Ahmet Oren

As the CEO of Ihlas Holding and the Chairman of Ihlas’s media group, Mr. Oren has more than fifteen years of experience in building media and communication companies with global prominence. The key business philosophy of Mr. Oren has been to grow promising businesses by internationalizing their focus.

Mr. Oren established the Istanbul-based TGRT-TV in 1993 as one of pioneering private broadcasters in the country. He repositioned TGRT in 1998 as a young and dynamic channel, delivering superior business results by international concepts and expertise.

TGRT’s success in Turkey and abroad culminated in the establishment of TGRT-EU in 2004. Mr. Oren designed TGRT-EU as a channel that contributes to the integration of the European Turks with the wider European society while providing a unique communication platform for the advertisers. As Ihlas moved to concentrate its television operations on the 24-hour rolling news channel TGRT Haber, Mr. Oren successfully completed the sale of the group’s entertainment channel to News Corporation in 2006 - the first major foreign acquisition in the Turkish TV industry.

Ihlas News Agency is another notable example of Mr. Oren’s international achievements. Under his leadership, the agency was transformed from a local wire service to the largest regional news-gathering operation in the Middle East region. Focusing on the needs of the global media and the viewer has made the agency an indispensable news source from Baghdad to Gaza, Istanbul, Kabul, Khartoum and Tehran.

The telecommunication arm of the group, Ihlas.Net, was established by Mr. Oren as one of the earliest connectivity providers in Turkey. Ihlas.Net today is a major value added telecommunications provider that offers innovative enterprise services in Afghanistan, Central Asia and Iraq as well as in Turkey.

Mr. Oren oversees Ihlas operations in marketing and construction sectors as well. Built on Ihlas’s extensive experience in the construction of some 10,000 apartment flats, he is focused on developing with local and international partners such business models that tap into the opportunities presented by Turkey’s growing need for quality residential housing.

Mr. Oren serves on the board of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that awards the prestigious International Emmy. He is a member of such organizations as the World Economic Forum (WEF), the American-Turkish Council, the Turkish-German Businessmen’s Cultural Foundation and the Turkish Association of Journalists. In 2005, he was appointed as the Honorary Consul of Republic of Latvia in New York State. Mr. Oren serves on the board of the US Baltic Foundation. He is a board member of the EastWest Institute (EWI) and a member of EWI Preventive Diplomacy Task Force.

Mr. Oren frequently contributes to high-level international meetings. Among other events, he attended the following meetings as a speaker or a moderator: WEF Jordan (2003, 2004, 2005), World Electronic Media Forum (2003), WEF Media and Entertainment Conference (2004), WEF Arab Media Initiative (2005), WEF Annual Summit (2005, 2006), NATO Young Leader’s Forum (2006), World Security Conference (2007) and EWI Preventive Diplomacy Task Force (2007).

Mr. Oren studied economics and is a computer systems specialist and a journalist by training. Born in 1972 in Istanbul, he is a citizen of the United States and Turkey.