Board of Directors

Dr. İsmail İlhan Hatipoğlu
Chairman of Board of Directors

Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Dr. İsmail İlhan Hatipoğlu was born in Karaman in 1968. He graduated from Karaman High School in 1984 and from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Finance in 1988. By passing the competitive exam in 1989, he started his career at the Ministry of Finance as an Intern Revenue Controller. He was appointed as Revenue Controller in 1992 and as Chief Revenue Controller in 2000. He conducted research on the EU Tax System in UK between May and December 1997.

Deputy Minister Dr. Hatipoğlu served as the Head of Department of the General Directorate of Revenue in 2003, Head of Department of Revenue Administration in 2005, and Deputy Head of Revenue Administration in 2007, respectively. He was subsequently appointed as General Director of Budget and Financial Control in 2009. Between 2016 and 2018, he served as Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance. After 2018, he worked as Ministry Consultant and Chief Tax Inspector.

During his duties at the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Hatipoğlu served as the Chairman of the Internal Audit Coordination Board between 2009 and 2019, as a Member of the State Support Monitoring and Supervision Board between 2010 and 2018, and as the Second Chairman of the latter after 2015.

He served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Turkish Maritime Enterprises between 2009 and 2010, and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors between 2010 and 2016. In addition, Mr. Hatipoğlu served as a member of the AVEA Audit Board, representing the Treasury, between 2014 and 2015.

Dr. Hatipoğlu served as the co-chair of the Tax and Incentives Committee of the Investment Environment Improvement Coordination Board between 2016 and 2018, and he served as the Chairman of the Technical Committee which was established upon the International Agreement between the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Dr. Hatipoğlu served as a Board Member of Ankara University Teknokent between 2019 and 2020. Mr. Hatipoğlu, who took position as a General Manager in the private sector for a short time, still continues to serve as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Athletics Federation, which he has held since 2012.

Dr. Hatipoğlu has also been teaching "Public Financial Management" and "Risk Management and Implementations" courses in the Internal Audit and Internal Control Master's Program at Social Sciences Institute of Ankara University since 2015. In the 2019 Spring semester, he taught the 'Public Financial Management and Control' course in the Audit and Risk Management Master's Program within Ankara Social Sciences University.

Mr. Hatipoğlu, who completed his master's degree in 2019 at Ankara University Social Sciences Institute, Department of Business Administration, completed his PhD studies, which he started in 2019, at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Department of Finance, in 2023.

Dr. Hatipoğlu, who was appointed as Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance with the approval of our President on June 22, 2023, is married and has two children; and speaks English fluently.

Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan
Vice Chairman of Board of Directors

Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan was born in İstanbul in 1977. He received his Bachelor degree from the Electronics Engineering Department of İstanbul University Faculty of Engineering; Faculty of Law of Bahçeşehir University and Diplomatic Studies of Oxford University - St Antony’s School. In addition to these educations, he completed his Master’s Degree at Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Communications Engineering Department of Technical University of Munich and at Biomedical Engineering Department of İstanbul University Institute of Science and Technology. Following his Master’s Degree, Sayan completed his PhD on Biomedical Engineering at the İstanbul University.

Starting his career in İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 1995, Mr. Sayan worked in private companies in Türkiye, Germany and USA in the fields of chip manufacturing, cell phone design and R&D after receiving his Bachelor’s Degree. He carried out studies in entrepreneurship by working under the initiative of Silicon Valley and he gave lectures on Information Law and New Trends in Informatics in many universities in Türkiye and Germany. Sayan has given many lectures in conferences about research subjects and he has many articles published in scientific journals.

Sayan served as the Prime Ministry Counsellor and Chief Counsellor from 2007 to 2014 and in January 2014, he was appointed as a board member of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority. From August 2015 to July 2018, he served as Chairman of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority. Sayan has been assigning as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure on July 21, 2018. Sayan is married and father of 3 children who speaks English, German and French.

