Mehmet Kurt (born 1 January 1947, in Ceyhan,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) is the son of Mehmet Kurt, who was Ceyhan's most significant and well known community leader and landowner. Due to his father's untimely death, Mehmet Kurt assumed the leadership of the family businesses at the age of 21. He recognised immediately that his community needed

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, and he was responsible for the construction of three factories in Ceyhan, operating in the

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

and

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

sectors. These were the first privately owned factories in this underdeveloped province of Turkey. Kurt then moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

where he built up his operations to export Ceyhan sourced

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

products to both Western and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

. He also diversified the family enterprise into media, construction, energy, chemicals, defense, medical and the

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

sectors. Amongst the most prominent real-estate projects controlled by Kurt is the landmark Marmara Sea Development Project, which includes

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

s and a

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

in the heart of Istanbul. Other estate holdings include commercial properties in Ceyhan and Istanbul.

Racehorse training

Over the past 10 years, Kurt, has developed and perfected a new horse training system that prepares horses for

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

. His innovation, Kurt Systems, develops the horses'

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

s and

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...

s by training them on a conventional all-weather track, but with horses safely harnessed into a specialised 'car', which moves on a roof-rail system. Each 'car' reads vital health signs such as heart pace and respiratory behaviour. This high-tech system ensures that the horses are brought on 'injury free', as it removes

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

error from the training of young

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

s, the primary cause of injury. Kurt Systems is undergoing continual improvement at Mehmet Kurt's stud farms in Ceyhan and Istanbul. On 28 January 2011, Kurt acquired Kingwood Stud in Lambourn,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He is keen to bring equine related

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

and employment to the

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Distric ...

area. He also intends to become fully engaged in the future of the British horse racing scene.

Other interests

Kurt remains active in the Ceyhan and Istanbul business communities, helping to generate skills and jobs, particularly seeking to help the most disadvantaged in society. His strong support for

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

and

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

in Turkey has not come without a cost. In early 2010, he was summoned to give testimony for alleged relations with renegade elements within the Turkish military. No charges were filed and he was completely exonerated. Kurt has been president of Adanaspor and Ceyhanspor national football clubs.

References

External links

* Kurtsystem

Kingwood Stud, Lambourn

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurt, Mehmet 1947 births Living people