Board Of Directors

Having a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, Mr. A. Murat Uluğ was granted the master’s degree after graduating from the joint Executive MBA program of Manchester Business School and Istanbul Bilgi University. Mr. Uluğ who started his professional life as an executive candidate at Garanti Bank in 1992, continued his banking career at HSBC and ABN AMRO Bank after serving at Garanti Bank. Mr. Uluğ began to work as the Finance Coordinator at Akfen Group in 2005 during the privatization of Vehicle Inspection Stations, Mersin Port and Iskenderun Port as well as the urban hospitality projects carried out in cooperation with the French hotel group Accor. Later, Mr. Uluğ was appointed as the CFO of TAV Airports Holding, the largest subsidiary of the Group and managed the company’s public offering in 2007 and the privatization projects of 10 domestic and international airports. Mr. Uluğ served as the Assistant General Manager of Istanbul Deniz Otobüsleri company as his final position in the Group. Later, he worked as a senior executive in the real estate industry for two years. Mr. Uluğ continued his professional life abroad, in Bahrain between 2016 and 2020, giving service as the Investments Director of an infrastructure investment fund which was established by the Islamic Development Bank and co-owned and supported by the wealth funds of Bahrain, Brunei and Saudi Arabia. Appointed to Türkiye Wealth Fund (TVF) as the Chief Investment Officer at the end of 2020, Mr. Uluğ still serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the asset companies Türkiye Sigorta, Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik and Türk Şeker Tarım; as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for TVF Istanbul Finance Center and as the Board Member for Kayseri Şeker Fabrikası, along with his current position at the wealth fund.

Mr. Taha ÇAKMAK graduated from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration in English. After serving as Assistant Inspector at the Social Insurance Institution in 2005, Mr. Taha ÇAKMAK worked as Inspector at the Inspection Board, Business Design Manager at the Operations Center Department, Ankara Retail Branch Manager, Human Resources Department Head and Ankara Public Corporate Branch Manager at Ziraat Bank between 2005-2019. Mr. Taha ÇAKMAK, after serving as Head of The Privatization Administration of Türkiye at Treasury and Finance Ministry, in 2019, he worked as the Vice President at the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency between 2019-2021 and as the Vice President of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye between 2021-2023. Mr. Taha ÇAKMAK has been serving as the General Manager and Vice Chairman at Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik as of 3 August 2023. Mr. ÇAKMAK also continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Agricultural Insurance Pool, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OSEM, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turk P&I Sigorta and Board Member of the Pension Monitoring Center.

Mr. Bilal Bedir graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Business Administration in 2007 and started his professional career at Reckitt Benckiser. Mr. Bedir worked in various departments at Reckitt Benckiser and served as Commercial Marketing Manager until 2014. Mr. Bedir served as Assistant Director at TRT World in 2015-2016, as TRT World UK Country Manager in London between 2016-2017, and as Head of Advertising Department at TRT between 2020-2021. Mr. Bedir then served as Assistant General Manager in charge of support units at İhracatı Geliştirme (İGE) A.Ş. Mr. Bedir served as the General Secretary of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) between 2022 and 2024. As of June 2024, Mr. Bedir has been serving as the Assistant General Manager of Turkiye Wealth Fund. Mr. Bedir, who speaks fluent English and intermediate German, was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik on June 6, 2024.

Mr. Mahmut Kaçar graduated from the Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Harran University, in 1999. Mr. Kaçar served as a Member of Parliament for Şanlıurfa during the 24th and 26th legislative terms between 2011 and 2018. He held various board memberships, including at Ziraat Bank between 2018 and 2023, at Ziraat Hayat Emeklilik A Ş and Ziraat Sigorta A Ş between 2018 and 2019, and at Ziraat Katılım Bankası A Ş between 2019 and 2020. Since 2023, he has been serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Environment Agency. Mr. Mahmut Kaçar is fluent in Arabic and has an intermediate level of proficiency in English. He was elected as a Member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik on April 25, 2025.

After graduating from Istanbul University Faculty of Law, Ms. Türkmenoğlu worked as a freelance lawyer. Ms. Türkmenoğlu took part in Konya Bar Association Women's Rights Commission and Child Rights Commission. In the July 22, 2007 General Elections, Ms. Türkmenoğlu was elected as Konya Member of Parliament for the 23rd term from AK Party. Ms. Türkmenoğlu, who served for 7 years as the Chief Advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is also a member of the Presidential Legal Policy Council and an expert mediator in the field of banking and insurance law. She speaks intermediate English and German. On June 6, 2024, Ms. Türkmenoğlu was elected as an Independent Member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik. Ms. Türkmenoğlu is married and has one child.

Having graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Political Sciences the Public Administration Department in 1991, Prof. Murat Akbalık completed the graduate program at the Institute of Banking and Insurance at Marmara University in 1993 and the post-graduate program in 2001. He became an Assistant Professor in 2005, Associate Professor in 2011 and Professor in 2017. He serves as the Head of Capital Markets Division at Marmara University School of Banking and Insurance, Member of Management Board of Institute of Banking at Marmara University, Head of Capital Markets and Stock Exchange Division at Marmara University Institute of Banking and Insurance, and Assistant Manager of Marmara University Institute of Banking and Insurance. As of 1 June 2020, Prof. Akbalık was appointed as the Board Member of Halk Sigorta, Ziraat Sigorta, Halk Emeklilik, Ziraat Emeklilik and Vakıf Emeklilik. Currently serving as the Independent Board Member of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik after the merger of insurance companies on August 31, 2020 and of pension companies on September 1, 2020, Prof. Akbalık has good command of English.

Mr. Yavuz Kaynarca completed his undergraduate education at Ankara Gazi University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism and Public Relations in 1988, and his master's degree at Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Journalism in 1994. He is currently at the dissertation stage of his Ph D studies at the Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Journalism at Istanbul University. Mr. Kaynarca served as an editor at Milliyet and Tercüman newspapers between 1988 and 1990, as Managing Editor at Hürbakış newspaper between 1991 and 1995, as Managing Editor at Trakya Ekspres newspaper between 1995 and 2000, as General Manager at Popüler Radyo between 2000 and 2001, as Editor-in-Chief at Manşet newspaper between 2001 and 2002, and as Private Secretary and Press Advisor to the AK Party Istanbul Provincial Presidency between 2002 and 2011. He later served as Managing Editor at Harbi Gazete between 2016 and 2020. Mr. Yavuz Kaynarca was elected as an Independent Member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik on April 25, 2025.