Ahmet Çalık, one of Türkiye's most prominent businessmen, has attracted attention with his successful steps in his commercial life, which began in textiles in 1981. Çalık established the first major industrial investment in Eastern Anatolia by founding a denim factory in Malatya, and from 1992 onwards, he began to expand his commercial experience abroad.
In 1997, Ahmet Çalık founded the Çalık Group, bringing all his group companies under one roof. The group operates in 7 different sectors, from energy, construction and real estate, mining to textiles, finance to telecommunications and digital, in 22 countries with 25,000 employees.
We spoke with Ahmet Çalık, who opened his own company at a young age with an entrepreneurial spirit, who also places great importance on spending time with his family alongside his business life, who maintains strong ties to his hometown of Malatya, and who enjoys reading and research, about his success story, which extends from Central Asia to the Balkans, his professional life, and his personal life.
How many years have you been in business?
I've been involved in business for about 50 years, since my family and childhood.
You started your career at a very young age. You are one of Türkiye's most successful business people. Before entering the workforce, what were your goals during your childhood and youth?
I grew up in the business world because of my family. From childhood, I had a love for business and aimed to be successful. In other words, we always prioritized success in our work, and we still do. I derive great pleasure and happiness from being successful, or rather, from adding value to people's lives, creating employment, and contributing to the economy. Therefore, we constantly strive for success.
You founded a textile company at the age of 23. Can you tell us a little about this process?
While working at a significant textile company in Türkiye owned by my father, I told them I wanted to leave when I was around 20-21 years old. This was a journey I started with my entrepreneurial spirit to prove myself. This has been going on for almost 40 years. I left around 1978. In 1981, I founded my first company. That day, apart from the family, we laid the foundations of what is now the Çalık Group.
What kind of boss are you? How do your colleagues describe you? Do they criticize you positively or negatively?
That's something you'd have to ask our colleagues. From the day we started, we've considered all our colleagues as members of our own family. Because I spend most of my time with my family and at work, that is, with my colleagues... We see each of our colleagues at work as siblings, as part of our family. In this respect, I am very happy to have such a valuable extended family.
"One thing never changes; our values"
When you compare your early years in business with now, what kind of difficulties or advantages do you see?
The place where I grew up in business is Sultanhamam, which we call 'the school of business in Türkiye'. There is a huge difference between the business designs and the ways we did business there and today. But one thing never changes; Our values... The values we learned there, the business culture, form our foundation today, no matter how much our ways of doing business have changed. We are preserving those values today. What remains unchanged between the past, present, and future is the preservation of these values. But of course, technology and opportunities have changed a lot. Turkey has changed a lot. There are now huge differences between the opportunities of the past and the opportunities of today, but these are positive differences...
You had experience before founding the Çalık Group. Could you talk about the experiences from that time that added value to your current business life or had a significant impact on it?
Because I was in the business world from a very young age, I gained a lot of experience. This experience accumulates. We call this maturity, experience. We are currently seeing the significant benefits of this accumulation, both individually, as a company, and on a global scale. That is, both in terms of our ways of doing business and our relationships with people and companies... These are a great accumulation and experience that you gain over time.
You must have many unforgettable moments in your business life, which you remember with a smile or with anger. Could you share some of them with us?
Receiving an award from Japan was something I never expected. For me, it's a moment that makes us smile, happy, and proud – to have our work appreciated and rewarded by a country thousands of kilometers away from my own. Similarly, I have honorary doctorates from two universities here. We have many wonderful memories related to Japan. These are all beautiful things...
Could you tell us a little about these memories?
Meeting and doing business with my first Japanese friend in Japan is a very special memory...
Could you describe periods in your life that you would call "turning points"?
My business life started in Istanbul. First, in my hometown of Malatya, we made our first investments to contribute to the economy, create employment, and alleviate unemployment. These investments we made there...
