The Honorary Consul of Finland in Adana, Levent Uğurses
In the first Newsletter of 2023, we introduce the Honorary Consul in Adana, Mr. Levent Uğurses. This is the fifth part of our series introducing all Honorary Consuls of Finland in Türkiye. Mr. Uğurses has served as Honorary Consul since March 2022.
Levent Uğurses, The Honorary Consul in Adana has a background in entrepreneurship. He runs a supermarket chain called Groseri, which is among the 500 biggest companies in Türkiye and the highest taxpayer in food retail in Çukurova region for the last ten consecutive years. There are thirty stores operating in Adana and Mersin.
Mr. Uğurses has admired Finland in terms of education and welfare since he read The Country of White Lilies as recommended literature by the founder of the Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Later, by serving as the Honorary Consul of Finland in Adana, he gained more experience and knowledge of the country he admires.
According to his background, it is not a surprise that his focus is on education, tourism and trade. He aims to enhance research and development cooperation with Finnish and Turkish universities and student exchange through Erasmus program provided by the EU. His aspiration is to be a bridge between his home country and the country that he admires.
He mentions that he is excited about the fact that each side needs the other’s strengths. The companies in Türkiye have the experience and the know-how of working in Africa, Middle East and Central Asia while Finnish ones can introduce the new technologies to these markets. This is an obvious win-win situation for everyone involved. With their historical and cultural ties as well as their strong logistics infrastructure Adana, Mersin and Hatay provinces play an important role as a gateway to the above-mentioned markets. Mr. Uğurses emphasizes that as the collaboration grows between the two countries, it will bear fruits for both sides.
Mr. Uğurses tells that, after California in the USA and Po in Italy, Çukurova is the third biggest plain in the world and one of the most fruitful lands and granaries in the world. He also sheds light on history by telling that the civil war in the US made a great impact on the region and the city became a new and popular destination for European cotton traders. This helped the city to develop its infrastructure as it got incentives for more cotton plantations. In the past, Adana produced the majority of cotton in Türkiye but ever since cotton fields have been replaced with citrus orchards.
The Honorary Consul in Adana is also a person with a sense of humor. He recalls a funny moment that happened during the opening of the honorary consulate in Adana. H.E. Mr. Ari Mäki, the Ambassador of Finland in Türkiye came with his team to Adana. It was written in the itinerary that after meeting at the airport, there would be a break at his wife’s third-wave coffee shop. However, Mr. Pahkasalo, the consul of Finland, read the itinerary fast and he understood it as a coffee shop of the third wife. When Mr. Pahkasalo asked the wife about the details, he admitted the misunderstanding. Mr. Uğurses ends the story by telling that they all laughed at this confusion and still do whenever this amusing event comes to their mind.
