EGET IS 10 YEAR OLD: A JOURNEY DEDICATED TO EDUCATION AND NATURE

Haber ve İnsan.com / September 19, 2025

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The EGET Foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary in Menteşe with a meeting titled "EGET is 10 Years Old: A Journey Dedicated to Education and Nature," attended by members of the press. Özlem Uzman, one of the foundation's founders, gave a speech explaining the foundation's purpose and the work accomplished over the past 10 years.

Uzunçu explained the foundation's purpose as follows: “The most important aim of the Education, Geriatrics, Ecological Agriculture, Tourism (EGET) Foundation is to provide scholarships to students experiencing financial difficulties while studying, thus serving the cultural and scientific development of society. Our foundation was established in Muğla on July 25, 2015, by Safai Özer and Özlem Uzman.”

Özlem Uzman, one of the founders of the Foundation, said the following at the breakfast press conference:

"Dear members of the press, I thank each of you for being with us.

Today, we are here to share with you the 10-year journey of the EGET Foundation dedicated to education and nature, the steps we have taken during this time, and the innovative initiatives we have implemented.

The focus of all our activities, which I will describe shortly, is to provide more scholarships to students at risk of dropping out of education.

As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our Republic, whose principles we are fully committed to, stated in his words, 'It is education that either allows a nation to live as a free, independent, glorious, and advanced society, or abandons it to slavery and misery,' we believe that lack of education is the greatest obstacle to a country's development. Therefore, together with Safai Özer, we established the EGET Foundation in Muğla on July 25, 2015, to support young people who cannot continue their education due to financial difficulties."

However, before delving into the details, let's listen to the clearest and most heartfelt answer to the question "Why did we establish a Foundation?" through the verses of Safai, one of the founders and our Chairman of the Board of Trustees, an architect, painter, writer, poet, and thinker, whom we recently lost. Safai, who passed away on March 9, 2022, due to a sudden illness, dedicated himself since 2013 to bringing to life the exemplary civil society organization we envisioned. In his will, he bequeathed all his assets to the EGET Foundation, crowning a life dedicated to education and nature.

Safai Özer's poem, "Eleven Owe Him a Debt"

Whatever I say after these lines by Safai will fall short. Following the goals we set that day, with his vision and without compromising our principles, we have continued on our path for 10 years with the same enthusiasm as on the first day.

The most important purpose of the EGET Foundation, which is included as an "unchangeable clause" in the foundation charter, is... Our goal is to provide scholarships to students facing financial difficulties while pursuing their education, thereby contributing to the cultural and scientific development of society.

However, we did not limit our work solely to scholarships because we also wanted to find solutions to other problems in our country that we care about.

Today, we are in a period where the soil continues to be polluted with chemicals, and concerns about the safety of the food on our tables are increasing.

Although human life expectancy is increasing, healthy aging is becoming more difficult every day. Traditional tourism on our coasts has reached a breaking point, and a new breath of fresh air is needed – ecotourism, agrotourism, etc.

At the Heart of EGET's Journey: Youth and Nature

That's why our aim was not just to be a non-governmental organization that provides scholarships; but to establish a structure with strong roots that focuses on people, values ​​nature, and operates according to sustainability principles. Therefore, we aim to create good examples not only with our words but also with the practices we put into action.

Because we believe that financial inadequacy should not be an obstacle to university education; that nature should be protected through sustainable agricultural practices; We envision a Turkey where modern tourism models are implemented for middle-aged and older people.

To make this dream a reality, we have created a strong institutional structure.

Equal Opportunities for Every Student: BUSED's Fair Scholarship System

Since 2016, when our foundation began awarding its first scholarships, we have been using an impartial and digital system, BUSED – Scholarship Selection and Evaluation System – to determine the students who will receive scholarships.

With BUSED, we receive online applications from young people studying at state universities across Turkey; we evaluate them with transparent, measurable, and fair criteria.

Thanks to BUSED's digital and impartial evaluation power, we offer equal opportunities to students applying for our scholarships; we can systematically and fairly evaluate students who face economic difficulties as well as those who stand out with their success, determination, and talent.

In our system, which has received applications from 39,960 students to date, an evaluation is provided in the first stage through digital data. Candidates who score above a certain threshold are asked to upload their documents. After the documents are verified, online interviews are conducted with the students who have reached the final stage.