Ergun Berksoy (entrepreneur)

Ergun Berksoy (born 17 June, 1943) is a Caymanian and Turkish business entrepreneur.

Throughout his career, Ergun Berksoy worked across a wide range of industries, including but not limited to Tourism, Hospitality, Real-Estate, Trade, Air Force and Sports. He made significant contributions to the industries he has worked in: in the 70's he revolutionised the logistics of food export in Turkey; in the 80's he empowered Turkish migrants in Germany by leading to their success in sports; in the 90's he instigated air travel between Israel and Turkey, which led to a nationwide boom in tourism. In that era, he also established three 5-star hotels in Turkey, Cesars Hotels, which are one of the first and longest lasting hotels in the region.

Early Life and Education

Ergun Berksoy was born in 1943 in Ankara, Turkey. His father was Ahmet Sevki Berksoy and his mother was Feriha Berksoy.

1951 - 1955: He graduated from Barbaros Primary School at the district of Yenimahalle, Ankara.

1964: He graduated from TED Ankara Koleji, Ankara.

1964 - 1970: He completed his Undergraduate Degree in the Department of Financial Specialization at Academy of Economical & Commercial Sciences Faculty, Ankara.

Primary School Diploma
High School Diploma
University Diploma

Business Career

1964 - 1976: He worked in the planning department of Karamürsel U.S. Air Force Base, Turkey and got promoted to the Planning and Real-Estate Manager position in Boeing and Tumpane. He was in charge of the maintenance and repair work of facilities with 5,000 U.S. Air Force staff and enlisted officers.

1970 - 1976: He became the President of Karamürsel Youth Sports Club. He was the main sponsor of Karamürsel Youth Sports Club volleyball, basketball and football team which competed in the 1st division of amateur league.

1976 - 1987: Ergun Berksoy exported various food products from Turkey. He was the pioneer in exporting from Turkey wheat flour in cotton bags; sunflower oil in round tins; apples in cardboard boxes which varied according to the individual size of different types of apple; and yeast. In five consecutive years he received golden medal from the Ministry of Trade in Turkey for reaching $150 million in yearly export revenue.

1980 - 1991: He became the Chairman of Türkgücü München football club. Türkgücü München is a German association football club from the city of Munich, Bavaria. Originally, the football team played in the lowest tiers of Munich amateur football, but under Ergun Berksoy's leadership the club advanced to Bayernliga in 1988. The club gained tremendous success in the German-Turkish community and began to aim even for professional football. ^[1] Bundesliga volleyball at Türkgücü München also excelled in this era. In 1988 women volleyball team took third place in the 1st Bundesliga with the national players Danuta Niemietz , Nina Sawatzki and Michaela Luckner. ^[2]

1981 - 1995: Ergun Berksoy became Vice President of Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü, which is a Turkish sports club based in Ankara. With Ergun Berksoy's sponsorship Gençlerbirliği excelled from the 2nd division to 1st division. Domestically, the club have won the Turkish Cup twice, in 1987 and 2001. They have also won the former Turkish Football Championship twice and the regional Ankara Football League a record nine times.^[3]

1987: Ergun Berksoy established his first 5-star hotel Cesars Resort Hotel in Side, Antalya.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

1988: He established his second 5-star hotel Cesars Hotel in Gümbet, Bodrum.^[8]^[9]

1991: He established his third 5-star hotel Cesars Temple De Luxe Hotel in Belek, Antalya. ^[10] ^[11]^[12]

*Governor's Conversation Award, 2016. Christian Sorensen, Helen Kilpatrick and Ergun Berksoy.*

1991: Ergun Berksoy made a proposition to open the first Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv to Tugay Özçeri, who was the Undersecratery of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Turkey at the time. As Turkey was undergoing a hotel construction boom and there weren't enough tourists, upon opening the first Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv, Israelis would be able to travel freely to Turkey and boost tourism. Tugay Özçeri agreed with the proposition and opened the first Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv. Toros Airways (also known as Torosair) started operating flights between Tel Aviv and Antalya, leading to an influx of Israeli tourists. In the aftermath, Turkish Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines operated flights between Tel Aviv and other cities in Turkey, such as Istanbul and Izmir. Ergun Berksoy and Tugay Özçeri were the pioneers in establishing air travel between Israel and Turkey, which successfully resulted in a national tourism boom.

1997: Ergun Berksoy was voted "Entrepreneur of the Year" by Dünya Newspaper. ^[13]

2003: Ergun Berksoy relocated to the Cayman Islands to invest in the property market.

2016: Christian Sorensen and Ergun Berksoy received the title of Tourism Industry Conservation Award winner for Cayman Crystal Caves. ^[14]

2017: Members of the Legislative Assembly in Grand Cayman voted unanimously to approve Caymanian Status grants to Ergun Berksoy for his contributions to the tourism industry through Cayman Crystal Caves and his generous donations to various charities on the island.