Yiğit Bulut
Independent Member of Board of Directors

Chief Advisor of President, Economist, Financial Analyst, Banker, Journalist, Columnist. He worked as economy commentator in Kanal 6, Kanal E and CNN Türk and columnist in Radikal, Vatan, Referans and HaberTürk. Bulut who producer and the presenter of Parametre and Finans Analiz TV programs, worked as a lecturer in Doğuş University for a period of time. Between 2009 and 2012, he was the Chief Production Director of HaberTürk TV, economy commentator in Bloomberg TR and columnist in HaberTürk Newspaper. Between 2012 and 2013, he was the Chief Production Director of 24 TV and columnist in Star Newspaper. He continued to present the TV discussion program “Sansürsüz” in 24 TV, transferring from HaberTürk TV. He has served as the Prime Minister’s Chief Advisor between July, 2013 and August 2014 and has been serving as Chief Advisor of President since August 2014. Bulut who graduated from Galatasaray High School and Bilkent University, Faculty of Banking and Finance, and took his master’s degree in Sorbonne University. Yiğit Bulut speaks English and French.

Yunus Arıncı
Member of Board of Directors

Yunus Arıncı was born in 1975 in Kumru district of Ordu province. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education in Ordu/Kumru. He graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Public Administration and also studied Sociology at Anadolu University as a second academic programme. He started his professional career as an Assistant Inspector at the Prime Ministry in 1997 and was promoted to Inspector in 2000 and Chief Inspector in 2007. In 2007, he served as the head of department at the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye for one year. On 14 October 2009, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Prime Ministry Inspection Board. Since 13 July 2015, he has served as the Presidential State Supervisory Board Chairman.

He served as a member of the Audit Board at Vakıfbank, as a member of the Board of Directors at Erdemir and as chairman of the corporate governance committee at Erdemir. He was elected as a member of the Board of Directors and deputy chairman at the general assembly meeting of Borsa Istanbul held on 31 October 2016. He represented Türkiye in many international meetings, led many national and international projects, and conducted important research. He served at the IMF representing our country.

Arıncı completed his master's degree in Public Administration programme at Indiana University in 2009 and received his PhD degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University.

Yunus Arıncı speaks English. He is married and has three children.

Deniz Yılmaz
Member of Board of Directors

Deniz Yılmaz was born in Bursa in 1980. Mr. Yılmaz graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Public Administration in 2001 and completed his master's degree in Economics at North Carolina State University in the USA between 2010 and 2012. He continues his PhD studies in the field of Banking.

Deniz Yılmaz started his career as a Treasury Controller at the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Treasury in 2002. He then served as Internal Auditor at the Undersecretariat of Treasury, Head of Department at the General Directorate of Public Capital Institutions and Enterprises, Assistant General Manager of Public Capital Institutions and Enterprises and Assistant General Manager of Financial Markets and Foreign Exchange at the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

He also served as a Member of the Supervisory Board of Ziraat Bank, Chairman and Member of the Audit Committee of the ECO Trade and Development Bank, Member of the Investment Committee of the Turkish Growth and Innovation Fund, and Member of the Board of Directors of İhracatı Geliştirme A.Ş.

He is currently serving as the General Manager of Financial Markets and Foreign Exchange at the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

Deniz Yılmaz is married with 2 children and speaks English.

Enver İskurt
Independent Member of Board of Directors

Enver İskurt was born in 1966 in Trabzon. İskurt graduated from Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Construction. Iskurt, who started working as a Survey Team Engineer at the General Directorate of Highways, Van 11th Regional Directorate in 1990, worked as a control engineer, control chief and chief engineer respectively in the regions. After successfully carrying out his duties as the Director of the Highways Bridges Branch and the Head of the Highways Department (Head of the Department of Operations) in the General Directorate of Highways, Enver İskurt assumed the position of the Head of the Inspection Board. He is carrying out the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure duty. Enver İskurt is married and father of 2.

