Thales was first founded by Tahsin Kayayurt, MD; who, in his College Yearbook wrote that his dream was to build an “olive oil factory” in 1960. By 1965, he started to operate his first factory in the Belevi region.

The Kayayurt Family, contributing to the region’s economy, has worked with this mission in mind for years. The family has also had great success in cotton, citrus fruits, peach and livestock industries.

1980s was the decade when the Kayayurt family had a leap in the olive oil business. They founded the Selçuk Cotton Gin and Olive Oil Factory in 1985. They started the continuous system in 1996.  In the years 1996-1997 and 2000 the old cold-pressing system gave way to the new high production continous sytem machines.  The third factory started to operate in Tire in 2002.

The production capacity of Kayayurt, together with the Organic Olive Oil holding an IMO certificate, amounts to 3600 tons per year.  The family has been producing “quality olive oil” from the olives grown in the family-owned olive grove with the trade names Thales, Minoan and Kayayurt.