Developing banking services that contribute added value to the economy and the society on the back of productive, profitable and sustainable growth strategy, Garanti reflected the same approach in the corporate social responsibility project supports.

Not restricting its mission to banking services only, Garanti remains strictly committed to its objective of constantly building on the values it creates for the society in its activities. To enhance and sustain the society’s quality of life along these lines, the Bank extends long-lived support to projects in education, culture, arts, sports and environment that represent the corporate culture and broaden the vision of individuals and the community.

Supporting Education

Teachers Academy Foundation (Öğretmen Akademisi Vakfı)

Garanti, recognizing the role education plays in upgrading the overall well-being of the society, set up a foundation in 2008, an initiative exhibiting its sensitivity in this aspect and its long-term commitment. The objectives of the Teachers Academy Foundation include, among others, supporting the personal and professional development of teachers who educate the future generations. In this frame, a five-year protocol has been signed with the Ministry of National Education in relation to the Foundation’s first project, Öğretmenin Sınırı Yok (No Limits in Teaching) which seeks to contribute to the current education model, supporting analytical thinking and research. Within the scope of the project formulated to provide teachers with training activities on personal and professional development, 100,000 elementary school teachers, directors and inspectors will receive face-to- face training. The project started in April 2009 with pilot runs in five cities, and reached more than 20,483 teachers in 58 cities by the end of 2010. The aim is to spread the project across the country.

Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG)

Since 2003, Garanti has been the main corporate sponsor of TOG, a foundation that acts on the vision of achieving social peace, solidarity and change through the involvement and leadership of the youth.

Denizyıldızları (Starfish) Project

The Denizyıldızları (Starfish) Project has been supported by the donations of Garanti employees, customers, and friends since 1998. Within the frame of the project, every year, 2,500 students receive education on the campus, comprising one primary school and four vocational and technical high schools. With their construction completed in 2010, the theater and conference hall seating 320, the semi-Olympic size indoor swimming pool, and the indoor sports facility with a spectator capacity for 600 opened their doors for the students.

Dad, Send Me to School (Baba Beni Okula Gönder) Project

Since 2006, Garanti has annually been providing scholarships for the education of 100 female students through its support to the Dad, Send Me to School project, a joint effort of Milliyet newspaper and the Association in Support of Contemporary Life (Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği).

Supporting Art & Culture

Garanti Kültür A.Ş.

Garanti, via its own cultural and artistic institutions, provides solid support to culture and the arts in Turkey, and takes on "sustainable" initiatives in these areas. Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center signifies the first example of these initiatives, which was decided to continue with its activities after it has been taken over from the Ottoman Bank in 2001. Platform had been regarded as one of the world’s top few institutions in contemporary arts, its main focus, from 2001 until 2010 during which time it was active. On another wing, the Ottoman Bank Museum and the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Center established in 2002 to perpetuate the invaluable legacy of the Ottoman Bank not only narrated the story of an establishment and of a period, but also contributed to collective memory with endeavors in social and economic areas, as well as a comprehensive activity program. Transformed from Garanti Art Gallery, Garanti Gallery was established in 2003 and hosted projects that combined all disciplines concerned with architecture and design.

Each one producing major projects in its own field, these three entities were brought together under Garanti Kültür A.Ş. in 2009, and the new structure will actively commence operations in 2011 with exhibition, research, archive and education functions, and will be engaged in activities in the national and international arena. Istanbul will be presented with a new epicenter of culture and the arts covering an area of 15,000 m2 when the historical buildings in Galata (former OBM building) and Beyoğlu (former Platform Garanti building) reopen their doors upon completion of the renovation that will vest them in a contemporary setting.

Garanti Jazz Green

Garanti, aiming to broaden and spice up music lovers’ horizons in the genre of jazz, is among the leading sponsors of jazz music in Turkey, extending long-term support with the slogan "Garanti Jazz Green". Garanti has, for the past 13 years, been undertaking the main sponsorship of the International Istanbul Jazz Festival, organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). Supporting Istanbul Jazz Center, Tamirane and Salon IKSV concerts and sponsoring one of the top music venues in Istanbul, Babylon, for ten years, Garanti has been creating opportunity to listen to worldwide famous jazz artists, engaged predominantly in jazz.

Istanbul Museum of Modern Art

Garanti Bank sponsors the education program of İstanbul Modern, Turkey’s first and only modern and contemporary art museum. The program aims to play a central role in raising creative and inquisitive individuals who are literate, and also actively involved, in the arts, while supplementing classroom education. Through the ongoing Garanti-sponsored İstanbul Modern training programs, over 300,000 children and teenagers received training to date.

