Kazım Demirel

Kazım Demirel, the founder of Demireller Group companies, was born in 1930 as the fourth child of a family with a total of 12 children in the village of Hüyükburun, in the Ayrancı District, which was then part of Konya-Ereğli.

During a time when resources and mechanization in agriculture were limited, and labor was abundant, cheap, and highly necessary, his childhood, like that of every village child, was spent helping his family with farming and livestock. Living conditions in the village only allowed him to complete primary school. After his primary school education in Ayrancı, he was unable to continue his education.

He got married in 1948 and subsequently went into the military. Both before and after his military service, his youth years were spent struggling with the economic hardships caused by World War II in the country and striving to contribute to the family economy. However, the difficulties of village and farming life did not discourage him, and he sought opportunities to move out of the village. This opportunity came in the form of the construction of the Ayrancı dam, which brought prosperity to the region at that time, and the buying and selling of its scrap materials. Together with his partner, he not only traded these scraps but also entered a new line of business with the fuel pumps found among the scraps. Between 1958 and 1961, he started his business life by opening fuel stations at three different locations (Ereğli, Ayrancı, Yolçatı) with his brothers.

This period was also a significant turning point in his personal life, as he moved his family life, which he had continued in the village until then, to Ereğli with his brothers in 1958.

In Ereğli, he quickly overcame the challenges he faced with his endless determination, hard work, goodwill, and intelligence, managing to establish himself in the business world in Ereğli and its surroundings. In the following years, he decided to continue alone, continuing his fuel station business with the Ereğli and Yolçatı stations.

After the first child born in the village in 1952, his other five children were born in Ereğli. Although he had only attended primary school, he was determined to make sacrifices to ensure his children received an education. He did everything possible to support their schooling.

A young businessman who had a short school life but developed himself with his intelligence, Ereğli's Kazım Ağa, pushed the boundaries of entrepreneurship, bringing many firsts to his family, his community, and Ereğli.

In his successful business life, he was sometimes known as Kazım Ağa to others, sometimes the pump attendant at his station, and sometimes the driver of his tanker. During the fuel shortages of the 1978-80 period, he ensured Ereğli did not run out of fuel by sourcing fuel at reasonable prices.

In his later years (1978), he made his final business move by purchasing ERSU, the country's leading fruit juice company at the time.

In May 1981, he succumbed to an incurable disease and passed away. His funeral was held on May 7 in Ereğli, leaving behind a wife, six children, and many loved ones.