Board of Directors

Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Dr. İsmail İlhan Hatipoğlu was born in 1968 in Karaman. He graduated from Karaman High School in 1984 and from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Finance in 1988. Having passed a competitive exam in 1989, he started his career as an Intern Revenue Controller at the Ministry of Finance. In 1992, he was appointed Revenue Controller and in 2000, Chief Revenue Controller. From May to December 1997, he conducted research on the EU Tax System in the United Kingdom.

Deputy Minister Dr. Hatipoğlu served as the Head of the Department at the General Directorate of Revenue in 2003, as the Head of the Department at the Revenue Administration in 2005, and as the Deputy Head at the Revenue Administration in 2007. He was subsequently appointed General Director of Budget and Financial Control in 2009. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance. After 2018, he held office as a Ministry Consultant and Chief Tax Inspector.

During his tenure at the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Hatipoğlu chaired the Internal Audit Coordination Board from 2009 to 2019 and served as a Member of the State Aid Monitoring and Auditing Board from 2010 to 2018, where he assumed the role of Vice Chairman after 2015.

Between 2009 and 2010, he was a Member of the Board of Directors at Turkish Maritime Enterprises. From 2010 to 2016, he served as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Additionally, he represented the Treasury as a Member of the AVEA Audit Board from 2014 to 2015.

From 2016 to 2018, Dr. Hatipoğlu co-chaired the Tax and Incentives Committee of the Coordination Council for the Improvement of Investment Environment (YOIKK). He also chaired the Technical Committee established under an international agreement between Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Between 2019 and 2020, he served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Ankara University Teknokent. He briefly held the position of General Manager in the private sector. From 2012 to 2024, he served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Athletics Federation.

Since 2015, Dr. Hatipoğlu has been teaching “Public Financial Management” and “Risk Management and Applications” as part of the Internal Audit and Internal Control Master’s Program at Ankara University’s Institute of Social Sciences. In the spring semester of 2019, he taught “Public Financial Management and Control” in the Audit and Risk Management Master’s Program at Ankara Social Sciences University.

Dr. Hatipoğlu earned his Master’s degree in 2019 from Ankara University’s Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Business Administration. He began his PhD in 2019 at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University’s Department of Finance and completed his doctoral studies in 2023.

On 22 June 2023, Dr. Hatipoğlu was appointed Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance with the approval of the President of the Republic of Türkiye. He is married with two children and has advanced proficiency in English.

Ebubekir Şahin was born in Çayeli, Rize. He graduated from Gazi University’s Faculty of Communication in 1995 and obtained his master’s degree in Journalism from the same university in 2002.

He began his professional career at the Ministry of Interior and the General Directorate of Security as a civil servant. During the governments led by the Refah- Yol, he served as Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister, and later as a Parliamentary Advisor at the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM). Starting in 2002, he held various roles, including Private Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Head of Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and senior roles at the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), Prime Ministry, and the Prime Ministry’s Directorate of Public Diplomacy. Between 2011 and 2014, he served as Head of the Administrative and Financial Affairs Department at Anadolu Agency, then as Deputy General Manager and Acting General Manager.

From 2014 to 2017, he was the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. In 2017, he was elected by the Turkish Grand National Assembly as a member of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). In 2019, he was elected Chairman of RTÜK and re-elected in 2023, serving a total of four terms in this position.

Mr. Şahin, who served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş. between 2020 and 2026, has also been serving as the Government Representative to the General Assembly of the Press Advertisement Agency since 2019, and as the Chairman of the Türkiye–Switzerland Business Council under the Foreign Economic Relations Board since January 2026.

Ebubekir Şahin, who was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Türk Telekom in October 2025 and as a Member of the Board of Directors in April 2026, continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Türk Telekom.

Mr. Şahin is married with two children and speaks English.

Ümit Önal, a graduate of Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication, started his professional life in media and communication sector. He joined Turkuvaz Media Group in 2007, where he served respectively as General Manager of ATV, President of the Advertising Group, and Executive Board Member until 2015. After being appointed the Board Member and CEO of Digitürk in 2015, he oversaw Digitürk’s sale to BeIN Media Group. Önal joined the Türk Telekom family as the Assistant General Manager responsible for Sales and Customer Services at the end of 2016, and in December 2018, he was appointed the Assistant General Manager responsible for Marketing and Customer Services, and in August 2019, he was appointed the CEO of the company. With more than 20 years of experience in the media and communication sector, Önal has played a significant role in the transformation of Turkish media and continues to lead Türkiye’s digital and technological advancement through Türk Telekom.

Throughout his career, Ümit Önal has held active roles in both national and international associations. Önal served as the Chairman of the Board of Mobile Telecommunication Operators Association (m-TOD) in 2020 and 2022; he is also an active member to Foreign Investors Association (YASED), Board Member at US Business Council Member of Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).

