Corporate Governance
Board of Directors
BURHANEDDİN TANYERİ
Chairman of the Board
He was born in 1953 in Aşkale, Erzurum. He graduated from Erzurum “İmam Hatip” (religious vocational) High School in 1972 and then graduated from the Faculty of Business Administration of Atatürk University in 1978. Between 1978 and 1980, he worked at the Erzurum Regional Presidency of the Agricultural Equipment Institution. He completed his military service as a Reserve Officer between 1980 and 1981 as the Head of the Erzurum Narman Military Branch. Between 1982 and 2005, he served at T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. respectively as Assistant Auditor, Auditor, Chief Auditor, Branch Manager and Regional Director-in-chief Between 2005 and 2010, he served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Halkbank A.Ş. Further, between 2005 and 2021 he served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Halk Finansal Kiralama A.Ş., Halk Sigorta A.Ş., Ziraat Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., Ziraat Bank Azerbaycan ASC, Ziraat Bank Montenegro AD and Vakıf Leasing A.Ş. Since 26.03.2021, he has been serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Member of the Credit Committee of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş.
VEYSİ KAYNAK
Vice President of the Executive Board
He was born in 1962 in Kahramanmaraş. He graduated from Kahramanmaraş “İmam Hatip” (religious vocational) High School in 1981 and from the Faculty of Law of Istanbul University in 1985. He began his professional career as a freelance lawyer as a member of the Kahramanmaraş Bar Association and also lectured at Middle East Technical University (METU) Kahramanmaraş MYO (Vocational School of Higher Education). Between 1989 and 1999, covering two local election periods, he served as a Vice Mayor of the Kahramanmaraş Municipal Council and held positions as Deputy Mayor and Acting Mayor of Kahramanmaraş. Between January 1999 and April 1999, he was elected Mayor of Kahramanmaraş by the Municipal Council. Between 1999 and 2001, he worked as General Coordinator in an International Group of Company. After serving as Deputy Provincial Vice President and Political Legal Affairs of Justice and Development Party in Kahramanmaraş in 2001, he served as AK Party Kahramanmaraş Provincial Presidency between the years of 2002 and 2007 Mr. Kaynak who served as the 23rd Period AK Party Kahramanmaraş MP at the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) in 2007 worked as the Member of TBMM Justice Commission, Member of AK Party Group Board of Directors and Inter-Parliaments of Türkiye - Bahrain Group Chairmanship. On 07.11.2011, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice and served in this role in the 61st and 62nd Governments of the Republic of Türkiye. Between 2012 and 2015, he served as Vice President of the United Nations International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA). He was elected as AK Party Kahramanmaraş Member of Parliament for the 25th and 26th Periods in the General Elections held on 07.06.2015 and 01.11.2015. During the 26th Period, he served as Security and Intelligence Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly as the AK Party Kahramanmaraş Member of Parliament. He was elected as a Member of the AK Party Headquarters Disciplinary Board with the AK Party Ordinary Congress held on 12.09.2015 and as a Member of the Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) at the Extraordinary Congress held on 22.05.2016. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the 65th Government of the Republic of Türkiye established on 24.05.2016. Kaynak is married, has five children and speaks Arabic. As of June 2020, he has been serving as the Vice President of the Executive Board of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. and is a Member of the Bank’s Remuneration Committee.