In 2010, Garanti also sponsored "The Enemy Inside Me", the first ever retrospective exhibition in Turkey of the internationally acclaimed artist Kutluğ Ataman.

Mini Bank International Children’s Film Festival

Since 2004, Garanti has been co-organizing the first children’s film festival in Turkey, "Mini Bank International Children’s Film Festival", with TURSAK (Turkish Foundation of Cinema and Audio-Visual Culture). The Festival brought some of the world’s select children films to almost 52,000 children so far. Having expanded its reach beyond İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir in 2009, the festival reached children in Urfa and Mardin in 2009, and in Diyarbakır and Adıyaman in 2010.

The Lycian Way

Garanti sponsored putting in place a waymarking system at international standards along the Lycian Way, a 500 km long-distance trail stretching from Fethiye to Antalya, and further contributed to tourism in the region by publishing a guidebook for the Lycian Way in 2006.

Supporting Sports

Basketball

A long-time supporter of basketball that reflects Garanti’s values of teamwork, dedication, confidence and discipline, the Bank has been the main sponsor of the 12 Giant Men (Turkish National Men’s Basketball Team) since 2001, and of the Turkish National Women’s Basketball Team since 2005. Garanti was also a main sponsor of 2010 FIBA World Championship that took place Turkey.

12 Giant Men Basketball Schools Project

Since 2002, Garanti has been supporting the 12 Giant Men Basketball Schools (12 DABO) which were initiated in cooperation with the Turkish Basketball Federation in an effort to inculcate basketball culture in young children, and help basketball become a commonly played game and reach a broad base in Anatolia. At 12 DABO schools, 33,000 youngsters received basketball training in 55 centers to date.

NBA Skills Challenge

To bring the American National Basketball Association (NBA) closer to Turkish basketball fans, Garanti has been the main sponsor of the events held by NBA in Turkey in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Young players aged 13-18 uploaded short videos displaying their basketball skills on www.nba-garanti.com, for a chance to attend the NBA camp in the USA. Winners of the contest were sent to the 5-day instructional camp in Orlando as a prize.

Equestrian Sports

With the belief that the discipline and aesthetics inherent in equestrian sports coincide perfectly with its service notion, Garanti Masters Private Banking has been undertaking sponsorships of various equestrian competitions and events since 2005. Additionally, the business line is the official sponsor of the Turkish Equestrian Federation since 2008.

Football

With the objective of contributing to improvement of football and broadening the scope of its commitment to support sports, Garanti has become one of the main sponsors of the Turkish National Men’s Football Team in 2008. Garanti extended the range of its support to football and became a prime sponsor of the Garanti Beach Football League that has been organized by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) since 2006.

Supporting Environment

WWF-Turkey (Foundation for Protecting Wildlife)

Garanti Bank has been the main sponsor of the Foundation for Protecting Wildlife (WWF- Turkey) since 1992, thereby helping the conservation of natural resources and creating enhanced awareness of environmental issues among the public. One of the many projects jointly conducted by Garanti and WWF-Turkey and introduced in 2007, the Environmentally Friendly Bonus Card is a credit card providing cardholders with the chance to donate parts of their spending credits to WWF-Turkey to support their activities to protect the nature. Through the "Environmentalist SME" package devised in 2009, the Bank supports businesses to operate in a livable environment, with sustainable resources.

Creating Value for Customers

Supporting Women Entrepreneurs

Garanti, the first private bank in Turkey providing services specific to women entrepreneurs, supports entrepreneurial women in terms of courage, training and funding. To this end, Garanti Bank, in cooperation with the Economist magazine, organized the fourth edition of "Turkey’s Women Entrepreneur Competition". The Bank has, for the second time in 2010, been the main sponsor of the International Women Entrepreneurship & Leadership Summit, organized by KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey). Garanti kept organizing the "Women Entrepreneurs Gatherings" across 9 cities in cooperation with KAGIDER.

Garanti Anatolian Meetings (GAS)

In 2002, Garanti initiated a series of conferences, known as Garanti Anatolian Meetings, to bring together SMEs and local administrators from all around Turkey. Paving the way for professionals and experts to discuss changing economic and market conditions, evaluate regional and international opportunities, explore potential areas of business, and find regional solutions in cooperation with local businesses and officials, these meetings gathered 23,000 SMEs in 62 different cities so far.

Risk Management Meetings

The concept of risk management aims to protect and develop a company’s core values while enabling it to assess potential risks using the right management methods and tools to deal with them in a way that is in keeping with the unique structure of that company. With this in mind, Garanti Bank is offering representatives of the business world a series of "Risk Management Meetings" which hold great importance in terms of helping companies be prepared for any and all eventualities.