The business affairs of our company are managed under the direction of the Board, which represents and is accountable to our shareholders. Please click here for the working principles of our company's Board of Directors
Corporate Governance
The business affairs of our company are managed under the direction of the Board, which represents and is accountable to our shareholders. These responsibilities non-exhaustively include:
- Building the vision of the Company, approving of local and international business strategies and determining short- and long-term goals;
- Approving the Company's annual budget and business plans and its revisions;
- Monitoring the strategic and financial performance of the Company and ensuring that corrective measures are carried out as necessary;
- Controlling the Company's annual material expenditures which are not stated in the annual operating plan
- Consistent with applicable law and rules, approving quarterly financial results, the audit report and amendments to the accounting policies previously adopted by the Company or any material change in the method or timing of reporting of the financial results;
- Consistent with applicable law and rules, overseeing the preparation of the annual report and finalizing the same for presentation at the General Assembly of Shareholders
Şenol Kazancı
Chairman of the Board
Şenol Kazancı was born in 1975, in İstanbul. He graduated from the Istanbul University, Faculty of Law. He worked as TVNET General Manager between 2007 and 2011, as the Advisor of the Prime Minister between 2011 and 2014, and as Chief Advisor to the President in 2014. He lastly served as the Chairman and General Manager of the Anadolu Agency between 2014 and 2021. At the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting held on April 15, 2021, Şenol Kazancı was elected as a Member of the Turkcell Board of Directors and he has been Chairman of the Board of Directors since September 14, 2023
Ayşe Nur Bahçekapılı
Board Member
Ayşe Nur Bahçekapılı was born in Istanbul in 1954 and is from Trabzon originally. Ms. Bahçekapılı completed high school education in Istanbul Kız Lisesi and later graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law. Starting her career as a private attorney, Ms. Bahçekapılı served as a member of the Istanbul Bar Association Board of Directors and General Secretary from 1988 to 1992. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations from 1997 to 2005. In 2007, she was elected as a member of parliament from the second district of Istanbul. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Bahçekapılı served as the Spokesperson of the Constitutional Committee of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and chaired the Türkiye-Cuba Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group. Ms. Bahçekapılı served as the Deputy Group Chairman of the Justice and Development Party from 2009 to 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, she held the position of Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and resumed the role between 2015 and 2018. From 2020 to 2023, Ms. Bahçekapılı served as the Chief Advisor to the President and continues to hold the position of a member of the Legal Policies Council of the Presidency. On September 14, 2023, she was elected as a member of the Turkcell Board of Directors.
Serdar Çetin
Independent Board Member
Serdar Çetin graduated from Middle East Technical University, Civil Engineering department and holds an MSc in Management (Grande Ecole) from HEC School of Management in Paris with a major in strategic management. Serdar Çetin has served at the board of Play (P4 Sp.zo.o.) from July 2007 until November 2020. He was a management board member of Play from its inception (July 2005) until October 2006 and was a supervisory board member between July 2007 and June 2017. Following the IPO of Play Group, he was appointed as a member of the Audit Committee, Remuneration and Nomination Committee, and Operational and Investment Committee of Play Communications S.A. until its sale to Iliad in November 2020. Serdar Çetin was a board member of Turknet İletişim Hizmetleri A.S. and its then parent company NetOne Holdings S.a.r.l., between 2007 - 2013. He served as a board member or board observer in several telco and technology companies including Machinezone, which is acquired by Applovin (USA), Netia (Poland), Forthnet (Greece) and Be* Unlimited (UK). In addition, he served as a board member of AASA Polska from August 2015 to December 2019. Serdar Çetin was a board member of WOM S.A. Chile from July 2015 until December 2023. Additionally, he was a partner of Novator Partners LLP, a London based investment advisory firm until April 2023 and is currently a Partner of PurpleCrest Investments Llp. Prior to joining Novator, Mr. Çetin worked at Merrill Lynch investment banking and BNP Paribas Asset Management in London. At the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting for 2021, held on June 16, 2022, Serdar Çetin was elected as an Independent Member of the Turkcell Board of Directors. He is fluent in English and French.
