On March 31st 1989, KFH-Turkey began officially working in Istanbul as the first Islamic bank in Turkey. The bank was a result of the collaboration between relentless employees from Kuwait and Turkey, who believed in establishing an Islamic bank that depends of Kuwait's experience in this field and Turkey's promising economy. This led to a bank that is a source of pride for Kuwait and the GCC. On that date, while KFH-Turkey was celebrating this historic day with its shareholders and administration, the late Ahmed Al-Yasseen, the godfather of Islamic banking who was the bank's first chairman, said that the Islamic world has abundant wealth that is unused, such as natural resources, industrial potential, and skillful laborers, but imports from other countries what it can produce itself. He added that this is the reason behind establishing several institutions that work synergistically to end importation, including KFH-Turkey that has diverse economy abilities; thus allowing the bank to link Arab investors to those abilities. KFH-Turkey began working in challenging circumstances, because Turkey did not have at that time its current booming economy. However, the clear vision of KFH-Turkey's men and their noble cause, not to mention feasibility studies, allowed the bank to take great strides to success, under the umbrella of Shariah. This gave the bank the advantage of being the first to set foot in the Turkish market; thus cementing its position there. It is beyond doubt that the existence of KFH-Turkey and its accomplishments go beyond the mere concept of a bank that offers services. The bank serves as a bridge between Turkey and the GCC countries, since trading strengthens the relationship among nations, and proves that Islamic banking can succeed and prove its mettle in all markets under any circumstances. It is worth noting that KFH-Turkey was the first bank to issue Sukuk worth USD 450 million over two consecutive deals, not to mention the gold fund and gold investment account. The gold fund was registered in Istanbul Bourse, which encouraged the bank to launch a silver fund that traded silver. Recently, KFH-Turkey announced that it will offer Kuwaitis in Turkey a bouquet of banking and financing services during their visit to Turkey. Such as success was a result of the banking atmosphere in Turkey, not to mention Turkey's rapid growth and stability. This was recognized by international rating agencies that granted the bank several awards, such as Best Islamic Bank from Global Finance, and three other awards from Islamic Finance after managing to issue Sukuk in Turkey, in addition to awards from Euro Money. Zawya
