The Aydın Doğan Foundation, which was established by Mr. Aydın Doğan for the purpose of integrating all of the social responsibility projects of the individual companies in the Doğan Group under one roof has achieved significant results over the years. Today, we are both pleased and proud to see the results of the seeds we have sown across the country bearing fruit in education, culture and the arts. From the beginning, education has been a priority in all Foundation projects. We built nine schools, two education centers, one indoor sports facility and six dormitories for girls and handed them over to the National Education Ministry in various parts of the country, especially in Gümüşhane, Erzurum, Afyon, Erzincan and İstanbul. On the other hand, we are also aware that education requires long-term cooperation that goes beyond merely constructing buildings.

We do our best to regularly meet needs for materials, equipment, computers and books, especially in the schools that we have built. We also try to create facilities that our young people deserve for sports activities in school.

The media sector which is the core driving force of Doğan Group operations is one of the Foundation's priority areas. We support young people in communications through vocational education programs as they prepare to become prospective employees in the sector. We also support university departments providing education in media affairs. The Istanbul Aydın Doğan Anatolian Communications Vocational High School, providing secondary education is supported with technological equipment and a team of highly competent experts in the sector. We are actively involved in providing financial support for the IPI Press Institute seminars for young reporters.

The competitions organized by our Foundation in the fields of culture and the arts are well-established. The Aydın Doğan Awards cover a wide range of topics such as literature, archeology, painting, architecture, history, scientific research, visual arts, fashion design, social studies and different types of music. The goal is to contribute to the work of artists and scientists who, with their work, shape our national culture and promote our rich heritage in the fields of culture and the arts throughout the world.

The Young Communicators Competition encourages our young people to be creative and innovative communicators of the future, prepared for global competition. Awards are given to university students by our Foundation for their accomplishments in a variety of fields of communication.

Tolerance and common sense become overarching needs in a rapidly globalizing world faced with scarcity of resources, environmental change, unequal distribution of wealth and regional wars. The Aydın Doğan International Cartoon Competition recognized by artists around the world as the “Oscars of Cartoons”, is a manifesto for a more tolerant and rational world. Every year we make this appeal through a travelling exhibition featuring award-winning cartoons. Over the years, a number of countries from Japan to Romania have hosted these exhibitions, which have also travelled to almost every region in Turkey. In the future, the exhibition will continue its journey around the world.

The Virtual Cartoon Museum is an online collection of more than 53,000 works submitted to our competition by 6500 artists from 130 countries. Our goal is to transform this virtual museum into a real catoon museum.

Here at the Aydın Doğan Foundation, we have many more projects, goals and dreams still to be realized. I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to all of the friends who have been our companion on this journey.

With affection and respect,

Candan Fetvacı
Chairman of the Executive Board