Interview with Sefa Targit on the Turkish lift market

"The earthquake in Turkey has created a new elevator market," says Sefa Targit, who has been active in the Turkish elevator industry and in various associations for more than 40 years.

In an interview with LIFTjournal, he explains what makes up the Turkish elevator market, how the earthquake has affected it, and what Turkish elevator manufacturers expect from the political leadership in Ankara.

What is the structure of the Turkish elevator market?
Targit: The Turkish elevator industry is different from other countries. First difference: Multinational companies do not dominate the majority of the market in Türkiye. Local companies install more elevators in proportion.
Türkiye is one of the most important players in components manufacturing. It has a production capacity well above the needs of Türkiye. Turkish component manufacturers are also very successful in terms of exports.
For example, the elevator industry has had a foreign trade surplus for the last three years, that is, its exports are more than its imports. The number of local companies is more than it should be. This creates a tough competitive environment. Construction companies always profit from this hard competitive environment.

How has the Turkish elevator market developed in terms of new and existing installations over the past ten years?
Targit: In the last ten years, the number of high-rise buildings has increased, so the speed of the elevators has increased. Local companies are trying to keep up with this, but the share of multinational companies has increased, perhaps not in terms of the number of elevators, but in terms of turnover. Elevator periodic controls, which started very seriously in 2012, made a great contribution to the development of existing elevators. That's why the modernization market has grown so much in the last ten years.

Photo: © AYSAD

Where does the Turkish elevator market stand in comparison with other markets in Europe?
Targit: If we compare it with other markets in Europe, the Turkish market always remains in the top 3. The number of new elevators installed, and the amount of component production showed itself in areas such as exports. Likewise, the escalator market has grown a lot in Türkiye in the last ten years because the construction of shopping malls and subways has accelerated in the last ten years.

Which manufacturers from Türkiye are internationally relevant?
Targit: Of course, it would not be right for me to say names, but there are traction machine manufacturers, electronic controller manufacturers, and of course guide rail manufacturers, which have a very serious share in the international market and are very competitive.
The technical legislation of Türkiye has been fully approximated to the European Union acquis, so there is no legal difference between selling goods in Türkiye and selling goods in Europe and in the hinterland of Europe. Naturally, all safety components manufacturers produce according to European Union rules. Again, legally speaking, all manufacturers in Türkiye have international validity. It must be so.

What is the situation regarding modernization measures in terms of safety, energy and accessibility in Türkiye?
Targit: As I mentioned in the previous question, with our leadership and efforts, all the rules in Türkiye have become EU rules. This process, which started in 1995, was completed in 2004. EN 81-80 was published in Türkiye in parallel with Europe. Elevators in Türkiye have to be built in accordance with the European Lifts Directive, the elevator regulation prepared in parallel with this directive, all processes are the same as in the EU, all basic requirements. Turkish standards published by TSE are also translated versions of EN standards.
We have ensured that very important articles on accessibility are added to the zoning laws. We cooperated with disability associations in this regard. In terms of energy, there is progress in new buildings, of course, but I cannot say that there is much progress in existing buildings. It has been very beneficial in terms of safety that the periodic controls of elevators are carried out very seriously and the legislation on this subject is developed by constantly monitoring the national legislation.

Photo: © Bernd Lorenz/LIFTjournal

What trends do you think will play a role in the elevator industry in the future?
Targit: My predictions for the future are that the height of the buildings will decrease, but the accessibility conditions will increase to a very high level... In other words, all buildings will have elevator systems that allow access for ALL. My guess for large buildings is that ropeless elevators operating in two dimensions will come to life. We can see prototypes of these in R&D centers now.

Are companies in the Turkish lift industry still finding enough skilled workers, or is this a problem in Turkey as in the rest of the world?
Targit: The reason for this is that young people do not want to work in difficult and dangerous jobs such as the elevator industry. As Aysad, we have been operating to open elevator departments in vocational high schools for the last 15 years, and we have established such departments in many vocational high schools.
Not all of them come to the sector, this is a fact, but we think that it will be beneficial no matter how much it contributes. The elevator sector is one of the industries that needs skilled labor mostly because it is installed on-site as a machine and maintained on-site. It is very important that all associations and all companies give priority to this issue. Years ago, Ela made a promotional film about it. We dubbed that movie in Turkish and published it in Türkiye.

You recently saw for yourself the disaster in the earthquake zone. What impressions did you come back with?
Targit: The last earthquake disaster was really large. We also call it a double earthquake, because two independent and very large earthquakes occurred at very short intervals, which caused the less damaged buildings to be destroyed.
I went to the earthquake zone in February after the earthquake to make investigations. With me, Dr. Erdem İmrak from Istanbul Technical University and Dr. Ferhat Çelik from Blain Hydraulics and a member of ELA component committee, were also there.
The picture we saw was sad, also not pleasant from the angle of the engineering approach. Our area of interest is the situation of elevators in undamaged buildings. Unfortunately, there are also problems here. The biggest problem in elevators with solid structures was the dislocation of the counterweight. Because of the safety brake not working on them, the counterweights are underestimated. They are underestimated in terms of both rail selection and assembly. Of course, beyond the structural problems, the problem of recommissioning the elevators arose.
There were two types of buildings as I mentioned before. The first group is completely destroyed buildings, of which there is no possibility and meaning to evaluate their elevators. Second group is undamaged and slightly damaged buildings. It was very difficult to find technical staff to check and re-commission the elevators in undamaged buildings.
The number of technical personnel who had problems in their families or lost their homes and migrated to another city was high. Facts should be taken into account when designing an elevator for an earthquake zone. We have prepared our observations on this subject in a paper and I presented them at the Elevcon 2023 congress in June in Prague.

