The company's name was created from the first two letters of the Turkish words for procurement, research and set up of complete facilities, which represent Alarko's activities.

Alarko is incorporated as a limited partnership to operate in the fields of heating, air-conditioning and cooling. The company started out with a capital of TL 20,000 and two shareholders, namely the founders İshak Alaton and Üzeyir Garih, in a single room of Vefai Han on Bankalar Caddesi, Istanbul.

Focusing on engineering, Alarko started to work on solutions for industrial problems related to thermodynamics. An engineering team of 10 was formed to built sophisticated custom made air-conditioning solutions for such institutions as the Central Bank Banknote Printing-House and the Additional Weaving Complex for Sümerbank Malatya.

Alarko gains momentum and is corporated as “Alarko Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.” with a capital of TL 3,500,000. Alarko was the first Turkish company to actualize the idea of an Industrial Product Catalogue.

Alarko started contracting activities for complete industrial facilities with more than 150 engineers and over 400 technicians and workers, using domestic resources.

Alarko Land Development Group started its first major operations with the undertaking of Maslak Business Center Development Project.

Alarko is incorporated as a holding company, turns to heavy industry and starts building turn-key complete industrial facilities. The company engages in the manufacturing of industrial processing equipment (ovens, conveyors, pumps, burners, tables, cooling - air-conditioning), food industry, tourism, housing and the service sector.

All contracting services are gathered under ALARKO CONTRACTING GROUP.

Alarko Future's Club (A.I.K.) was established to educate and train the valuable managers of the future.

In Iran, It manufactures LPG spherical tanks for the National Iranian Gas Company.

Alarko established the Alarko Education & Culture Foundation to contribute to the development of education and culture in Turkey.

Alarko Contracting Group undertook the construction of the Istanbul Natural Gas Distribution Network, which is the world's largest urban distribution work carried out at one time.

Alarko Contracting Group started its operations in Russia and CIS member states. Major infrastructure, construction and industrial plant works were completed in Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Alarko Contracting Group is building Turkey's first Biological Treatment Plant in Tuzla, İstanbul.

Foundation was laid for Alkent Istanbul 2000, one of Alarko's best-known projects.

Alarko Contracting Group has started the Ankara-Eskişehir high speed train project with TCDD.

Dr. Üzeyir Garih, who always rested his views on life and business on the principles of compassion, fairness and moderation, passed away. His views, contribution and the values that he made an integral part of Alarko will never be forgotten. Our founder is greatly missed.

Alarko Contracting Group undertook the crude oil pipeline project, which is planned to deliver 1 million barrels of oil per day.

Since 2004, Alarko Contracting Group has been among the largest contractors in the ‘World's 250 Largest International Contractors’ list prepared by ENR (Engineering News Record), the most prestigious magazine of the international construction industry, which has been published since 1918, based on the revenues of contracting companies outside the countries where their headquarters are located. 

Alarko Contracting Group has received the ‘Overseas Contracting Services Achievement Award’ given by the Turkish Contractors Association (TCA) on the basis of the ‘250 Largest International Contracting Companies’ list published by ENR since 2007, and Alarko Contracting Group has received the award every year without interruption between 2007 and 2024.

The construciton of the 3rd phase of the Istanbul Metro was initiated by   Alarko Contracting Group.

Alarko Contracting Group signed an agreement upon being awarded a 156 million Euro contract for light rail systems by Samsun Metropolitan Municipality.

Alarko completed the construction of the rail system in 1.5 years in cooperation with Antalya Metropolitan Municipality.

Construction and improvement works were started for the M1, M2, M3 and M4 lines of the Ankara metro in cooperation with Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.

Alarko completed the project which was developed to serve the increasing number of passengers in Kiev, Ukraine, and consisted of construction of terminal buildings, aprons, viaducts and roads.

Two major brands, Alarko Holding and Bahceşehir University jointly set up the Alarko BAU MBA. This pioneering cooperation of academia and the private sector to jointly invest in advancing professional eduction has been envisioned for the first time in Turkey.

The metro line construction started by Alarko Contracting Group.

Our Honorary Chairman İshak Alaton, who in addition to being a successful industrialist always created a difference with his visionary stance and honesty, has left us. We will always cherish his memory.

Alarko Contracting Group completed the construction of Karakuz Hydroelectric Power Plant.

The 5th and last phase of the Taldykol Lake Rehabilitation and Waste Water Treatment Plant was completed as of the end of October 2017. With the completion of the project , the waste water treatment plant was brought up to the UNESCO standards and one that can answer the requirements of a modern capital.

The Great Almaty Ring Road Project, which is a part of the West China - West Europe international motorway project, is the first major public-private partnership project of Kazakhstan. Standing out as the largest private sector infrastructure investment project outside the oil and gas sector, the Great Almaty Ring Road project will ease the burden on the city's transport routes and serve approximately 2,000,000 people.

Following the contract signature on March 11, 2019 for the Romania - Bucharest Ring Road Project, the construction of which was undertaken by our Contracting Group, the work began with the official start order given by the Employer Romanian National Roads and Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR) on April 10, 2019.

Upon completion of the provisional acceptance, the first section of the Kabataş-Mecidiyeköy-Mahmutbey metro, the first driverless metro on the European side, undertaken by Alarko Contracting Group, was opened for commercial operation on October 28, 2020.

With a ceremony on March 8, 2022, the agreement for the construction of the Metro Connection to Henri Coanda International Airport, Lot 1.1 in Bucharest, Romania, was signed and became operative.

The Great Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD), 30 kilometers from Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, has been put into service, with Alarko Contracting Group as a consortium member. The 66-kilometer Greater Almaty Ring Road, the first large-scale Build-Operate-Transfer project in Kazakhstan, which was commissioned on June 25, 2023, will serve 2 million people.

Alarko Holding contributes to a better future for all through responsible investment principles mobilizes its power for transformation in this field, and has released the 2022 Sustainability Report, which details the group's sustainability actions and ambitions.

All of our Lot 1 and Lot 2 Ring Road Projects, which we undertook in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, have been opened to traffic. A total of 36 kilometres of international ring road has strengthened the transport infrastructure in the region, providing drivers with a more efficient road network.