Ciler Yildiz.
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ISTANBUL—Safilo Group (SFL.IM) has opened a wholly owned subsidiary in Turkey, making it the hub of its new Central Eastern European Division.

Ciler Yildiz has been appointed commercial head of Safilo's Central Eastern Europe Division, and a member of Safilo Group's Global Leadership Team. She was previously CEO of Clear Channel Turkey, and has a professional career spanning over 30 years in general management, customer business development, finance and human resources.

“Turkey represents a unique and fast-growth opportunity for us, where we can offer Safilo's total brand portfolio and build business with retailers across all channels,” said Henri Blomqvist, chief commercial officer of Safilo Group. “Our initial focus will be on the optical chains and independent opticians in the key cities. We will immediately start with the launch of two new brands never before distributed in Turkey, Fendi in the high-end fashion luxury segment, and Polaroid in the mass-cool segment.”

According to the company, this latest geographic expansion is part of Safilo's 2020 Strategic Plan announced earlier this year. It is a further step toward balancing geographic focus and building high quality commercial capability to distribute the company's multi-segment portfolio, the company said. The office is located at: Safilo Optik Ticaret Limited Şirketi, Levent 193 Binası, Büyükdere Cad., No: 193, Kat 2, Ofis 215/216 33394 4, Levent, İstanbul, Turkey.

This latest addition to Safilo’s geographic reach furthers its market penetration and share growth, and follows the opening in 2014 of Safilo’s new Latin America Division and the wholly owned Dubai subsidiary as the hub of the new Middle East and Africa Division.