Board of Directors

Prof. Yusuf Balcı, Chairman of the Board of Türk Ticaret Bankası A.Ş., completed his primary and secondary education at Taksim Primary School, Private Darüşşafaka High School, and İhsan Mermerci High School, respectively. He graduated with honors from the Department of Economics at Boğaziçi University in 1983. In the same year, he began serving as assistant to Professor Dr. Sabahattin Zaim at the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University. He completed his Master’s degree with a thesis on “Labor Companies in Türkiye” (1985) and his PhD degree with a thesis on “The Effects of New Technologies on Employment in Turkish Banking” (1990) at the same faculty.

Prof. Dr. Balcı was a visiting scholar at Temple University in the USA between 1988 and 1990. He started his career as a research assistant at Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, where he worked as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Balcı, who previously taught economics in English at Glamorgan University (United Kingdom) and Southeastern University (Washington / USA) Istanbul Franchises (BILTEK), currently teaches economics in English at Istanbul Commerce University, Department of Economics (English).

In addition to his academic life, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Balcı worked as an economist in the Economic Policy and Strategic Planning Department of the Islamic Development Bank for five years. Since 1996, Prof. Balcı has served as Advisor to the Minister of Culture, President of Türkpatent (Turkish Patent Institute), Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister and Board Member of the Public Oversight, Accounting, and Auditing Standards Authority.

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Balcı has also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Türkpatent (Turkish Patent Institute), Member of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organization (EPO), Member of the Founding Board of Directors of the European Patent Academy, Member of the Coordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and Member of the Standing Committee for Country Risk Assessment of the Islamic Development Bank. Prof. Dr. Balcı has also served on numerous commissions and boards in Türkiye and abroad, including the Economic Coordination Board (EKK), the High Council of Science and Technology (BTYK), and the KOSGEB Executive Board. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Balcı is currently a Member of the European Committee on Social Rights (ECSR) of the Council of Europe, the supervisory body of the European Social Charter, to which he was elected in 2018 by the votes of 42 out of 45 countries. Prof. Dr. Balcı has published many scientific works, including five books.

Born in 1972 in Ankara, Özgür Volkan Ağar completed his primary and secondary education in the same city. In 1994, he graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Public Administration and completed his master’s degree in Public Administration at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA.

Mr. Ağar started his career as an Assistant Foreign Trade Specialist at the Office of the Prime Ministry of the Republic of Türkiye, Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, General Directorate of Imports in January 1996. He later served as a Foreign Trade Specialist at the General Directorate of Imports in 1999, Branch Manager at the General Directorate of Exports in 2005, Commercial Attaché at the Consulate General in Batum, Georgia between 2007 and 2009, and Head of Department at the General Directorate of Exports in 2009.

After serving in 2010 as Deputy Director General for Exportation at the Ministry of Economy, he served as the Director General for Exportation at the Ministry of Trade for six years starting from January 2016. Finally, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Trade on March 17, 2022. Mr. Ağar speaks English, is married, and has two children.

Mustafa Gültepe was born in 1968 in the Tonya district of Trabzon. He graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at Dokuz Eylül University in 1990. He completed his MBA at Istanbul University in 1997.

He began his professional career at Taha Tekstil in 1992. In 1994, he took part in the establishment of Talu Tekstil within Taha Tekstil. He continues to serve as a founding partner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Talu Tekstil.

Throughout his professional journey, Gültepe has assumed significant responsibilities within sectoral institutions and organizations. From 2017 to 2021, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sakarya Organized Industrial Zone. He joined the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (İHKİB) in 2010. In April 2018, he was elected President of İHKİB’s Board of Directors, and in June 2022, he was elected President of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM).

In addition to his role at TİM, Mustafa Gültepe also holds the positions of Vice President of the Board of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), Board Member of Türk Eximbank, Vice President of the Board of İGE Inc., Vice President of Türk Ticaret Bankası, and Member of the Executive Committee of KOSGEB.

Gültepe, who is married and a father of three, possesses a proficient command of English.

İlker Yeşil graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science, Department of Public Administration and started his career in 1995 as an Assistant Inspector at the VakıfBank Inspection Board. After serving as an inspector, he was appointed as an Assistant Manager at the Çukurova Regional Directorate. At VakıfBank, he served as Branch Manager in Antakya, Karaman, and Adana, as Regional Manager in Çukurova, Mediterranean, and Gebze, and as Executive Vice President in charge of Payment Systems and Digital Channels.

Mr. Yeşil served as Executive Vice President at Vakıf Pazarlama, a subsidiary of VakıfBank, and General Manager at Vakıf Gayrimenkul Değerleme before assuming the position of Executive Vice President in charge of Retail Banking at Türk Ticaret Bankası in July 2024 and was appointed Board Member and CEO in April 2025.