ALPASLAN ÇAKAR
CEO and the Member of the Board
He graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, and Department of Public Administration. In 1996, Mr. Çakar joined Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. as an Assistant Auditor and worked as Auditor and Department Manager before being appointed as the Regional Director-in-chief in 2005. Çakar, became the Head of Department in September 2007, served as Executive Vice President for Retail Banking, Executive Vice President for Operations, Executive Vice President for Consumer Banking and Executive Vice President for Retail Banking, he served as Executive Vice President for Distribution Channels Management between January 2016-July 2017, Executive Vice President for Payment Systems between July 2017-June 2018, Executive Vice President for Retail Banking-2 between June 2018-March 2021. He served as member of the Board of Directors/member of the Audit Board of Ziraat Finansal Kiralama (Ziraat Leasing), Bileşim Alternatif Dağıtım Kanalları Ödeme Sistemi A.Ş., Ziraat Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş. (Ziraat Life & Pension), Ziraat Sigorta A.Ş. (Ziraat Insurance), Kredi Kayıt Bürosu A.Ş. (Credit Registry Bureau), Ziraat Bank (Moscow) JSC, Turkmen Turkish Joint Stock Commercial Bank, Ziraat Teknoloji A.Ş. (Ziraat Technology), Bankalararası Kart Merkezi A.Ş. (Interbank Card Center), Ziraat Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş. (Ziraat REIT), Ziraat Bank (Moscow) JSC, respectively, between the years of 2003-2019. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Ziraat Bank (Moscow) JSC between 2019-2022. Çakar has been serving as the CEO and member of Board of Ziraat Bank since March 2021. He is the Chairman of the Credit Committee since 26.03.2021. Mr. Çakar also acts as the Chairman of the Turkish Banking Association since 22.04.2021. He is member to the Board of Türkiye Wealth Fund since May, 2021. He has been carrying out the duty as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ziraat Katılım Bank since 01.02.2022.
FATİH AYDOĞAN
Member of the Board
He was born in Istanbul in 1979. He graduated from the Department of Business Administration at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Anadolu University and from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Istanbul University. He completed his Master’s degree (MBA) at Istanbul Bilgi University. Between 2001 and 2009, he worked at Kuveyt Türk Katılım Bank A.Ş. in the operations, retail, financial analysis and corporate banking units. Most recently, he served as Assistant Regional Manager responsible for Corporate Banking and Commercial Banking at the Bank’s European Regional Directorate. Between 2009 and 2023, he worked as General Manager of a real estate company included in the list of real estate valuation firms of the Capital Markets Board and the BRSA. Aydoğan, who specializes in bank guarantees and real estate valuation, holds a Real Estate Valuation Expert License from the Capital Markets Board. He served as a Council Member at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Zeytinburnu Municipality. He worked as Chairman of the Plan and Budget Commission of Zeytinburnu Municipality and 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Assembly, and a member of the Fundamental Rights Commission and Investment and Project Monitoring and Research Commission of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Since August 2023, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. Aydoğan is also a full member of the Bank’s Credit Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. He also holds a Capital Markets Board Credit Rating License. He is married and has two children.
FEYZİ ÇUTUR
Member of the Board
He graduated in 1983 from the Department of Banking and Insurance the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Gazi University. He completed his Master’s degree at the Department of the Social Sciences Business Management of Beykent. He has got Certified Public Accountant certificate from TÜRMOB (Union of Chambers of Certified Public Accountants of Türkiye) and Independent Accountant certificate from POA (Public Oversight Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority). Mr. Çutur worked as Accountant and Finance Manager in various private sector companies between 1977 and 1990. He then served as General Accounting Manager at Bayındır Menkul Kıymetler A.Ş. between 1990 and 1998, and at Eti Yatırım A.Ş. between 1998 and 2010 he held the positions of Financial Affairs and Operations Manager, Assistant General Manager and General Manager, respectively. He also served as a Member and Chair of the Fund Board of several investment funds belonging to Eti Yatırım and Etibank, and in 2006 served as a Member of the Board of Directors at İktisat Yatırım A.Ş. Between July 2011 and March 2012, representing the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, he served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Arap Türk Bankası A.Ş. and A&T Finansal Kiralama A.Ş. Since April 2012, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. He is an Alternate Member of the Bank’s Credit Committee, a Member of the Remuneration Committee, and the Chair of the ISC. In addition, he has served as a Member of the Management/Supervisory Board of ZiraatBank International AG, a Member of the Board of Directors of ZiraatBank BH d.d., a Member of the Board of Directors, Credit Committee and Audit Committee of Ziraat Katılım Bankası A.Ş., and a Member of the Board of Directors of Ziraat Bank (Moscow) JSC.
