Who is Salih Zeki Avcı? Medef’s founder and today’s CEO
Quick answer: The name Salih Zeki Avcı stands for two generations at once in the history of Medef Defence. The founder of the brand, the late Salih Zeki Avcı, was a well-known hunter who began producing AVCI hunting cartridges in the Cypriot city of Mağusa (Famagusta) in 1981. The chief executive who runs the company today carries the same name and is, in the company’s account, the third generation of the family. This file separates the two figures, and the corporate bridge between them, using public sources.
The founder: a hunting cartridge brand from Mağusa
The brand’s archived corporate history tells the founding this way: AVCI cartridges were established in 1981 in Mağusa “by the late Salih Zeki AVCI, one of the well-known hunters of Cyprus, with his own means and capital,” and production started under the limited raw material conditions of the period. Over time the brand became a name sought out by Turkish Cypriot hunters; the same text also records that the founder prepared young shooters for national and international competitions.
The founder’s hunting background carried over into product names: the brand’s best-selling shotshell line, Selonez, takes its name from the well-known hunting ground at Dipkarpaz where the founder also hunted. The company says it holds a “Salih Zeki AVCI” shooting tournament every year in his memory. The founder’s date of death is not officially disclosed; archive sources use the word “late” from 2017 onward.
Today’s chief executive: same name, third generation
The title of the person running the company today appears in two independent publications. In December 2022, announcing the appointment of a sales manager at Venom USA, the US trade bulletin The Outdoor Wire referred to the company’s principal as “CEO and President Salih Avci” and quoted him directly. In January 2023 the Georgia local magazine Pooler Magazine published a profile describing Avcı as a “third-generation entrepreneur” bringing manufacturing investment to the Savannah area; according to the report, the facility opened in March 2023 with a target of 50 jobs within three years.
The company’s own channels point the same way: a post on its official Facebook account in 2025 described attendance at the opening ceremony of TEKNOFEST, Turkey’s aerospace and technology festival, using the phrase “our CEO Mr Salih Zeki AVCI.” The degree of the family tie between the founder and the current chief executive (whether grandfather and grandson) has not been confirmed by any official document; company texts use the phrase “the will and innovation of the third generation.” For that reason the relationship is presented here as the company’s own account.
Details reported by Pooler Magazine also shed light on management’s investment reasoning. According to the magazine, three grounds stood out in the choice of the US site: the cost of shipping from Turkey to the United States, the American buyer’s preference for domestically manufactured ammunition, and the access that the Port of Savannah and Georgia’s logistics network give to both the domestic and the global market. The same report said the hiring plan covered engineering, machine operator, sales and administrative positions. That the surname “Avcı” means hunter in Turkish, matching the family trade, was among the details carried in the article.
What is known and unknown about management
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Founder | The late Salih Zeki Avcı (1981, Mağusa) — archived corporate history |
| Chief executive | Salih Zeki Avcı — The Outdoor Wire (2022), Pooler Magazine (2023), company channels (2025) |
| Board members | Not officially disclosed. |
| Ownership structure | Single-shareholder joint-stock company in the trade registry; the shareholder’s name is not disclosed |
| Other officer named publicly | Tahir Berk Öğütçü — business development specialist (Defensehere, 2025) |
The chief executive’s public visibility is largely confined to company channels: a personal LinkedIn profile linked to MEDEF DEFENCE exists, but no extensive press interview was found in the sources reviewed. Company posts show him taking part in person at fairs and ceremonies, including the TEKNOFEST 2025 opening and badge presentations during official delegation visits.
From founder to chief executive: the corporate bridge
The bridge between the two generations can be seen in the steps toward incorporation. The family business moved from workshop production in Cyprus to the structure of Medef Savunma Sanayi ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş., founded in Ankara in 2017, with a trade registry entry dated September 24, 2019. Under the current management the company set up MEDEF USA in 2021, opened a loading facility near Savannah in 2023 and announced the MEDEF Europe structure in 2025. Over the same period the product range widened from shotshells to pistol and rifle cartridges, and from primers to case and bullet components.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Medef Defence?
The brand was founded by the late Salih Zeki Avcı, who began production in Mağusa in 1981; the joint-stock structure was set up later in Ankara.
Who is the chief executive of Medef Defence?
According to independent publications and company channels, Salih Zeki Avcı, who carries the same name as the founder.
Are the founder and the chief executive the same person?
No. Archive texts use the word “late” for the founder; the current chief executive is, in the company’s account, a third-generation family member.
Who owns the company?
The trade registry shows a single-shareholder joint-stock company; the shareholder’s name is not officially disclosed.
What is the Salih Zeki AVCI tournament?
It is an annual shooting event held in the founder’s memory that brings together young and experienced hunters.
Sources and verification note
- http://web.archive.org/web/20170929182920/http://avci-cartridges.com/tr/avci-catridges-tarihce.html — the founder and the 1981 founding in Mağusa (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- http://web.archive.org/web/20191027045506/http://avci-cartridges.com/tr/avci-catridges-selonez.html — Selonez and the Dipkarpaz link (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- https://theoutdoorwire.com/releases/1a8abe8f-e44e-4d9b-ad74-f9ffa0113122/ — “CEO and President Salih Avci” (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- https://www.poolermagazine.com/2023/01/05/422940/continuing-a-legacy-a-third-generation-entrepreneur-is-bringing-manufacturing-to-chatham-county — third-generation entrepreneur profile (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- https://www.facebook.com/medef.defence/ — “our CEO Mr Salih Zeki AVCI” posts (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
- https://www.medefence.net/about-us/ — third-generation account and tournament information (Accessed: August 12, 2026)
The distinction between founder and chief executive was drawn by comparing the word “late” in archive texts with references to the chief executive in current publications. Details that could not be verified, such as the degree of the family tie and the date of death, were left open; no biographical data was estimated.