He was born in the village of Atabağı in the Baykan district of Siirt. He attended primary and middle school in his village and high school in Siirt. He graduated from Istanbul University’s Faculty of Economics. He completed his master’s degree in the Department of Labor Economics at Istanbul University and his Ph.D. in the Department of Economics at Abant İzzet Baysal University. Mr. Bilgin has worked in various universities in Türkiye and abroad and served as the Head of Departments. Mr. Bilgin became an assistant professor in 2000, an associate professor in macroeconomics in 2005, and a professor in the Department of International Economic Integration in 2011. From 2011 to 2025, he worked at Istanbul Medeniyet University’s Faculty of Political Sciences.

Serving in the management of various international and national professional organizations, Mr. Bilgin has published professional articles in prominent journals in his field and is indexed in international scientific indexes, as well as numerous national articles and papers presented at national conferences. His publications have received numerous citations, and he has been honored with several national awards for his work. He gave many seminars and speeches at foreign universities and international conferences as an invitee. He also serves on the boards of several international and national academic and professional organizations. Additionally, he holds positions on the editorial boards and various committees of several international academic journals with high impact factors covered by the SSCI. As of August 2025, he is ranked 27th among economists in Türkiye according to RePEc (7th based on his work in the last 10 years).

He also served as the academic coordinator for the “Economic Transformation and New Paradigms Summit,” organized by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance in September 2022, and the “Izmir Economics Congress in its 100th Anniversary” held in April 2023 under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye and organized by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance. From July 2023 to July 2025, he was on temporary assignment from his university to serve as Chief Advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Trade. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Economic Research Association.

He was appointed as a Member of the Presidential Economic Policies Counsil by the appointment decree published in the Official Gazette on April 10, 2025. He served as an independent member of the Board of Directors of VakıfBank from March 2022 to August 2023. Since August 2025, he has served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at ERSEM and Omsan Lojistik, subsidiaries of the Oyak Group, and as a Member of the Board of Directors at Oyak Grup Sigorta. He is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and has been a Member of the Board of Directors of Türk Ticaret Bankası since December 2023.

Born in 1969, Dr. Ömer Kalav graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics. He received his PhD degree from Okan University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Business Administration in 2014. In 1991, Mr. Kalav started his banking career at Şekerbank T.A.Ş. After working in the related departments of various banks, Mr. Kalav served as the Executive Vice President and the General Manager of Birleşik Fon Bankası operating under the SDIF in 2004.

Mr. Kalav served as the CEO of Türk Ticaret Bankası between March 2022 and December 2023. He currently teaches banking and finance courses at universities and serves as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at a company engaged in international payment systems integration and financial technology investments.

Born in Istanbul in 1965, İbrahim Arslan graduated from Istanbul University’s Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Public Administration, in 1987. Mr. Arslan began his career as an Assistant Specialist at Ziraat Bankası and subsequently served as a Specialist, Deputy Manager, and Department Manager in various units before becoming a Branch Manager in 2004 and a Regional Manager in 2005. Since 2005, he has held positions as Samsun Regional Manager, Istanbul 3rd Regional Manager, Erzurum Regional Manager, Head of Branch Operations Department, Istanbul 2nd Regional Manager, Head of Internal Control and Compliance Department, Sakarya Regional Manager, and Maslak Istanbul Regional Manager. He specialized in financial analysis, internal control, operations management, and strategic planning, and successfully managed numerous projects aimed at enhancing the Bank’s operational efficiency and service quality.

After retiring from Ziraat Bankası in March 2022, he served as a member of Ziraat Bankası’s Audit Committee from March 2022 to August 2023. From September 2023 to April 2025, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of Ziraat Girişim Sermayesi Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş. İbrahim Arslan was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors of Türk Ticaret Bankası in April 2025.

Born in Ankara in 1966, Muammer Bölükbaşı completed his high school and undergraduate education in the same city. A 1988 graduate of Gazi University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration, Mr. Bölükbaşı has held various senior positions at Ziraat Bankası and Ziraat Katılım Bankası during his 32-year banking career. Mr. Bölükbaşı began his career as an inspector on the Board of Inspectors at Ziraat Bankası. He has served as Branch Manager, Regional Head, and Executive Vice President in various provinces, working in operational transactions, credit management, customer relations and channel management, and marketing and sales.

From 2003 to 2015, he served as Regional Head in four different regions, responsible for nearly 200 branches and 4,000 employees. As the founding Executive Vice President of Operational Transactions at Ziraat Katılım Bankası, he made significant contributions to the establishment and service-delivery phases of various units of the bank, particularly operations. Experienced in banking operations, credit underwriting and management, and marketing and sales, Mr. Bölükbaşı holds numerous professional and personal training certificates, as well as a CPA Certificate. Mr. Bölükbaşı served as an Independent Member of the Supervisory Board at Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan from 2022 to 2024 and as an Independent Board Member at Ziraat GYO from 2024 to 2025. He currently continues his role as an Independent Board Member at Tarım Kredi Yağ A.Ş. He was appointed a Member of the Board of Directors of Türk Ticaret Bankası in April 2025.