we need to do these. We, as Baskent University seek quality service to our country. We seek to leave productions in our country.We are ready to be inspected. This is what we do and we came here by doing these.
Mr. Mehmet, what are your recommendations for todays youth? Especially for the ones who will take the exam and apply to Baskent University?
Youth is very lucky. Do you know why? Turkey has come to this day from being uneducated. Today, Baskent University students cannot complain about not having the opportunity to accomplish something. They have everything. An administrator who works efficiently cannot make up excuses. There is no such thing as an excuse. No excuse can replace success. Whatever is requested from us, we do. Students have nothing missing. My student cannot say: I was going to do research , but there is no research lab”. No. I established the finest laboratories. Medical students can go into research from their first year on. A university without research is like a fruitless tree. When I festablished this university, first thing I had done was to establish a research center. There were guini pigs, pigs, rabbits, and horses in the research center. Everything was there. Students only had one task: to study. I did not say 24/7 for no reason. Prof. Husnu Goksel tells me that time has not been divided to 3 sections for no reason. If a person wants, they can do everything in 24 hours, fun activities included. If you organize your time, you can do anything. First, you need to study, then you will go have fun. You will motivate yourself, then come back for more studying. Most important thing is to do it on time. Thank God we have a country. That’s why the first task of every citizen of the Republic of Turkey is to protect the nation that has been won by Ataturk and martyrs. Second is to do whatever it takes to uplift and enhance the country. This is what we are doing right now. Therefore, our students have everything right now. They cannot complain. Go and sit in the cafeteria. The library is open 24 hours. There is a cafeteria next to it. Study. Sport complex is the same. Go run the way you want in the sport complex. Did you see the dormitory? It is like a 5-star hotel. It has everything from billiards to tennis. Baskent university also has hotels. Go to Kizilcahamam, Golbasi. Get some fresh air, rest, swim in the pool, use the steam room. So, a Baskent University student cannot make up an excuse. There is only one thing I want from them. You will study hard in order to pay loyalty to your country. There is no other way. If you are missing something, you should tell your advisor. We will do what we can do to resolve your issue. But think about it, what Turkey has become to is a miracle. This is the success of Turkish nation. Look at what I am telling you, look at what I have shown you, do you see this. When the village institutions were formed in 1940, the reading rate in Turkey was not even 5%. For how long? 50 to 60 years ago. Look at the point where we have come to. Look at where we have come to. This is where Turkey comes from. Look at what I am telling you, Turkey is coming from wood fire, where we have come to is the point where we compete with the world. Is this all? I combined Turkey with the middle east. In 1987 , I established the Middle East Organ Foundation Association. Actually, in 1984 I established the Middle East Dialysis and Organ Transplant Foundation.
In 1985, I held its first congress in Istanbul and in 1987, look, do you see this. When I established this institution in 1985, Iran was fighting with Iraq. I organized a panel, these two people , look, one is from Iran and the other one Iraq, sit at the same table. And in 1987, I established the Middle East Organ Transplantation Foundation. This is the magazine of that foundation. It is one of the best magazines in the world. There is more, in 1990 they invited Turkey Organ Transplantation Foundation and in 2014 they invited us to Kazakstan. There, we started liver transplantation in kids. They said, can you help us more. I told them okay I found it. I will establish Turkish World Organ Transplantation Foundation, and organize congresses.On December 15th 2014, I established Turkish World Organ Transplantation Foundation, and held the first congress in Kazakstan. Do you see how Baskent University has combined Middle East and Middle Asia. Where? Right here in the capital of Turkey. This is Turkey. What did Ataturk say? Do not leave our kin alone. That is what we did today. I held congresses in Kazakstan and Baku last year. This is where Baskent University comes from. As a result, you see Baskent University has more than ten hospitals in two thirds of Turkey, more than five dialysis centers, and in the position of a leader with representative offices in Europe. That is why I tell our students to study hard. Ataturk says: Turk, Work, Brag, and Trust. If we do this, we will pay our loyalty to our country and guarantee our future. If you are not loyal, you will not have joy. Therefore, we owe loyalty to the founders of this nation. How happy I am to be a citizen of the Republic of Turkey. How happy I am that we have a country.
Mr. Mehmet, as we have come close to the period of time in our program, we learned a lot of knowledge from you. Listening to you was a pleasure for us. Thank you for all the information you have provided. Thanks to you we saw what it meant to work hard.
I would like to Thank You. As I have sad, this country belongs to all of us. It is not a personal property. Turkey is the country of its nation. Our duty is to protect and move this country further. We, as Baskent University do that. That is what we tell our students. I always say if you do not know your history, you cannot contribute to your future. Countries should take strength from their past. As a Republic of Turkey, we are here because we have taken strength from our past. If we look back, that means there is a problem. I hope we never look back, I hope we take strength from our past. This is up to us. We need to claim our country. Because there is no other Turkey. I always say this : In science, art, and technology Turkey has reached those modern civilizations. We even surpass them from time to time. Unfortunately, we have serious issues in justice and law. We need to resolve these issues. I will conclude with this example: Ataturk becomes the president in October 29th 1923. The next day he writes a letter to Ismet Pasha. This letter was shared by Sir Colasan. In this letter, there is a part that really affected me. He tells Ismet Pasha that this country has to even import brick.
I respect Mr. Suleyman and Mr. Ihsan. We have a brotherly relationship with them. From our conversations, Mr. Suleyman used to tell me that this country even imported needles. Look at where the Republic of Turkey is coming from. From importing brick and needles, we have become a country that exports science.We export science today. We combined Middle East, we combined Middle Asia. I, Mehmet Haberal, represent the world. Right now, I am the elected president of the World Organ Transplantation Foundation. This is Turkey, this is where Turkey came to. I tell both of them, Turkey came here. You should sleep comfortable. English Royal Medicine Society came its first award and that person is Turkish.This is Turkey, but it’s never enough. It won’t be enough until we go to the moon or other planets. Therefore, that’s our next goal. Hopefully, Baskent University will come to that point and we will be able to send people there. And our goal is to turn our country into one of the worlds science centers. That’s the goal. There is only one Harvard University in the world, hopefully Baskent will be the only one in the world. That’s the goal. Goal is the world. Turkey is okay, now the goal is the world.We believe in our country and the people in our country. We thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Mehmet. With Baskent University in the front, it is very important for the foundations and organizations you have established to be known and for its alumni to represent our country.

Thank you for allocating your time for us and joining our program

I thank you.
Dear audience, we have come to an end. Have a good day.