"8. Guler Sabanci
Position: Chairman, Sabanci Holding
Age: 50
Guler Sabanci is one of the few prominent women in Turkish business and public life. When last year she was appointed chairman of the Sabanci Holding conglomerate, the family-owned industrial group, after the death of her uncle Sakip Sabanci, she became the first woman in Turkey to head a large corporation.
Her business career spans nearly 27 years. It started when she joined the tyre production operations of the family company, a sprawling empire that spans tourism, textiles, food, tobacco and banking. Pragmatic and not easily fazed, her management style is to delegate.
From her student days Sabanci was keen to 'make a difference in all aspects of life'. She believes that 'being yourself, trusting in your inner strength and being creative', has helped her achieve her goals.
Like many of the country's business chiefs, she is keen to see Turkey join the EU, a move that she believes would help the country integrate into the modern world and also attract foreign investment.
Sabanci helps supervise the affairs of the Sabanci University, which the family established on the outskirts of Istanbul in the 1990s, and is on the board of Istanbul's Foundation for Culture and Arts. She also finds time to run a private vineyard in Sarkoy, north-west Turkey, with an uncle."
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