Mehmet Nazif Günal (born 1948) is a Turkish

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The ...

property developer who is the founder and sole owner of

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** C ...

Mapa Group Mapa Group is a Turkish conglomerate founded by Mehmet Nazif Günal. They were formerly named MNG Group of Companies () and MNG Şirketler Grubu Holding A.Ş. is the holding company of the group. History Günal Construction, the first co ...

, which he controls through a wholly owned holding company.

Biography

Günal was born in 1948. He worked as a construction worker from 1962 to 1965, and as a subcontractor in construction until 1971. In 1971 he graduated from the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The university emphasizes research and education in engineering a ...

in Ankara, with a master's degree in civil engineering. Günal founded the

in 1976 (originally Gunal Construction Trade and Industry Co. Inc.), and has been managing it ever since. The group is active in construction, tourism and transport, and includes

MNG Airlines MNG Airlines is a Turkish cargo airline headquartered in Istanbul based at Istanbul Airport. History The airline was established by Mehmet Nazif Günal in 1997 and started operations on 30 November 1997. Transatlantic services began in 1998 with ...

and had its own TV station, TV8. In the 1980s, the company grew from a medium-sized construction company focused on housing, by Günal quickly diversifying the company. The MNG Group is now active in

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

, the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

. With his group he is active in Algeria, the Ivory Coast, in Georgia, Cameroon, Libya, Romania, Saudi Arabia and in the United Arab Emirates. Günal owns ten 5-star hotels, the WoW (World of Wonders) Kremlin Palace and the WoW Topkapi Palace, in Antalya, are "architecturally exact replicas" of the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

and Topkapi palaces. He is a member of the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic pro ...

's board of directors. Günal is a former executive of the Fenerbahçe S.K. football club. In July 2015, he bought the majority shares in Swiss football club

FC Wil FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss second tier since regaining promotion ...

. On 8 February 2017, it was announced that Turkish investors had suddenly pulled out of financing FC Wil. In November it was announced at the club's general meeting that Günal and the investors had invested over 20 million Swiss francs in the club in the one and a half years since buying the majority shares, with a loss of CHF 11 million.

Controversies

Günal is a controversial figure due to his perceived closeness with Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

, who he once describes as a "second Ataturk". The newspaper ''

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circula ...

'' reported inconsistencies in Günal's income in 2015, as he did not appear on the government's list of largest taxpayers.

Personal life

Günal is married, with three children, and lives in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey. His son Murathan Doruk Günal is also an engineer and is Vice President of the MNG Group, and served as president of FC Wils.Murathan Doruk Günal (28): So heisst der neue Wil-Präsident
auf Blick.ch, retrieved 3 September 2015.FC Wil wird neu von einem Türken geführt
auf sport-fan.ch, retrieved 3 September 2015., auf infowilplus.ch, retrieved 3 September 2015.Murathan Doruk Günal ist neuer Wil-Präsident
auf toponline.ch, retrieved 3 September 2015. Günal's daughter Merve is an engineer who also works for the MNG group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Günal, Mehmet Nazif 1948 births Living people Turkish billionaires 20th-century Turkish businesspeople 21st-century Turkish businesspeople