Thursday, 15 March 2007Turkey is one of America's closest strategic allies in the world, and friendship between the two nations is indispensable for the interests of both countries, said John W. Rowe, the CEO of Exelon, the biggest electricity company of the United States.
"Our commercial relations have to be improved," Rowe said, adding that the level of relations was insufficient but he had strong hopes for the future.
Exelon was announced as "the best electric distribution company of the USA" in 2002 by Forbes magazine and has over 5 million customers across the country. The company's turnover was over $15 billion last year. Exelon has donated $350 million for a project with the goal of spreading environmental consciousness. The Niagara Association in Chicago decided to grant Rowe an award for "servitude to society" for this donation. Rowe was speaking at the Luncheon Forum organized by the Niagara Association.
"As a person who was educated in history, I have been admiring Turkey's history since it has succeeded in providing the diversity in peace that our company is striving for in the 21st century," said Rowe. Turkey and the US have worked closely in the Middle East for the last 50 years but Rowe emphasized that there were still many opportunities to work together. Well aware that such remarks were not new and almost all presidents had occasionally said similar things, Rowe said that the US's foreign policy toward Turkey has always been to keep relations "tight."
Describing his company in northern Illinois and eastern Pennsylvania, Rowe said 20 percent of workers were black and some 30 percent were of Hispanic origin. He also added that the number of female workers was greater than male workers. "If we want to see cultural, gender and color differences and live within this richness, there are some hurdles waiting for you which you have to confront," he said. Niagara Association Director Kemal +ûks+-z presented Rowe with a porcelain plate on which Rowe's name was written in traditional Ottoman calligraphy. Besides his bright career in business that started immediately after his graduation from the faculty of law at Wisconsin Madison University, John Rowe, 60, is an active social figure as well. He has received numerous prizes from prestigious social groups in the US. He is in charge of the managing boards of many institutions including the Unum Provident Corporation, Northern Trust, the Chicago Historical Society, the Chicago Urban League, the Field Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University, the Edison Electric Institute, the Chicago Club and the Oriental Institute.
15 March 2007
By Hakan Berberoglu, Todays Zaman |
Thursday, 15 March 2007
Turkey and the US
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