Our story began when Enver Avcı, a graduate of the Village Institutes, retired from the profession he had served for many years — as a teacher and later an administrator — in villages and districts most people still cannot find on a map. He dreamed of moving to Istanbul to change his family's life and to raise enlightened generations through the knowledge he loved. In 1978 he took his first commercial step with a land investment in Istanbul; in 1979, together with two friends, he laid the foundations of one of the tallest residential buildings in his district — and with it, the foundations of Avcıoğlu. When he moved to Istanbul in 1982 with his seven children — four teachers, a civil servant, a doctor and a self-employed professional — the venture became a family story.
Having done what had not been done on that first project opened the way to many others. Enver Avcı's knowledge, and a way of trading built on trust, ethical values and transparency — shaped by a character that earned respect wherever he went — allowed him to write a separate success story in every sector he entered. He qualified as a certified public accountant and opened his own practice; while construction projects continued, he invested in textiles and jewellery with a perspective ahead of his time.
In 1998 he entered politics, and all commercial activity passed to the second generation under the leadership of his son Yalçın Avcı. In 2004 that generation entered the then-emerging insurance sector, obtaining an authorised agency for one of Turkey's most established insurers and holding the largest portfolio in its region for years. In 2009 the group invested in excavation services with a fleet of 10 machines and more than 60 trucks, and delivered over 10 housing and residential complex projects in the developing Esenyurt district.
We lost Enver Avcı in 2013. The most valuable inheritance he left us was not the companies he founded, but the example of a man who stood behind his word and knew his work. As his children and grandchildren, we still try to hold ourselves to that same measure.
Over more than forty years in business we have faced obstacles and periodic hardships shoulder to shoulder as a family. Enver Avcı's teaching — "stay together" — and a changing commercial landscape made institutionalisation unavoidable. In 2018 we brought together our third generation — academics, engineers, lawyers, teachers, accountants and contractors who had held professional management roles across various sectors — under the CHORO Group brand, inspired by the way different perspectives meet like the voices of a chorus, and handed over the management of many of our group companies.
We founded, acquired and restructured brands in the fields where the members of that generation are expert. With a widening circle of partnerships and clients, we began serving some of Turkey's leading organisations. Through projects with civil society and public institutions, we have taken care that the material and moral value we gain from our country returns to it; we continue to support the students of the Enver Avcı Primary School in Göle, Ardahan, which bears our founder's name.
We continue to invest by the same measures that have kept us standing: being trustworthy, working transparently and acting with a plan. We want to carry forward the work that began with a single step in 1978, and to leave a sound structure to those who come after us.
One last thing I would like to say: for us, the most important work is keeping the promises we make. We have always placed our responsibility to our partners, our clients and everyone we work with ahead of other business — and that is how it will remain.