Management

Levent Kafkaslı graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at Istanbul Technical University in 1987 and later completed his master’s degree in Construction Management at Istanbul University.

Kafkaslı began his professional career in 1990 as a field engineer at Tekfen Construction and Installation Co., Inc.’s Sinanoba construction site. He managed major projects in Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the Caspian Region. From 2013 to 2019, he served as President of Tekfen Construction. Between 2019 and 2022, he held senior executive positions at Tekfen Holding, including Vice President of the Contracting Group.

Kafkaslı was elected to the Board of Directors of GAP İnşaat A.Ş. in 2022 and appointed CEO in 2023, while continuing to serve as a Board Member.

Kafkaslı also serves on the Board of Directors of the Employers’ Association of Turkish Construction Industries (İNTES), contributing to the development of Türkiye’s construction sector and the association’s activities. He previously served as a Board Member of the International Pipe Line and Offshore Contractors Association (IPLOCA).

As of August 10, 2026, he was appointed President (CEO) of Tekfen Group Companies.

Born in 1950 in Geylan, Kosovo (former Yugoslavia), Cahit Oklap graduated from Denizli High School and completed his bachelor’s degree in Middle East Technical University’s (METU) Chemical Engineering Department in 1974 and his master’s degree in METU’s Industrial Engineering Department in 1979. After working as a Research Assistant at METU during his studies, he began his professional career as a Planning Engineer at PETKİM’s Aliağa Complex in September 1979.

He joined Tekfen Construction in September 1983 to represent the company in joint ventures and consortiums with foreign companies for pipeline and highway projects. In 1995, he was appointed the General Manager of Hallesche Mitteldeutsche Bau AG (HMB), Tekfen Holding’s subsidiary in Germany. In 2008, he became the Assistant General Manager of Tekfen Construction in charge of operations in Kazakhstan and Germany. Between 2012 and 2016, Oklap served as Tekfen Construction’s Assistant General Manager in charge of Sulphuric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, and NPK Unit Construction Project at the Toros Agri-Industry Group’s Samsun Production Facility.

Between 2016 and 2017, Oklap worked as the Vice President in charge of Strategy, Business Development, and Investments at Tekfen Holding and from 2017 to March 2019, as a Board Member, Vice Chairman, and Chairman of Tekfen Construction, Tekfen Engineering, Tekfen Manufacturing, Gate Construction, Azfen, and Toros Agri. In March 2019, Oklap was appointed the President of Tekfen Group Companies. In March 2021, he became the Chairman of Tekfen Holding’s Executive Board.  Between March 2022 and April 2023, he served as a member of Tekfen Holding’s Board of Directors.

After 3 years of an interval since August 2026, he has been serving as Executive President, Contracting Group at Tekfen Holding.

Oklap is fluent in English, Italian, German, Albanian, and Serbian.

Born in 1975, Nahit Akarkarasu graduated from Eskişehir Anatolian High School in 1993 and from the Faculty of Law at Dokuz Eylül University in 1997. He completed his Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees at Yeditepe University in 2005 and at Columbia University in 2007. His thesis, titled “Recommendations for Enhancing Internal Audit and Audit Committees in Publicly Held Companies” was published by the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (CMB) in 2000.

He began his career as an Assistant Specialist at the CMB. He served as a Specialist between 2001 and 2007, and as Deputy Head of the Inspection Department between 2007 and 2009.

He joined Tekfen Holding in 2009 as Legal Counsel, Akarkarasu currently serves as Director of Group Companies responsible for Legal Affairs and as of 2024, he has held the position of Chief Legal Counsel of Tekfen Contracting Group. In addition, In addition, he has served within various Tekfen Group Companies as Chairman of the Board, Vice Chairman of the Board, Member of the Board of Directors.