2018: Cesars Temple De Luxe Hotel in Belek, Antalya held the 18th place in the Annual Institutional Taxpayers List of Antalya in 2018. Cesars Temple De Luxe Hotel in Belek is registered under Erberk Turizm Işletmeleri A.Ş. and Cesars Resort Hotel in Side, Antalya is registered under Ero Turizm A.Ş., combined they held a place in the top 5 of Annual Insitutional Taxplayers List of Antalya in 2018.

2019: Cesars Temple De Luxe Hotel, Belek received the prestigious International Quality Award for Hospitality Excellence.^[15]

To this date, Ergun Berksoy has been living in Cayman and Turkey with his wife Petra Berksoy and his children.

Charitable Contributions

Ergun Berksoy has been supporting several charities throughout his career. Two charitable institutions in Turkey, Merkezefendi İlçe Sosyal Yardımlaşma ve Dayanışma Vakfı and Karamursel İlçe Sosyal Yardımlaşma ve Dayanışma Vakfı, have been receiving monthly donations since 2005. These two institutions are locally fighting against poverty, ensuring the efficient use of resources and supporting citizens who lack basic human needs, by adhering to the criteria of accuracy, equality and objectivity. ^[16] Additionally, every year Ergun Berksoy donates $50,000 to the Breast Cancer Foundation in Grand Cayman, in the memory of his beloved mother who he lost to breast cancer. ^[17] He has also been financially supporting the education of numerous individuals, such as Atarah Thompson in Grand Cayman.^[18]

Defamation Campaign

In 2015, Ergun Berksoy filed a court case against one of the landlords (P. P.) at RBC. The court suspended P.P.'s access to the properties he owned in Grand Cayman and confiscated his laptop and phone. Therefore, he flew away from Grand Cayman and haven't returned ever since. The blogs that have been online since 2015, accuse Ergun Berksoy of illegally sourcing his money. As seen below in the criminal record reports from Grand Cayman and Turkey, Ergun Berksoy has never conducted any business illegitimately. Ergun Berksoy's source of funds were proven to be legitimately earned from his 5-star hotel chain in Turkey as a pre-condition for opening a bank account in Grand Cayman. With his own free will, Ergun Berksoy requested a clearance report from Interpol that proves he has never been involved in any criminal activity. The application and report are attached below. In 2019, Ergun Berksoy opened a court case in Turkey to end P.P.'s defamation campaign. The court case to take down the blogs is yet to be finalised.

Police Clearance Turkey
Clearance Application
Clearance Report

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[1] ttps://books.google.co.uk/books?id=cVSzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=munich+turkgucu+ergun+berksoy&source=bl&ots=kqEBRyDKGf&sig=ACfU3U2S5KtLBXZ62_pGUYP3RZOJbJPPSQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdnLPRiqzoAhXYRBUIHUgLAn8Q6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=munich%20turkgucu%20ergun%20berksoy&f=false

[2] ttps://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SV_T%C3%BCrk_G%C3%BCc%C3%BC_M%C3%BCnchen

[3] ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen%C3%A7lerbirli%C4%9Fi_S.K.

[4] ttps://www.milliyet.com.tr/cadde/reinaya-yunanli-kardes-geliyor-5136549

[5] ttps://www.cesars.com.tr/side/tr

[6] ttps://www.havadiskibris.com/seffaflik-on-planda-olmali/

[7] ttps://cayman-insider.com/cesars-hotel#08016ce8-fca5-47b0-81f2-338b5bc44857

[8] ttps://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gumbet-de-dream-acildi-bodrum-da-savas-basliyor-17978388

[9] ttps://www.milliyet.com.tr/cadde/reinaya-yunanli-kardes-geliyor-5136549

[10] ttps://www.milliyet.com.tr/cadde/baskentte-eglencenin-yeni-adresi-friends-trends-5194039

[11] ttps://cayman-insider.com/cesars-hotel#44cbf071-4ddb-45e3-aa0e-970642c86ba4

[12] ttps://www.milliyet.com.tr/cadde/reinaya-yunanli-kardes-geliyor-5136549

[13] ttp://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2000/08/23/e03.html

[14] ttps://www.caymancompass.com/2016/11/10/governor-awards-conservationists/

[15] ttps://www.cesars.com.tr/side/en

[16] ttp://www.merkezefendi.gov.tr/ilce-sosyal-yardimlasma-ve-dayanisma-vakfi

[17] ttps://www.caymancompass.com/2018/10/08/in-focus-over-300k-raised-at-breast-cancer-foundation-gala/

[18] ttps://www.caymancompass.com/2020/01/07/grandmother-inspires-thompsons-love-of-cooking/

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