Salim Arda Ermut
Board Member
Arda Ermut was born in Karaman in 1980. He graduated from Boğaziçi University's Department of Political Science and International Relations in 2004. In 2005, he began working as a Press and Public Relations Advisor to the Prime Minister's Office. He then took up the position of specialist at the Turkish Investment Support and Promotion Agency, where he held a number of managerial positions.In 2015, Ermut was appointed as the President of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Türkiye, a position he held until 2020. Ermut played a pivotal role in attracting numerous international direct investments to Türkiye. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Vienna Economic Forum and SunExpress between 2015 and 2019, as Vice President of the Turkish Basketball Federation between 2019 and 2021, and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the World Association of Investment Agencies (WAIPA) for a four-year term.Between 2019 and 2021, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of Turkish Airlines and as one of the three members of the Turkish Airlines Executive Board. Arda Ermut, who previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Türk Telekom between 2022 and 2024 and the Türkiye Wealth Fund between 2018 and 2020, was appointed as the General Manager and Board Member of the Türkiye Wealth Fund as of March 2021.He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Participation Insurance, established by the Türkiye Wealth Fund, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Istanbul Finance Center Management Company.At the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting for the year 2023 held on May 2, 2024, Ermut was elected as a Member of the Turkcell Board of Directors
Mehmet Naci İnci
Independent Board Member
Professor M. Naci Inci was born in Malatya, Türkiye, in 1965. He received his BSc in physics from Marmara University in 1987. Then, he received his PhD in fiber optic sensors from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, UK) in 1993. Between 1993 and 1994, he pursued postdoctoral studies at Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering (USA), specializing in fiber optic communications. In 1994, he assumed the role of Assistant Professor at Boğaziçi University, Department of Physics. In 1996, he was promoted to the position of Associate Professor at the same institution. In 1998-1999, he was invited to Gunma University (Japan) as a visiting research professor to work on industrial applications of fiber optic sensors. Between 1999 and 2005, he was a faculty member at Sabancı University, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, where he played a pivotal role in establishing the university's fundamental and research laboratories, as well as undergraduate and graduate programs. In 2005, he assumed the role of Professor in the Department of Physics at Boğaziçi University. He served as Head of the Department of Physics for five years between 2013 and 2020. Since July 15, 2021, he has been the Rector of Boğaziçi University. Professor İnci has been invited as a guest scientist by a number of universities abroad. These include The University of Stuttgart (Germany), Gunma University (Japan), the Technical University of Norway, and Heriot-Watt University (UK). His research interests include applied optics for industry, quantum optics, nonlinear optics, quantum informatics, optoelectronics, fiber optic sensors, fiber optic telecommunications, solid state physics, optical profilometry, photonic crystals, and the photonics of nanostructures. At the 2023 Ordinary General Assembly Meeting he was elected as an Independent Board Member of Turkcell.
Figen Kılıç
Board Member
Figen Kılıç, born in 1970 in Gaziantep, graduated from Selçuk University, Electrical Electronics Engineering Department and received her Master’s Degree from Gebze High Technology Institute, Electrical Engineering Department. Trained in project management, process management, and test engineering, Kılıç also graduated from the Anadolu University Faculty of Open Education, Department of Law, and is studying in the Department of Business Administration of the same university. Figen Kılıç, started her career as a technical translator in İhlas Group. In 1995, she joined İstanbul Municipality BELBİM A.Ş., where she worked for an extended period on payment projects as an R&D engineer, Project Coordinator, and R&D Manager. In 2010, she transferred to E-Kent Ödeme Sistemleri A.Ş. where she served as IT and Operational team manager for electronic ticket and payment systems integration and management projects in various cities of Türkiye. In 2014, Figen Kılıç worked in Mobile Payment and M2M & IoT teams at Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. and in 2015 was appointed to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) of Türkiye as its first women board member. Kılıç became the vice president of ICTA in 2018. After her term in office ended in 2019, she served as Service Delivery General Manager of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Family and Social Services. As of January 29, 2021, she was appointed to the Turkcell Board of Directors. At the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting held on May 2, 2024 Figen Kılıç was re-elected as the Member of a Turkcell Board of Directors
Nail Olpak
Board Member
Nail Olpak, was born in 1961 in İbecik, Burdur. He graduated from Aydın High School. Having graduated from Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Olpak completed his master's degree in the field of energy. Mr. Olpak serves as the Chairman of the Board of PAK Yatırım A.Ş. and NORA Elektrik A.Ş. and as the board member of companies in which these companies have shareholdings. As part of his activities in NGOs and for public welfare; Mr. Olpak serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of DEİK, Board Member of Export Credit Bank of Türkiye (TURK EXIMBANK), Board Member of Turkcell, Board Member of İstanbul Development Agency (İSTKA), Member of Coordination Council for the Improvement of Investment Environment (YOİKK), Member of High Advisory Board of MÜSİAD, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of OLPAK FOUNDATION, Member of the Founding Committee of International Technological, Economic and Social Research Foundation (UTESAV), Member of the Board of Trustees of Tourism Development and Education Foundation of İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (TUGEV), Member of Founders Board of İlim Yayma Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees of Huzur Hospital Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees of Human Development and Societal Education Foundation (İGETEV), Member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Support of İstanbul Medeniyet University. Nail Olpak also served as the 5th Period Chairman of MÜSİAD (Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association) and the Chairman of MÜSİAD High Advisory Board, Council Member of B20 Steering Committee of Türkiye, Council Member of İTO (Istanbul Chamber of Commerce), Board Member of İDTM (Istanbul World Trade Center), Board Member of the Huzur Hospital Foundation, Board Member of ENVERDER (Energy Efficiency Association), Member of High Advisory Board and Board Member of MMG (Architects and Engineers Group), Founding Committee Member of Turkish-Japanese University, Member of the Board of Trustees of Commercialize Center Istanbul (CCI), Board Member of Türkiye Silicon Valley. Mr. Olpak was appointed as a member to the Turkcell Board of Directors, effective as of March 6, 2020. At the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting for 2021, held on June 16, 2022, Nail Olpak was re-elected as a member of the Turkcell Board of Directors. Nail Olpak was granted the title of honorary PhD by Istanbul Technical University, Ahi Evran University and Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. Olpak is married and is the father of two children. He has a strong command of the English language
İdris Sarısoy
Independent Board Member
İdris Sarısoy, born in 1974 in Bafra, graduated from Erciyes University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Finance in 1998. In the same year, he commenced his master's at Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Finance, Department of Fiscal Theory, which he completed in 2000 with his thesis titled 'Public Sector Deficits and Financing Policies in Türkiye'. In 2001, he began his doctoral studies at Marmara University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Finance, Department of Finance Theory, completing his doctoral thesis, titled 'Tax Incentives Provided to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and Turkish Practice', in 2006. In 2002, he began his academic career at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Finance, and in 2003 he assumed the same position at Marmara University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Finance. Between 2007 and 2014, he was a Lecturer at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Finance. Since 2014, he has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Marmara University Faculty of Political Sciences, and in 2020 he became a Professor in the same department. Sarısoy; who is also a Member of the Tax Council of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, conducts academic research on poverty, foreign capital investments, election declarations and health economics, mainly on tax issues. On May 2, 2024, he was elected as an Independent Member of Turkcell's Board of Directors at the Ordinary General Assembly Meeting for the year 2023. He is married and has three children
Melikşah Yasin
Board Member
Melikşah Yasin, born in Istanbul in 1975, graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1996. In the same year, he began his master's degree at Istanbul University's Institute of Social Sciences and completed it in 1998 with his thesis titled “Control of the Administration by the Parliament.” In 1997, he started working as a research assistant in the Department of Administrative Law at the Marmara University Faculty of Law. He initiated his doctoral studies at Marmara University's Institute of Social Sciences in 1998 and completed them in 2002 with his doctoral thesis titled “The Capital Markets Board and Its Transactions.” Mr. Yasin conducted academic research at King's College in 2007 and 2008. In 2010, he was appointed as an associate professor at the Istanbul University Faculty of Law. Since 2016, he has served as a professor of Administrative Law at Istanbul University. He has also held various administrative positions at the university. Mr. Yasin, who has authored books and numerous articles in the field of administrative law, is currently a visiting academic at Oxford University Faculty of Law. Mr. Yasin is married and a father of one child. On September 14, 2023, he was elected as a member of the Turkcell Board of Directors.
