13.11.2024
The 60th anniversary of Lucien Arkas’ business journey was celebrated at the Lucien Arkas Vineyard in Torbali, Izmir. After watching a short film about Lucien Arkas’ groundbreaking firsts he introduced to various sectors and pioneering initiatives in Türkiye as of 1964, the guests had the opportunity to listen to a heartfelt interview between Lucien Arkas and the veteran journalist Ertugrul Ozkok.
Lucien Arkas, Chairman of Arkas Holding, celebrated his 60th year in business in Izmir with family members and Arkas executives. Known for his contributions to Turkish foreign trade and to Izmir, to which he is affectionately attached, in the fields of education, arts, sports, the environment, and the economy, Lucien Arkas has brought new momentum to not only the maritime industry but also all the sectors he enters.
In his speech at the ceremony, he said: “For me, 60 years in business life is not long, it has passed quickly. These 60 years taught me the value of people, love and understanding, and that success is not possible without people. One cannot be a leader without dreaming. To turn a dream into reality, you must have a goal. Then you turn the dream into a goal, and you focus on the goal. You cannot succeed alone; you enter the race with people who will run by your side. That’s why this celebration is not just for me, it’s for all of us. I could not have done it alone.”
At the event, a short film was shown, featuring the story of Lucien Arkas’ journey, which started when he took over the business at the age of 19 and has built the “Future of Arkas” with his achievements over time. Following the film, the guests had the chance to watch the interview between journalist and academic Ertugrul Ozkok and Lucien Arkas.
It was 1964 and Lucien Arkas was only 19 years old when he took over the family business that had been part of Izmir’s trade scene for 3 centuries. In 1972, he opened the Istanbul office of Arkas, showing the courage to keep his headquarters in Izmir contrary to other companies who moved their headquarters to Istanbul. In 1978, he introduced container transportation to Türkiye, which he calls a “milestone” in his career, becoming the first to make this revolutionary move, marking a significant advancement for Türkiye’s foreign trade and maritime industry.
In 1979, he founded Arkas Shipping and Transport to provide agency services. Although maritime transport was the first link in the integrated service chain he would later establish, he also launched road transportation services in the late 1980s, laying the foundation for Arkas Logistics. In 1996, Lucien Arkas initiated the first Turkish-flagged container transportation in the private sector with the founding of a shipping company under the name “Emes”. Today, this company, known as “Arkas Line”, ranks 34th on the World Shipowners List.
During the years when long waiting times at ports had, in his own words, turned into a kind of gangrene, he rolled up his sleeves for port operations, anticipating the solution to the problem. Marport, the first private container terminal in Istanbul, made the city take a breath of fresh air again and brought Türkiye a new momentum. Believing that linking Anatolian cities to ports by rail would encourage local production, he started railway transportation with his own wagons for the first time in Türkiye in 2003. In 2008, he achieved another first by establishing AutoPort, Türkiye’s first specialized automotive terminal. Now, Railport, which will be a new Intermodal Logistics Terminal in the East-West trade corridor, is counting down to its launch.
Believing that education shapes the future of Arkas, he extended his commitment to growth in society. Declaring, “We need to raise young, educated people with a global outlook,” he founded the Piri Reis Schools under the Orion Education Foundation, the Private Italian Kindergarten and Elementary School, and Arkas Narlıdere Vocational and Technical High School.
Arkas Sports Club, founded by Lucien Arkas, shares this vision by training over 8,000 professional athletes who have competed nationally and in Europe, nurturing young talents in Izmir’s sports schools and contributing to Turkish sports. In 2009, they became the first Turkish volleyball team to bring the Men’s GM Capital Challenge Cup to our country.
Beyond his business achievements, Lucien Arkas is known for his passion for art, culture, and education. As a dedicated patron and protector of the arts, he worked tirelessly to share the Arkas Collection with the people of Izmir. Deeply committed to his beloved Izmir, in time, he established Arkas Art Center; Arkas Maritime History Center; Arkas Art Urla; Arkas Art Bornova, and Arkas Art Alaçatı, which is the first art center of Cesme, in order to create a vibrant city filled with art and culture.
In addition to its core business lines of maritime transport, port operations and logistics services, today Arkas operates in various sectors ranging from automotive, insurance services, and bunkering, to information systems and tourism. Arkas is an Izmir-based international holding headquartered in Türkiye, with 66 companies in 36 countries, employing 8,300 personnel in a geography spanning from North Africa and Western Europe to the Southern Mediterranean.
The strong vision of Arkas will continue to add value to Izmir and Türkiye with new projects and investments.
– First Container Transportation – 1978
– First Container Shipment from Türkiye – 1978
– First Turkish-flagged container transportation in the private sector in Türkiye – 1996
– First private container terminal, Marport, in Istanbul – 2001
– First private rail transportation company in Türkiye – 2003
– First automotive terminal, Autoport, in Türkiye – 2008
– Arkas Spor, Türkiye’s First Men’s Volleyball GM Capital Champion in Europe – 2009
– Arkas Logistics loaded the first freight train from Türkiye on the Iron Silk Road (Baku, Tbilisi, Kars) – 2018
– Arkas Bunker carried out the first BioFuel Supply in the Turkish Maritime Sector and Arkas Line became the first company to use BioFuel in the Turkish Maritime Industry – 2024
– Railport, the first intermodal logistics terminal project in Türkiye – 2025
