Turkey-born Chobani yogurt company CEO Hamdi Ulukaya recently visited the Greek island of Lesbos, to see for himself the plight of the tens of thousands of mainly Syrian refugees who are flooding into Europe through Turkey.

He tells Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd that he saw desperate conditions there: "You would assume there would be tents, there will be housing, there will be food, a cup of soup at least ... none of that."

So he's set up a new foundation, called Tent, to help. And he wants other CEOs to join him in hiring refugees, something he's done for years at his production plants.

Interview Highlights: Hamdi Ulukaya

Was the island of Lesbos as bad as you thought it would be?

"It was worse than I thought it would be, simply because I thought it's Greece, it's Europe. [The refugees] left the troubled areas and they finally made it to this island and [they thought] the condition would be better. I mean I'm not talking about emotional condition, but at least the humanitarian, you know, needs, on the ground I thought would be much, much better, but I was very disappointed."

What did you see in Lesbos?

"You know, here it is. This is an island closest to Turkey. When they make it there, they're horrified, because most of them – it's a living or dying journey. When they get there, you would assume there will be tents, there will be housing, there will be food, there will be a cup of soup at least. None of that. There are some humanitarian workers on the ground trying their best, but of course, they're very limited what they can do. So it could be a week, it could be two days, it could be in a month sometimes, what we heard, they're just left alone. That's how it is."

Is the refugee crisis personal to you?

"It is. You know, I'm Kurdish. You know, I know this issue really well. And you know, these are the people I know; these are the people familiar to me; these are the people their faces are very, very familiar to me. And as a human being, anyone who lives anywhere in the world, when you see it – you know, sometimes reading in the news, you might not get a real picture, but when you see them, when you talk to them, you know, it's just heartbreaking."