ABDULLAH ERDEM CANTİMUR
Member of the Board
He completed his undergraduate education at Anadolu University Kütahya School of Administrative Sciences. Cantimur began his professional career as an independent certified public accountant, later served as a lecturer in educational institutions and wrote articles on tax and social security in various newspapers. Cantimur, who was a Founding Member of the AK Party in 2001, was elected as the 22nd Term Kütahya Member of Parliament and served as the Spokesperson of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Public Economic Enterprises Commission. Between 2016 and 2023, he worked as a Certified Public Accountant and Independent Auditor. Cantimur, who led the transformation of Türkiye Emlak Katılım Bank, served as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at the same bank between 2018 and 2023 and held positions as Chairman of the Audit Committee, Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee and Member of the Credit Committee. Between August 2023 and June 2024, he served as an Independent Member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası. Since 06.06.2024, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. He served as Deputy Minister of Finance between 2012 and 2015. On 21.06.2023, he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance and continues to hold this position. Cantimur is also the Chair of the Bank Information Systems Strategy Committee. He is married and has four children.
SERRUH KALELİ
Member of the Board
After completing his primary and secondary education at TED Ankara College, he graduated from Ankara Faculty of Law in 1977. He completed his military service as a military prosecutor in the Turkish Air Force Command. Between 1996 and 1998, he served as Treasurer Member of the Ankara Bar Association Board of Directors; between 2000 and 2002 and 2002 and 2004, he served as a Board Member and Treasurer of the Turkish Law Association; and in 2001 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations for a four-year term. Within the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, he took part in commissions and contributed to the preparation of regulations related to the amended Attorneyship Law. During the 2004-2005 season, he served as Vice Chair of the Disciplinary Board of the Turkish Basketball Federation. From 1978, 1980 and 1981 until 19.07.2005, when he was elected as a Member of the Constitutional Court, he practiced as a lawyer registered with the Ankara Bar Association. Between 14.04.2011 and 14.04.2015, he served as Vice President of the Constitutional Court. In addition, following the constitutional amendment dated 12 September 2010, he chaired one of the two sections of the Court responsible for reviewing alleged violations of fundamental rights and freedoms through individual applications between 14.04.2011 and 14.04.2015. Since May 2019, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. He is a Member of the Corporate Governance Committee.
FAZLI KILIÇ
Member of the Board
He completed his high school education at Beyoğlu Commercial High School in 1976. In 1980, he graduated from the Department of Business Administration and Accounting at the Faculty of Commercial Sciences of the Istanbul Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences. In 1982, he completed the Master’s Program in Accounting Auditing Specialization at the Faculty of Business Administration of Istanbul University. He practiced as a Certified Public Accountant for 26 years and was a founding partner of Yön Accounting Financial Consultancy Limited Company. Between 1994 and 1999, he served as a Member of the Istanbul Provincial Council and Group Chair. Between 2004 and 2019, he served as the Mayor of Kağıthane for three terms. Since 26.03.2021, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. Kılıç is also a Member of the Bank’s Audit Committee, an Alternate Member of the Credit Committee and the Chair of the Sustainability Committee.
SERDAR KILIÇ
Member of the Board
He graduated from TED Ankara College and from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University in 1980. Kılıç started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye in 1984 and served in various diplomatic positions. Between 2006 and 2008, he served as Deputy Director General for NATO at the Ministry; between 2008 and 2010 he served as Ambassador to Beirut; and between 2010 and 2012 he served at the Secretariat General of the National Security Council. He served as Ambassador to Tokyo between 2012 and 2014 and as Ambassador to Washington between 2014 and 2021. On 15.12.2021, he was appointed as Special Representative within the scope of the normalization process initiated between Türkiye and Armenia. Since 2024, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Education Foundation. Since August 2023, he has been serving as a Member of the Board of Directors of T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. He is the Chair of the Bank’s Corporate Governance Committee.