On March 19 and 21, 2019, Andreas Kappes, IRU Secretary General and Head of the Department of International Affairs at DGRV, visited two IRU member organizations in Turkey: the Central Union of Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives (Türkiye Tarim Kredi Kooperatifleri, TKK) and the Union of Sugar Beet Growers‘ Production Cooperatives (PANKOBIRLIK). Both organisations are long-standing members of IRU.
In order to strengthen the contact, he met the General Manager of Tarim Kredi, Dr. Farhettin Poyraz, in the office of DGRV in Ankara. TKK is represented in the board of IRU. In the meeting, both exchanged on recent developments in TKK and IRU. Dr. Poyraz underlined the interest of TKK in their membership in IRU.
On 21. March, Mr. Kappes visited the headquarters of Pankobirlik in Ankara. With Taner Taşpinar (General Manager of PANKOBIRLIK) and Turgut Ağirnasligil (Director of Investment and Projects) the current developments of IRU as well as the core business of PANKOBIRLIK and the organization of the sugar beet cooperatives in Turkey were discussed.
Mr. Taşpinar emphazised the relevance of the Raiffeisen concept and of the IRU as an international network organization for Pankobirlik. Mr. Kappes ensured that it is a main goal of IRU to reactivate the contact and exchange with its members.
Image from left: Dr. Fahrettin Poyraz (Tarim Kredi), Andreas Kappes (IRU/DGRV), ebd., Taner Taşpinar (PANKOBIRLIK), Turgut Ağirnasligil (PANKOBIRLIK), Ifakat Gürkan (DGRV Turkey)
