Özgür Çeltikçi
Özgür Çeltikçi (born 13 May 1984 in Kocaeli Province, Turkey) is a Turkish conference interpreter, working in English-to-Turkish and Turkish-to-English languages. He is regarded as one of the most promising interpreters in the Turkish market.
Early life
Born in 1984, Çeltikçi started school in 1990. In 1994, while at Değirmendere Donanma Primary School, he became the captain of the trio which propelled Donanma into the third place of Provincial Schools Quiz. Having joined Gölcük Anatolian High School in 1995, he took acting lessons and became a part-time actor at Gölcük Municipality's Theatre Club in 1998. He graduated from Gölcük Anatolian High School in 2002.
University Years
After getting 181,682 points from the University Entrance Exam (ÖSS) of 2002, he opted for Hacettepe University Department of Translation and Interpreting. His oratory and theatrical skills quickly caught the eye of many lecturers, thus making him an instant candidate for conference interpreting in the eyes of most of the academicians in the department, mainly Elif Ersözlü and Aymil Doğan. He graduated in 2006 to become one of the only four ACTIVE conference interpreters having graduated in the same year.
Professional Career and Military Service
As an intern, Çeltikçi started his interpreting career in 2005 as he attended a few conferences. His main breakthrough, though, came in 2007 when he started interpreting for the Turkish Football Federation. His use of language and special ability to think and act very quickly made him a popular figure in the Turkish football society, as he took his place as the interpreter of the Turkish National Football Team in UEFA Euro 2008. People he has made translations for so far include Fatih Terim, Howard Wilkinson, Mick Hennigan, Alistair Smith, Jozef Vengloš, Müfit Erkasap, Ömer Dinçer, Nükhet Duru and Rita Dunn. He is regarded as an expert in translating sports, finance, learning styles and medical terminology.
Çeltikçi completed his compulsory military service in Ağrı in 2009.