As a businessman, his frequent interaction with Southeast Asia, China and Russia has impressed upon him the need for Turks to become more competitive. “The most important problem that Turkey has is education,” he said. He cites the rapid increase of applications to Harvard Business School from Chinese and Indian students. Turkey sends only four to eight students a year, said Ozyegin, who meets with the students when he visits. “I want to do something on a major scale,” he said. “My vision is that we can train and export people like India does.”

Ozyegin hopes that focusing on education as an economic development tool will help transcend the current bitter disputes over religious practice, including whether the increase in the number of women wearing head scarves signifies the emergence of a more Islamic, less secular Turkey.

“I want Turkey to have the same education levels as Europe 25 years from now,” he said. “Whether you wear a scarf should not matter.”