RVD’s Ahmet Pura appointed first president of new TÜREK Union

Ahmet Pura, President of the Turkish Advertisers Association (RVD) and a long-standing member of the WFA Executive Committee, has been appointed the first president of TÜREK, the newly launched Turkish World Marketing, Advertising and Media Union. The appointment was announced at a high-level event hosted by the Turkish Ministry of Trade in Ankara, marking the official start of a new regional alliance spanning marketing, media and advertising.

The Union was launched with the leadership of Türkiye and Azerbaijan to strengthen cooperation in the fields of marketing, advertising, and media across the Turkic World. Founding members include Advertising and Marketing Communication Association (REPİD) and Outdoor and Industrial Advertisers Association (ARED) from Türkiye, and Public Union for the Development of Advertising and Marketing (RMID) from Azerbaijan. The Union’s headquarters will be based in Istanbul, with Türkiye serving as spokesperson for the first two years, followed by a rotating leadership among member countries.

In his address, Pura described TÜREK as “not only a supranational union, but also a name for a shared vision, a shared responsibility, and a shared future.”

TÜREK aims to create new platforms for collaboration across borders through joint media projects, regional trade fairs, professional training, university-led festivals and consumer protection efforts. With plans to expand to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and the global Turkic diaspora, the Union will serve a potential advertising market worth €7 billion and a population of 160 million people.

Türkiye’s Minister of Trade, Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, praised the initiative as a milestone for strategic cooperation in a region with shared cultural heritage. “Through TÜREK, it will be possible to promote joint media production, cultural branding in advertising, regional promotion, public diplomacy, and coordinated action on digital transformation,” he said.