We give great importance to contributing to the world and society we live in; We carry out social responsibility activities with the voluntary participation of our employees in many fields such as sustainable life, children's rights, women's rights, animal rights, education and health. CSR activities, which enable employees to discover their different talents and manage volunteering management more effectively, are planned and carried out with the participation of employees.
Company employees work to contribute to their environment and sociaty by coming together with volunteer projects.
Sumitomo Rubber AKO CEO Komatsu and the accompanying delegation came together with the local people by organising an iftar dinner in Çankırı on the occasion of Ramadan. Sumitomo Rubber AKO, which aims to contribute to the social and cultural life of Çankırı city, participated in the event with company authorised officers organised in order to establish a closer relationship with the local people. Mr. Hakkı Esen, Mayor of Çankırı, conveyed his thanks for sharing this tolerance and spirituality.
In the iftar organisation attended by 1200 people, the meals were distributed by the company authorised officers divided into two groups. With the call to prayer, all executives had iftar together with the people of Çankırı.
Sumitomo Rubber AKO officials stated that they organised such an event in order to celebrate Ramadan and emphasise the importance of being together. They also stated that the event aims to strengthen solidarity and communication between the company and the local community. Çankırı residents and factory employees who attended the iftar dinner were happy to break their fast together. During the event, Sumitomo Rubber AKO's contributions to local projects and social activities were also emphasised. The participants stated that the pleasant time they spent together once again reminded them of the importance of co-operation and solidarity.
The iftar dinner organised by Sumitomo Rubber AKO drew attention as an important example of the efforts of companies to contribute to their societies with social responsibility awareness.
At the end of the organisation, the company officials offered snacks to the children and left the area after taking photos together.
Merzifon Book Fair, which is organized every year under the leadership of Merzifon Municipality which hosts many authors and publishing houses opened its doors for the 7th time for book lovers.
Sumitomo Rubber AKO CEO Toshihiko Komatsu visited the fair area upon invitation of Mr. Alp Kargı, Mayor of Merzifon and Mr. Yoshinori Moriwaki, known as "Japanese Earthquake Expert". CEO Komatsu visited the booths and received information about the works and then informed the authorities about Sumitomo Rubber AKO and its brands with Mayor Alp Kargı.
Author Yoshinori Moriwaki, who was welcomed with great interest by the participants, informed CEO Komatsu and Mayor Alp Kargı about the content and purpose of the book "Moriwaki's Earthquake Guide", which he prepared to raise awareness about earthquake, which is his specialty.
Mayor Alp Kargı gave brief information about Merzifon district, which is located in the earthquake zone, through visuals and talked about the preparations and services made for earthquakes. Afterwards, he informed Mr. Komatsu and Mr. Moriwaki about the "Urban Search and Rescue Vehicle" uniquely designed by the "Disaster Affairs Directorate" to be used in times of disaster.
Afterwards, the officials gathered with the book lovers all together and presented the "Moriwaki's Earthquake Guide" to the participants and children. After informing about Sumitomo Rubber Group's global production of building materials that reduce the effects of earthquakes, sustainability and action plans for disasters, the officials took photos with the participants stated that they support all kinds of positive works that will increase the disaster awareness of our country and that they try to spread this in their professional lives.
Sumitomo Rubber AKO, which organized a special event for its employees for Falken's 40th anniversary, established a special drift track in the factory area for the Driftherapy team, which has performed many shows before.
Turkey's only professional drift show team, Driftherapy pilots Abbas Çimen and Örge Pamukçu, as well as Kenan Büyükbahçeci and Farnoush Rezaei, took their place at the special drift track established in the factory area to show their most impressive shows for Sumitomo Rubber AKO employees.
Speaking before the show, Toshihiko Komatsu, Chairman of the Board of Sumitomo Rubber AKO, shared brief information about Falken's history and said, "We are proud to see that the things we could only dream of when the Falken brand was established in 1983 have come true today, thanks to your outstanding efforts, and I am so happy to celebrate Falken's 40th anniversary together. I thank you all for your work,".
The employees who took their place in the stands had a pleasant time together. The lucky winners, determined by the Driftaxi draw held before the event, had unforgettable moments on the track with the pilots.
After the pleasant time spent watching impressive shows together, the employees ended the day with beautiful memories by taking photos with the pilots and drift vehicles at the end of the event and immortalizing this day.
As everyone knows, obesity is an increasingly important public health problem in the world and in our country. The most important step in the prevention and reduction of these diseases is the acquisition and maintenance of healthy eating and active life habits. In this regards, to support and improve health by providing behavioral changes in intervention areas such as employer/administration, worker/employee and community participation and health-related nutrition and physical activity by the Turkish Ministry of Health General Directorate of Public Health; Sumitomo Rubber AKO taking action for the Nutrition Friendly and Supporting Physical Activity Workplace Program, which was prepared to create a healthy, safe and productive workplace environment, met the necessary conditions as a result of the controls made by the Provincial Health Directorate and received the title of "Nutrition-Friendly and Supporting Physical Activity".
On 31.07.2023, Provincial Health Director Dr. Hüseyin Sarıkaya, Head of Health Services Uz.Dr. with the participation of Oğuzhan Aykurt, Vice President Fatma Ceylan and Nurse Aynur Özkan from the Healthy Nutrition Active Life Unit visited Sumitomo Rubber AKO and the Provincial Health Director Dr. Hüseyin Sarıkaya presented the certificate of "Nutrition-Friendly Workplace Supporting Physical Activity" to Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Toshihiko Komatsu.
