Skopje, 29.05.2023 – Mehmet Bulut Ph.D., the former rector of Istanbul Sabahatin Zaim University was invited to MTU and lectured to the students of the Faculty of Technical Sciences and the Faculty of Economics. He gave an educational lecture on “Making money, within ethical economics”.

Pro-rector for Finance, Bujamin Bela Ph.D., claimed that Professor Bulut has a great experience in monetary banking systems and the same is conveyed in many works authored by him from the field of Economics.

Professor Bulut emphasized the ethical aspect of making money, and made a comparison between early banking systems in Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. He added that the first bank models were founded in the Balkans and after showing success they were founded in other parts of the empire, in North Africa and the Middle East.

‘The main aim of the economic policies of the European nation-states was to use the power of the state to promote trade and economic growth and to build national industry and manufacture, while the Ottoman Empire continued to pursue its provisionist, fiscal and traditional economy, policies of expansion of the land in the early modern period’, said Bulut.

‘In Western Europe, this experience created a new class that gradually improved its commercial ability and expanded industries and markets under a capitalist system. On the other hand, Ottoman imperial policy was mainly concerned with the continuation of strong central authority and the expansion of land, which never meant ameliorating the concerns of industry or commerce. Instead, the economic policies of the Ottomans were the existence of the people, securing the main centers of population, collecting taxes and maintaining the freedom of trade,’ added Bulut.

He said that balance and stability in society is a priority in economics for the Ottomans, while in Dutch example the commercialization and profit are priority in economics.

Professor Bulut was the rector of Istanbul Sabahatin Zaim University. He has completed two PhD degrees in two different universities in Ankara and Instanbul. He has studied in the fields of long-term economic development; the reasons for inter-country economic differences; performance comparisons; international economic policies; Ottoman economy and civilization; Ottoman-European-Atlantic economic relations; History of the economy; economic and financial thinking; Islamic Economics and Finance.

Professor Bulut is also a member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences.