Board Member and CEO

Zafer Kurtul joined Akbank in 1998 as Executive Vice President and served as CEO between November 2000 and June 2009. In June 2009, Mr. Kurtul was appointed as Vice Chairman. Previously, he served in executive positions at Citibank, BNP-Ak-Dresdner Bank and Societe Generale. Mr. Kurtul has an undergraduate degree from Istanbul University Faculty of Business Administration and an MBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Accredited as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Zafer Kurtul is also a member of Institut International D’etudes Bancaires. Mr. Kurtul has been appointed as CEO in Sabancı Group as of 19th July 2010.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Faruk Bilen was born in 1969. He received a dual-degree from University of Pennsylvania, USA, Electronic Engineering and the Wharton School, Finance. Faruk Bilen also holds a master degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. After working several years in different companies both in Turkey and abroad, he joined Sabancı Group in 1996. Since September 1997, he has been the Chief Financial Officer of Sabancı Holding. He is also a board member of various Sabancı Group companies.

Human Resources

Neriman Ülsever, graduate of  Bosphorus University ’75, started her career in 1973 at Turkish Airlines Inc.  Between 1986 and 1994, she respectively worked in banking, production and retail industries with increasing responsibilities in executive roles.

In 1994, she decided to focus on human capital management and started to work in human resource and management consultancy.

In 1995, she joined Indesit Company in Turkey and over the years, she assumed  diverse international assignments in Indesit Group.  Between 1999 and 2002, she became Human Resources Director, East Europe and International Markets based in Lugano, Switzerland and was appointed as  the Human Resources Director, West Europe Markets based in Paris, France between 2001 and 2004.  She assumed the role of Human Resources Director, Global Commercial in 2004 based in Milano, Italy.  In 2006, she became the Global Human Resources Director of Indesit Group based in Fabriano, Italy.

Ülsever, executive member of the Board of Directors of Indesit Company Turkey since 1996, was appointed as President of Indesit Turkey starting from January 1^st, 2011.

On May 16^th, 2011, she joined Sabancı Holding.

Strategy & Business Development

Ata Koseoglu graduated from Bogazici University, Department of Mechanical Engineering and afterwards he completed his post graduate degree in Lehigh University, Department of Electrical Engineering and MBA degree in Boston University. After starting his banking career at Iktisat Bankasi, Ata Koseoglu worked at Finansbank from its foundation until 1994 as Executive Vice President responsible for Investment Banking, Treasury and Capital Markets, Assets Management and International Relations. Between 1994-1999, he worked at Bear Stearns in New York, one of the biggest investment banks of the US, as the Managing Director responsible for Investment Banking activities in Turkey, Greece and Egypt. Afterwards, he settled in Paris and assumed the Senior Banker / Managing Director role responsible for Turkey and Middle East in Société Générale Investment Banking Department. Between 2000-2005, Ata Koseoglu worked in London/Istanbul for Credit Suisse First Boston Bank as Managing Director/CEO and was responsible for investment banking activities, including corporate financing, project financing, capital markets, fixed income and derivative products. He joined BNP Paribas / TEB Group in 2006 as a senior banker. He acted as Chairman of the Board and CEO at TEB Investment where he was involved in several mergers and acquisitions during his assignment and succeeded in bringing TEB Investment amongst top five investment banks in Turkey until joining Sabancı Holding in July 2011.

Retail and Insurance

Haluk Dinçer was born in Istanbul in 1962. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He joined the Sabancı Group in 1995 and he has been the President of the Retail Group since 2004. Dinçer is married with two children.

Cement

Mehmet Gocmen was born in 1957. He graduated from the Industrial Engineering department at the Middle East Technical University in 1981. He recieved his graduate degree from the Industrial Engineering department at the Syracuse University in 1983. He subsequently assumed various functions at Celik Halat, steel rope manufacturers, and Lafarge. He joined Sabancı Holding in 2003 and he worked as General Manager at Akcansa A.S. until 2008. Then he was appointed as Executive Vice President of Human Resources as of August 1, 2008. He quitted Executive Vice President of Human Resources duty in 2011. Lastly, he has been appointed as Cement SBU President as of July 20, 2009. He is married with two children.

Energy

Selahattin Hakman was born in Istanbul in 1953. He graduated from Karlsruhe Technical University as an Electrical Engineer(MSc). He entered his business life at Siemens AG Germany in 1980. In 1984 he joined in Siemens A.S. in Turkey where he worked as the Director of the Power Generation Group for 12 years and of the Communication Systems Group for 2 years. In 2006 he joined Sabancı Group as the President of Energy Group.

Industry

Graduating from Bosphorus University, Department of Industrial Engineering, Mehmet Nurettin Pekarun studied for his MBA in Finance and Strategy Specialization at Purdue University. Pekarun started his career in 1993, working at theTransportation Systems of General Electric (GE) in the USA. Between 1996 and 1999 he initially worked as a Finance Manager responsible for Turkey and Greece at GE Healthcare Europe, then as a Financial Manager responsible for Eastern Europe. Working as General Director of GE Lighting in Turkey between 1999 and 2000, as General Manager, Business Development for GE Healthcare - Europe, the Mid-East and Africa between 2000 and 2005, then as General Manager for Medical Accessories of the same company in Europe, the Mid-East and Africa. In 2006, Pekarun joined Kordsa Global as President and CEO sustaining this position until September 2010, when he was promoted to Sabancı Holding’s Tire, Tire Reinforcement Materials and Automotive SBU. In March 2011 Tire, Tire Reinforcement Materials and Automotive SBU has been re-established as the Industry SBU.