 Enka was founded in 1957 in Istanbul, Turkey, by 27-year-old Şarık Tara and his brother-in-law, Sadi Gülçelik.Tara and Gülçelik chose Enka as the name of the company from the first syllable of two words, "enişte" and "kayınbirader" meaning "brother-in-law".Gülçelik died in 1980 in a Saudi Arabian airplane crash and Tara became the sole proprietor.