Arıkan had begun his career at Petkimspor, an amateur team based in western Turkish city of İzmir. Then he joined Kocaelispor in 2001. During his Kocaeli era he played both for senior and youth teams for almost three seasons until he began to play regularly as the number one keeper.

Arıkan joined Ankaraspor in 2006. He was called up to the The Turkish National Team squad, for the very first time, during a friendly game, after he had shown an impressive performance for Ankaraspor, by saving two penalties in a 1–1 draw against Galatasaray on the very first match day in 2006/07 Season. Hakan finished that season off with conceding 27 goals in 26 matches.