An Opening Bell Ceremony was held in Borsa Istanbul before the Formula 1 Rolex Turkish Grand Prix 2021 race, the world's largest motorsports organization, which is hosted under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey to be held at Intercity Istanbul Park on 08-09-10 October 2021.

An Opening Bell Ceremony for Formula 1TM which is brought back to our country by Intercity, was hosted at Borsa İstanbul. During the ceremony, Mehmet Özer, District Governor of Sarıyer,  Prof. Dr. Göksel Aşan, President of the Finance Office of the Presidency of Turkey, Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu, President of ​​the Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, Prof. Dr. Erişah Arıcan, Chairperson of the Borsa İstanbul A.Ş, Korkmaz Ergun, CEO of Borsa İstanbul A.Ş., Ali Vural Ak, Chairman of the Board of Intercity, Stefano Domenicali, CEO and President of the Formula 1TM, Bülent Aksu, Chairman of the Board of Turkcell and Sadi Hezber, General Manager of  Intercity Istanbul Park rang the bell together.

Making his remarks in the ceremony, Korkmaz Ergun, the CEO of Borsa İstanbul stated that they are delighted Turkey hosts Formula 1 races and said the following: “Our magnificent city of Istanbul, which ended one era and began another, an inspiration for countless poets, the capital city of many empires who ruled the world for centuries, has always been a center of culture and civilizations. Istanbul is the only city on earth that is located right in the center of the world, uniting the two continents of the world. Istanbul, which has been the center of the world for centuries, where Formula 1 races are going to be held, is taking firm steps towards becoming financial center as well. Our Stock Exchange, which is at the heart of this financial center, competes with other world exchanges at the highest order transmission rates, just like the vehicles in Formula 1 races. Compared to the past, we have 10 times faster order transmission and 4 times more order capacity. More importantly, according to World Federation of Exchanges, I can proudly say that we are the most liquid exchange in the world. As financial technology continues to take shape at an increasing rate in the world, the high-speed trading technology we have achieved with our renewed infrastructure and our BISTECH system, which we are developing day by day to stay in the global competition, gives us great excitement, just like the Formula 1 races.

Contending that Borsa İstanbul markets operate on a single, end-to-end platform in an integrated manner and as an exchange operating at international standards, where the data center is expanded, alternative access opportunities are offered according to different needs, in order to provide fast and secure market access for investors, Ergun further maintained as follows: “On the supply side, more companies have the opportunity to obtain various sources, and on the demand side, a wider foreign investor base could be reached, with new products and services being developed depending on market needs. In short, with the aim to grow the markets, we will add power to Istanbul's position as an international financial center. We will continue to add value. We are taking steps to strengthen and support our corporate communications strategy with foreign investors who have the potential to come to our stock market. We are actively involved in international organizations. My colleagues took part in all sub-committees of the World Federation of Exchanges. We work together with other world exchanges and we also compete with our rivals. We carry out the general secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Exchanges Forum. We work on joint projects with the Exchanges of Islamic Countries.”

During his address at the ceremony, Vural Ak, Chairman of the Board of Intercity said: “As the task of bringing Formula 1TM back to our country was given to us under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, as Intercity Istanbul Park, we made great efforts to bring this massive organization back to our country. We brought Formula 1TM, which has reached billions of viewers and has of great value in the promotional activities of countries, to our country after a 9-year break. Our country will host Formula 1TM this year again, as the race was followed with interest all over the world, the pilots and teams praised Turkey, and our meticulous efforts have resulted.”

We are delighted to have brought such an important organization to our country. Turkey has the ability to host such a great and magnificent organization. We have one of the most exciting racetracks in the world. This year, we will host an organization with an audience, albeit at half capacity due to the pandemic, and host 100 thousand people by taking the highest level measures. In our organization where we will host many events for three days, motorsports fans will be full of excitement, fun and adrenaline. There are only a few days left for this exciting event that our country misses so much. I believe that we will hold the Formula 1TM Rolex Turkish Grand Prix 2021 event, which will be watched by 2 billion people all over the world, in a way that befits our country.”

Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of the Formula 1TM hold the following “It is really with a great pleasure that I am here on behalf of the Formula 1 world to share this special weekend. And a lot of people may say what Formula 1 is doing in a Stock Exchange. That’s a place to be, not only on the track where we have the sporting challenge with the drivers with the teams with the manufacturers but also a great economy. It’s a moment where we as an international platform really are interested to deeply understand what is the challenge and the possibility to grow around the world. We see now today due to the success that everyone wants to host Formula 1 not only because it’s a great sport but because also enables the country and the company and the partners associated to that to grow the business.