Our Founder

Mehmet Bekir Kutmangil

After finishing his elementary and high school education at Şişli Terakki High School, Mehmet Bekir Kutmangil graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1980. As a young and ambitious businessman, Kutmangil was constantly looking for great opportunities to expand the family business. While he was studying at the university, he chose to get involved in iron trading, which was one of the main business areas for his family, at Perşembe Pazarı (“Thursday Bazaar”).

Upon completing his education in 1980, Kutmangil took on the role of General Manager in his family’s mining companies. In 1986, he founded Kutes Madencilik and began offering subcontracting services to Kutman Group enterprises, specializing in coal and clay production. Following the passing of his father, Halis Kutmangil, in 1988, he assumed the role of Chairman for the companies within the Kutman Group.

Under Mehmet Bekir Kutmangil’s leadership, coal production within the core mining business of the Kutman Group increased fourfold. Kutman entered the İSO 500 list and rose to the top 200. Kutes Madencilik accounted for about a third of the production at the mine sites. Furthermore, Kutmangil established Kut Orman, Turkey’s first private forestry company under the Kutman Group, with the purpose of reforesting dormant lignite mining sites and rehabilitating areas associated with mining activities. Through the planting of 5 million trees across 12,000 acres of dormant mining land, a groundbreaking ecological restoration project was accomplished. This effort, one of the world’s largest, achieved a balanced environment featuring lakes and grasslands.

Drawing from his background in the iron trade, Kutmangil established Kutes Döküm in 1990, and the production at these facilities commenced in 1992. In 1993, he became the youngest executive in the industry by assuming control of the Günaydın Press Group encompassing daily national newspapers such as Günaydın and Tan, along with Günaydın FM radio.

Regrettably, Mehmet Bekir Kutmangil passed away at a young age on May 23, 1995. His wife, Nebahat Kutmangil, along with their daughter Farah Kutmangil and son Ali Esat Kutmangil, still uphold the legacy of Mehmet Bekir Kutmangil to this day.