Özdemir Sabancı (May 15, 1941 – January 9, 1996) was a
Turkish businessman and a second generation member of the
Sabancı family
The Sabancı family is one of the wealthiest families in Turkey according to the Forbes billionaires list of 2016, with an estimated fortune ranging between $20–30 billion. The family's main business entity was founded by Hacı Ömer Sabancı in ...
.
Biography
He was born in
Adana
Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million.
Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
[ After finishing the high school at the Tarsus American College in Tarsus, province Mersin, he received his ]B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree in chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...
(UMIST), UK.[ Later, he obtained a ]master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in the same discipline in Switzerland.[
Returned to Turkey, he worked in the Sabancı Holding and soon founded and further developed the ]synthetic fibre
Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) ...
s producer Sasa, one of the biggest industrial companies of the group.[ Under his leadership, Sabancı Holding entered into the automotive sector.][ He established several joint-venture projects with major Japanese companies including production of Mitsubishi coaches and ]truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s, Komatsu construction equipment, loaders and forklifts. In 1990, he paved the way to produce Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
cars in Turkey as a consequence of the largest Turkish-Japanese partnership.[
In the board of directors of the holding, he was responsible for the Group of Synthetic Fibers, Automotive and Plastics.][
Özdemir Sabancı was gunned down on January 9, 1996, in his office in the strongly guarded Sabancı Towers in ]Levent
Levent is a neighbourhood and one of the main business districts of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It is a part of the municipality of Beşiktaş and is situated to the north of the Golden Horn, at the western s ...
, Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, along with the general manager of ToyotaSA and a secretary by assassins hired by the leftist armed group DHKP-C. They had been given access to the building by Fehriye Erdal, a female member of DHKP-C, who was an employee at that time. Recently released information has suggested that the assassination of Özdemir Sabancı's assassin Mustafa Duyar was planned by retired general Veli Küçük
Veli Küçük (born 9 May 1944, Türkmen, Gölpazarı, Bilecik, TurkeyToday's Zaman, 16 June 2009Ultranationalist Ergenekon suspect is of Armenian origin, magazine reveals/ref>) is a retired Turkish brigadier-general. He is thought to be the fou ...
, who was detained in the Ergenekon investigation
Ergenekon () was the name given to an alleged clandestine, secular ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey with possible ties to members of the country's military and security forces. The would-be group, named after Ergenekon, a mythical pla ...
.
Özdemir Sabancı was laid to rest at the Adana Asri Cemetery.[UnforgettablesUnutamadıklarımız]
(official obituary)
See also
* List of assassinated people from Turkey
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabanci, Ozdemir
1941 births
Businesspeople from Adana
Tarsus American College alumni
Ozdemir Sabanci
1996 deaths
Assassinated Turkish businesspeople
Deaths by firearm in Turkey
People murdered in Turkey
Terrorism deaths in Turkey
Turkish terrorism victims
Burials at Adana Asri Cemetery
1996 murders in Turkey