Legend of Eurovent: Ali Metin Duruk

During the 2022 Eurovent Summit in Antalya Türkiye, Eurovent took the opportunity to honour Ali Metin Duruk with the ‘Turkish Industry Legend’. Metin Duruk was committed and contributed immensely in the Turkish HVACR industry. The award was handed over to the Friterm delegation during the dedicated evening event.

Ali Metin Duruk was born in Akseki, Türkiye in 1948. After graduating from the University of Istanbul in 1973 as a Mechanical Engineer, he went on to establish Friterm in 1979. The company continued its development with project design, manufacturing, contracting and sales activities in the commercial refrigeration, industrial refrigeration and air conditioning sector. Focusing on heat exchanger products over time, Friterm became one of the leading companies in the HVACR sector in Türkiye.

He also served as the Chairman of the board of Directors for the Turkish Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Manufacturers Association (ISKID) and the Turkish Heating, Cooling, Air Conditioning Research and Education Foundation (ISKAV), as well as in many other commissions.

Ali Metin Duruk was one of the founding members of the Ethics and Reputation Society of Friterm. As a firm believer of good ethics, he argued that everything that is thought to have been acquired without ethics would not be different from a soap bubble. Good ethics in the industry, understanding them and ?publishing the ethical principles of the sector, worked to define ethical codes for him. He used to attach great importance to peace, freedom, democracy and independence within every workplace. In the organisations he founded, he attached importance to gender equality, respect for nature and ethical values.

He was also a founding member of many non-governmental organisations. He took part in the development of corporate social responsibility projects and also supported the project named ‘Children of our Street’ for stray animals in Türkiye. He was also part of the Türkiye anti-erosion, afforestation project and a Board Member of the Natural Heritage Conservation Foundation (TEMA). He believed that the success of individuals brought the success of the company. A peaceful environment and a society working for him was his philosophy of life.