PARTICIPANTS

The commercial history of the Erkent family, one of the oldest traders and weavers of Balat carpets in Gaziantep, dates back 4 generations. In the 1940s, it started operating in the textile sector, starting with the first generation, by manufacturing rugs on hand looms. In 1961, it expanded its investments in this field by transforming from a textile workshop to a factory, and first a yarn dyeing workshop was established in Istanbul and a weaving workshop in Gaziantep. Balat Mensucat company name was inspired by the BALAT district of Istanbul where it started its operations and the Carpet Factory established in Gaziantep was named BALAT and started operating under this name. In 1964, the company continued its activities as a collective company by making an industrial registry record and in 1983 it was transformed into a joint stock company and in addition to rug manufacturing, it also produced carpets and yarns from time to time.