The late Dr. Kemal Derviş, former Member of the International Board of Overseers of Sabancı University, who served as the Minister of State for the Economy in the 57th Government of the Republic of Turkey and who contributed greatly to the university with his valuable ideas and works, starting from the Search Conference in 1995, where the foundations of Sabancı University were laid, was commemorated on the first anniversary of his passing with an event organized by Sabancı University and Istanbul Policy Center.
Kemal Derviş, who was a Turkish economist, politician, academic, and Minister of State for the Economy in the 57th Government of the Republic of Turkey, was commemorated with a special event organized by Sabancı University on the first anniversary of his passing. The 11th President Abdullah Gül attended the event held at Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum as a guest of honor. The event started with the opening speeches of Güler Sabancı, Sabancı University Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici, Sabancı University President. Following the speeches, a panel was held, moderated by Prof. Dr. Fuat Keyman, Sabancı University Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Social Impact and Istanbul Policy Center Director.
In the panel, Bilgi University faculty member and economist Prof. Dr. Asaf Savaş Akat talked about "Economy, Globalization and Social Democracy", while Atılım University Faculty of Law faculty member Prof. Dr. Celal Göle, a close friend and tennis partner of Kemal Derviş, talked about "Kemal Derviş and Friendship", and Prof. Dr. Fuat Keyman discussed "Turkey and European Union Relations and Global Governance".
In his speech at the commemoration ceremony, the 11th President Abdullah Gül stated that one of the things that upset those who achieved great success, such as Kemal Derviş, was that their deeds were later forgotten, and said: "Kemal Bey was lucky in this regard. We did some work with him for Turkey's transition to a strong economy. These were all things that were difficult for Turkey to do, but we did them. He has worked extraordinarily for Turkey. He did whatever was necessary for Turkey's interests, whenever we asked him, with great sacrifice."
In the opening speech of the ceremony, Güler Sabancı, Founding Chair of the Sabancı University Board of Trustees, stated that Kemal Derviş made very important contributions to the better governance of the globalizing world with his work. She continued: "We are here today to commemorate the precious Kemal Derviş. His leaving was very untimely and very early, but he left behind extremely valuable memories and highly valuable contributions." Sabancı continued as follows: “Kemal Derviş was a person with outstanding qualities around the world. He had a vision for a better world and worked constantly for Turkey, which he always loved very much. He benefited me and the entire administration throughout the entire establishment process of Sabancı University. Kemal Derviş was one of the very smartest men I have ever seen and known. Besides being so caring, he also analyzed the governance business very well. He followed his work very well. He internalized his responsibility very much. He used to call before meetings, follow the university's agenda and the university's needs very closely, and always provide us with accurate, constructive questions and contributions during meetings. We will always remember him. He embraced our university very much and provided unforgettable support. Thank you for participating in this commemoration ceremony, which was organized with the initiative of Fuat Keyman.”
Sabancı University President Prof. Dr. Yusuf Leblebici stated that Kemal Derviş made a great contribution to the emergence of Sabancı University as a different university from more than 200 universities in Turkey, and said: “We are working to ensure that Sabancı University is not only the best university in Turkey, but also a well-known university that has a voice both in the world and in Europe, whose quality has been proven on international scales, and we can achieve this. If you look at Sabancı University right now, we are one of the 3 Turkish universities in the top 400 in the world rankings and the only Turkish university in the top 200 worldwide. We are proud of this. The fact that we are able to achieve this, and that everyone is sharing this intense interdisciplinary knowledge, is a feature of the university's founding essence. This essence, which emerged with the great contributions of Kemal Derviş from the moment of its establishment, is very valuable to us. The vision that Kemal Derviş and his friends had during the founding years of our university and the current results of that vision are very important. While we remember him with longing today, we will continue on our way, always taking steps in the light of reason and science, to ensure that this visionary perspective carries us further, without ever deviating from the scientific and rational approach.”
In the panel, Bilgi University Faculty Member and Economist Prof. Dr. Asaf Savaş Akat shared his views by saying, "One feature that makes Economist Kemal different is his enthusiasm for finding solutions to the economic policy problems of poor countries. The other is his sensitivity and belief in equitable income distribution." Prof. Dr. Celal Göle, member of Atılım University Faculty of Law, and a close friend and tennis partner of Kemal Derviş, said, "Kemal was a loving person. Friendships were very important to him. That's why he was careful not to offend anyone. As a lover of Turkey, his most important goal in life was for our country to prosper and for our people to live in prosperity."
Prof. Dr. Fuat Keyman said, "We strongly feel the absence of my dear friend Kemal Derviş, who made very important contributions from economy to foreign policy for the better governance of the global order, Europe and Turkey, and the revitalization of Turkey-EU relations. At the same time, I must also emphasize that Kemal Derviş made very valuable contributions to our university and the Istanbul Policy Center."