Does the damage caused by the earthquake affect the production of elevator equipment in Türkiye?
Targit: The earthquake in Türkiye created a new elevator market. In this respect, it will also affect component production in a positive direction. In other words, the need for new elevators in the earthquake zone is close to the normal 1-year demand for new elevators in the whole of Türkiye.
The region where the earthquake took place is not a region where elevator component production is intense, so there is no damage to prevent production. Component manufacturing in Türkiye is mostly done in the Marmara region and Central Anatolia region. These regions were not affected by the earthquake, so there is no shortage of supply.

Photo: © Bernd Lorenz/LIFTjournal

Do they also apply the EN 81-77 standard for elevators in Türkiye?
Targit: EN 81-77 has been applied as a Turkish standard and published. Therefore, it should be applied in Türkiye, which is an earthquake zone. Some problems arising from the buildings themselves make the application difficult. For example, there are difficulties in the implementation of EN 81-77 due to obstacles such as the lack of a mechanism to generate earthquake signals in the buildings, and difficult access to earthquake acceleration information.
I saw serious deficiencies in our investigations in the earthquake area. This issue needs to be examined.

How can the Turkish, but also the European elevator industry help with the reconstruction?
Targit: Some meetings were held in Türkiye on this subject. The view was that the production capacity of components in Türkiye will be sufficient, but there will be some problems in terms of finding installation teams and installation times are critical in the sector.
Of course, financing is also a very important requirement. European companies can provide some opportunities by finding finance from EU sources. I think that engineering studies will make a significant contribution here. From Europe to Türkiye ... It is estimated that approximately 35-40,000 new elevators will be installed in the region.

What is the situation in Istanbul with regard to earthquakes?
Targit: Istanbul is approximately 1,000 kilometers far from the earthquake zone. Therefore, the earthquake did not affect it physically, but there were people who could not find shelter in the earthquake area and migrated to big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to live with their relatives. I gave a speech at the ELA general assembly held in Istanbul in 2013 on the problem of finding a house in Istanbul and price increases.
I said, "Speaking in the language of elevator engineers, Türkiye does not want to be a refuge space or safety brake between the European Union and the Middle East." In the last ten years, we have fallen into this position. Huge waves of immigrants came to Türkiye from Syria and Afghanistan, and these people still live in Türkiye. When the earthquake migration was added this, bigger social and economic problems emerged in big cities like Istanbul.

The hall capacity of Asansör was expanded this year. Which sector or which manufacturers in the Turkish elevator industry are responsible for this expansion?
Targit: Istanbul Elevator has seen construction since 1992. And it has always grown except for some global negative years. One of the reasons for the growth this year was the lack of interest in the previous fair due to the pandemic. The number of component manufacturers is increasing in Türkiye. Although this seems like a very good situation, I think it is not a good development in terms of macroeconomics as it creates excess capacity.
In the meantime, as you can see, too many manufacturers have started to appear in some items, with automatic doors at the forefront of them. I think that the high number of participations, which is a positive indicator of the industry, is beneficial for companies and engineers in increasing their experience and knowledge.

From which countries do the foreign visitors mainly come?
Targit: Foreign visitors come mainly from the Middle East; this is normal. However, visitors come from all over Europe and the Americas, starting from North Africa, including South America. Citizens of all countries to which the European Union does not issue an easy entry visa conduct their global relations through Türkiye. This is a competitiveness advantage of the Istanbul Asansor.
As the Organizing Committee President, I am very pleased to participate in the fair. It was satisfactory both in terms of exhibitors and the number of visitors.

How do you assess the outcome of the elections in Türkiye? What does the Turkish lift industry expect from the newly elected government?
Targit: We had serious problems before the election in Türkiye. The reason for this is that, in addition to the factors affecting the whole world during the pandemic, the effects of the war between our close neighbors Ukraine and Russia came together and I think this process was not managed well. After all this, when an earthquake disaster broke out, it became very difficult to manage the country.
Our expectation from the side that wins the elections is that the European Union norms that we adopted in the early 2000s are implemented seriously. The Turkish elevator industry does not have a special extra expectation. General problems such as finance, employment, taxes are also valid for the elevator industry. Their resolution will also relieve the elevator industry.

The interview was held by Bernd Lorenz.

More information: Sefa Targit has been positions in elevator industry since 1979 in various positions. Since 1992, he is the CEO and shareholder of Asray, a company that manufactures elevator guide rails. Production started on a small scale in 1968 and reached a serious size with the move to the current factory in Gebze.

Sefa Targit is chairman of the organizing committee of Asansör. He is also a member of Aysad, the oldest elevator association in Turkey. It was founded in 1972 and has members all over Turkey. Aysad is the representative of the Turkish lift sector in the eyes of other sectors in Turkey and the European Union. Targit has been the top manager of AYSAD for many years and represents the association in the Federation of Industrial Associations (SEDEFED), the Turkish Machinery Federation (MAKFED) and the Construction Materials Association (İMSAD).

He has also served as a board member and chairman in these associations and federations. He was also an active representative in the European Elevator Association (ELA). In the second half of the 2000s, he was a member of the ELA Components Committee for 5-6 years. "When Wolfgang Adldinger was president, I was part of his team. Since 2006, I have followed ELA's activities very closely," says Sefa Targit.