Provincial Health Director Sarıkaya; thanked Mr. Toshihiko Komatsu, the Chairman of the Factory Board, and all his colleagues for creating a healthy working environment, contributing to the fight against obesity and raising awareness among their employees by promoting healthy nutrition, promoting physical activity, carrying out regular health checks.
The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that occurred on 6 February 2023, with epicentres in Pazarcık and Elbistan, districts of Kahramanmaraş, affected 11 provinces. Immediately after the earthquakes, Sumitomo Rubber Group continues to provide support for the region.
Humanitarian Aids Were Delivered
In the first days of the earthquake, 100 thousand TL worth of materials such as blankets, winter coats, boots, etc., which are the priority needs in the first days of the earthquake, which will reduce the effect of cold weather conditions, were shipped to the region through Çankırı Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The company's headquarters in Japan delivered 710 thousand TL worth of blankets, tents and sleeping bags to Turkey on 2 March 2023 through the Consulate General of Turkey in Nagoya.
Thanks to the donations collected internally by the company management and employees in Turkey who use every means to support the region, 760 thousand TL worth of food supplies and 310 thousand TL worth of hygiene materials were prepared. A delegation consisting of Company executives Katsuya Tajima, Key Takeda and Sultan Ferizan Uzun led by CEO Toshihiko Komatsu personally delivered the aid to Besni District of Adıyaman on 24 February.
Komatsu made a statement on the subject in the region; "The roots of Turkish-Japanese friendship have a long history, and the two nations have always supported each other in such painful experiences. On behalf of all employees, I share the pain and sorrow of the earthquake victims in the region."
Sumitomo Rubber AKO Employees in the Field
Our 10 employees, consisting of AFAD Volunteers, participated in the coordination of AFAD and took part in voluntary activities to support earthquake victims in Hatay for 10 days.
Two of our managers, Mustafa Hamdi Seyhan and Elnur Guluzade, who are fluent in Japanese, volunteered to work as interpreters for a week for the Japanese doctors and medical team who came from Japan through JICA and established a fully equipped field hospital in Gaziantep to heal the wounds of the region.
Priority in Employment for Earthquake Victims
Employment opportunities were increased in our company to support the earthquake victims in Çankırı due to the earthquake. Komatsu shared the information that four people were employed in the company as of March; Sumitomo Rubber AKO will continue our efforts to take an active role in support and aid activities by closely following the developments in the following period."
The Driftherapy team marked the 2023 drift season with a significant opening. In the organization, which was prepared to give the kids moral support who were carried over from the earthquake zone to Kocaeli and to forget their pain, even if a little, breaths were held and the excitement reached its peak. In the event consisting of 4 vehicles, professional drift pilots Abbas Çimen, Örge Pamukçu, Kenan Büyükbahçeci and Farnoush Rezaei put on a smoky show. The entire race track was surrounded with turbo sounds and tyre smell.
Take pictures with the race cars and the pilots and to examine the cars closely, the little kids had the opportunity to experience the exciting world of motorsports by getting away from the negative effects of current situation for a short time. When the show ended, sponsors presented the gifts that prepared for kids to cheer them up. Falken Turkey Senior Sales Manager Mustafa Hamdi Seyhan stated that he was pleased to be a part of this meaningful event on behalf of his company and himself and he appriciated the drift team and TOSFED officials.
The list of environmental problems in Turkey is pretty long: Deforestation, loss of water sources, the effect of climate change on humans and nature, pollution of seas and soil, air pollution, fossil fuel, waste and trash problems.
Aiming to participate in the greening activities, we first started from our factory and planted trees with our employees in 2021 too.
A 6.6-magnitude earthquake has struck Seferihisar, İzmir in October 30th. It is stated that some houses have been ruined and big numbers of buildings have been damaged. To relieve the wounds of earthquake and to show them that we are here to help no matter how far, we prepared and sent aid parcels.
In order to increase social awareness in terms of protecting nature and forests and to increase the sense of responsibility towards the environment, we, as Sumitomo Rubber AKO Factory employees, organized a garbage collection event in thecity forest together with the Çankırı Municipality Cleaning Works Directorate in order to lead the cleaning of a part of the forest and picnic areas in Çankırı province. Join hands for a cleaner world.
We came together with the people of Çankırı in the traditional iftar organization which we organized in Ramadan, the month of aid and solidarity. We set an example of social solidarity with the participation of 1000 people. The people of Çankırı City were grateful for the participation of Japanese employees in the event.
This visit was made to raise the morale of our esteemed elders staying in Çankırı Nursing Home and to chat with them. The residents of the nursing home were very pleased with the visit and asked us to come again. In this event, Turkish and Japanese administrators also participated in.
Blood transfusion saves lives and improves health conditions, but many patients waiting for transfusions do not have timely access to safe blood. Voluntary blood donations should also increase in order to deliver the needed blood products to hospitals. In order to raise this awareness, blood donations were made by our volunteer employees at the Factory site.
"Thanks to the Children's Park we built in the garden of Kindergarten with the cooperation of our company and Kurşunlu Municipality, children will step into a joyful education life. Good luck to our children!"
In today's world, where energy assets are rapidly depleted, energy saving is considered as the material and moral responsibility of both individuals and institutions. For this reason, we, as the leading company of the region, became together with educational stands about energy saving at Çankırı Industrial Vocational High School in order to transfer this social responsibility to future generations in a way that will raise awareness.