Ümit Önal
Member of Board of Directors

Ümit Önal, a graduate of Istanbul University Faculty of Communication, started his professional life in media and communication sector. He joined Turkuvaz Media Group in 2007 and served as the General Manager of ATV, Advertising Group President and Executive Board Member, respectively, until 2015. After being appointed as the Board Member and CEO of Digitürk in 2015, he managed Digiturk's sales process to BeIN Media Group. Önal joined Türk Telekom family as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Sales and Customer Services at the end of 2016, and in December 2018, he was appointed as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Marketing and Customer Services, and in August 2019, he was appointed as the CEO of the company. Having more than 20 years of experience in the media and communication sector, Önal has contributed significantly to the process of radical change in the Turkish media, and he continues to lead the digital and technological transformation of Türkiye in Türk Telekom.

Throughout his career, Ümit Önal has actively taken positions in national and international associations. Önal served as the Chairman of the Board of Mobile Telecommunication Operators Association (m-TOD) in 2020; he is still actively Chairman of TV Monitoring and Research Committee (TİAK A.Ş.); Board Member at Advertisers Association (RVD), member to Foreign Investors Association (YASED), Board Member at Yıldız Teknopark of Yıldız Technical University and US Business Council Member of Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK); and he represents Türk Telekom at Association of TV Broadcasters (TVYD).

Önal joined the Türk Telekom family as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Sales and Customer Services at the end of 2016, and was appointed as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Marketing and Customer Services in December 2018. In August 2019, Ümit Önal was appointed as the CEO of the company and has been serving as a member of the Türk Telekom Board of Directors since March 2022.

Selim Dursun
Independent Member of Board of Directors

Selim Dursun was born in İstanbul in 1957. He was graduated from Mechanical Engineering Department of Istanbul Yıldız Technical University in 1980. He worked in the private sector as Mechanical Engineer and served in executive positions between the years of 1980-2002. He served as Advisor to Minister in the Ministry of Transport between 2003-2005, as Executive Assistant of Ministry of Transport between 2005-2011, as General Manager and Chairman in TÜDEMSAŞ between 2011-2012 and as Advisor to the Minister in Ministry of Transport between the years of 2012-2015. He was elected as a Member of Parliament from Sivas province in the 25th and 26th Parliaments of Türkiye. In the same period, he worked as the Chair of Peru Friendship Group of Parliament of the Republic of Türkiye. He carried out various social activities in Non-Governmental Organizations as chairman, manager and member. He served as a Board Member of the Taekwondo Federation between 2004-2007, as the Chairman of Transportation Sports Club Association between 2006-2015 and as the president of Sivas Demirspor Club between the years of 2011-2012. He has been working as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Türkiye since July 2018. Selim Dursun is married and father of 4.

Mehmet Reşat Bahçeevli
Member of Board of Directors

Mehmet Reşat Bahçeevli was born in 1951 in Konya. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Istanbul University in 1973. While practicing as an independent lawyer, he temporarily left the profession, later rejoining when the Istanbul Bar Association No. 2 was established.

In 1983, he undertook the role of founding district chairman of the Welfare Party in Beykoz. He was a candidate for Beykoz Mayor in the 1984 local elections.

 In 1991, he was elected to the Istanbul Provincial Board of the Welfare Party. In 1992, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of Istanbul responsible for elections.

 In the 1994 local elections, he led the election campaign for Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN, then a candidate. He was elected Chairman of the Istanbul Provincial General Assembly Group in the 1994 local elections.

He pursued parliamentary candidacy for the Istanbul 1st Region in the 1987, 1991, and 1995 elections with the Welfare Party. He also pursued parliamentary candidacy for the Istanbul 1st Region in the 1999-2004 elections.

Between 1999 and 2004, he served as a member of the Beykoz Municipal Council with the Virtue Party and AK Party.

The term of office of the members of the Board of Directors is 3 years.​