ISTANBUL - When illiterate carpenter Mustafa Boydak Sr., from a village outside of the central Anatolian city of Kayseri, opened his first carpentry workshop in 1957, it was just a way to make a living.

Over the years, the small workshop developed into a furniture company, and from there into an industrial conglomerate operating in eight sectors with 35 companies, among them the most important furniture brands in Turkey.