Dear Members and Followers of the Turkish Society of Colon and Rectal Surgery

I am very happy to witness the magnificent evolution of the Turkish Society of Colon and Rectal Surgery in my lifetime and call out with this enthusiasm. I commemorate those who have passed away and salute those who have contributed to what we have achieved so far. The essential idea handed us down from our founders was, our great nation who are the reason for us to be here, deserves the best of everything. I am proud to announce this latest stage of “continuous improvement” journey.

At this stage, the executive board of our society pointed us to work on rectal cancer, the most important subject of our field, in order to put up the rules to produce the best standards of screening, diagnosis and treatment, as well as targeting to help presenting this service above the minimal standards all around the country. In fact, societies and even government organizations made up of wide numbers of professionals in Europe and USA have had prepared some guidelines or practice parameters long ago. Most of us have been probably using these guidelines in our practices and that is why a separate nationwide guideline was not prepared. On the other hand, rectal cancer management undoubtfully remains below the expected standards especially in set ups where there is not enough expertise and specialization. In our daily practice, we still frequently see some examples like the patient who needs neo-adjuvant treatment undergoes surgery without it or, a patient who can undergo an organ sparing surgery undergoes a permanent stoma. This is why, there is great public interest in developing a national consensus for management of rectal cancer. The latest literature and the service standards offered to the public in developed countries have been targeted in preparing the program, and all stakeholders of this consensus will freely vote for building up the final text. We also want to create a template for the similar texts for the other subjects in the future.

May I finally thank to executives for deciding to prepare this consensus and offering me such a privilege to chair the organizing committee of this pioneering meeting. Hope to see you all in Ankara.