Ümit Önal served as the company's CEO from August 2019 to October 2025 and was appointed to the Presidency of Cyber Security by presidential decree as of October 2025.

He has served as a member of the Türk Telekom Board of Directors since March 2022.

Mehmet Reşat Bahçeevli was born in 1951 in Konya. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Istanbul University in 1973. While practicing as an independent lawyer, he temporarily stepped away from the profession, later returning when Istanbul Bar Association No. 2 was established.

In 1983, he took on the role of founding district chairman of the Welfare Party in Beykoz. He stood as a candidate for Beykoz Mayor in the 1984 local elections.

In 1991, he was elected to the Istanbul Provincial Board of the Welfare Party. In 1992, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of Istanbul who was responsible for elections.

In the 1994 local elections, he led the election campaign for president Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN, who was then a candidate. He was elected Chairman of the Istanbul Provincial General Assembly Group in the 1994 local elections.

He pursued parliamentary candidacy for the Istanbul 1st Region in the 1987, 1991, and 1995 elections with the Welfare Party. He also stood as a parliamentary candidate for the Istanbul 1st Region in the 1999-2004 elections.

Between 1999 and 2004, he served as a member of the Beykoz Municipal Council with the Virtue Party and AK Party.

Enver İskurt was born in 1966 in Trabzon, Türkiye. He graduated from Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Civil Engineering and from Anadolu University, Department of Business Administration-Public Administration. In 1989, İskurt started his career as a Survey Engineer at the Van 11th Regional Directorate of the Directorate General of Highways. Over time, he served as Control Engineer, Control Chief, and Chief Engineer in various regions. Enver İskurt successfully served as Director of the Highways and Bridges Department and Head of the Highways Department (Operations Department) at the General Directorate of Highways before taking on the role of Chairman of the Inspection Board. Since 2018, İskurt has served as the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Türkiye. During his tenure, he oversaw major repair and construction projects for the 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü (15 July Martyrs Bridge) and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. He was also involved in the planning and construction of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, including the Osmangazi Bridge and the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. Additionally, he contributed to the development, approval, and tendering processes for the construction of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge.

Enver İskurt is married and the father of two children.

He was born in Uşak in 1958 and graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Letters in 1979. He received his PhD in 1983, got his title of Associate Professor in 1993 and Professor in 1998 in the field of Divan literature.

He wrote articles, essays, stories, and newspaper columns inspired by history to help the general public understand and appreciate Ottoman poetry. The poetry seminars and conferences he organizes attracted large audiences.

In addition to his academic career, he also produced works related to cultural life. His novels, inspired by history, sold hundreds of thousands of copies and were translated into several languages. He was honoured with a trademark award by the Turkish Patent Institute for his contributions to Turkish culture, and his name was registered.

He worked at the Naval Forces Command between 1982 and 1996. He was a member of the editorial board of İSAM between 1996 and 2024. In 2004, he served as the Director of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Culture Department. Between 2004 and 2010, he served as a cultural advisor to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, between 2006 and 2012, he was a member of the City Theatres Repertoire Committee and the State Theatres Literary Committee, and between 2008 and 2010, he was a member of the Istanbul European Capital of Culture Management Board. He was a faculty member at Uşak University between 2009 and 2012, a member of the Atatürk Culture, Language and History Higher Council Management Board between 2013 and 2017, a senior advisor to the Prime Minister between 2015 and 2018, and an advisor to the Ministry of Culture between 2018 and 2019. He has been a faculty member at Istanbul Culture University since 1997 and continues to serve in this capacity. Since 2018, he has been the Deputy Chair of the Presidential Council for Culture and Arts Policies.
In addition to academic books, he also wrote cultural and literary books. Pala has written 104 books in the fields of dictionaries, articles, essays, novels, short stories, biographies, anthologies, memoirs and theatre.

His books such as Encyclopedic Dictionary of Divan (Ottoman) Poetry (1989), Two Dirhams One Core (İki Dirhem Bir Çekirdek) (1996), Exceptional Beauties (Müstesna Güzeller) (1995), Death in Babylon, Love in Istanbul (Babil’de Ölüm, İstanbul’da Aşk) (2003), Grief Drop (Katre-i Matem) (2009), Shah & Sultan (Şah ve Sultan) (2010), Flame – A Yunus Novel (Od- Bir Yunus Romanı) (2011), AbumRabum, (2017) Surname (2022), Love Story (Aşk Hikayesi) (2023) and Azdahak (2025) have reached hundreds of thousands of readers. His book “Between Two Coups” (İki Darbe Arasında) (2010), in which he wrote his memoirs of military service, is deemed as the sociological history of a period. Prof. Dr. İskender Pala considers his book "Forty Songs of the Nightingale" (Bülbülün Kırk Şarkısı) as the best effort of his life. İskender Pala is married and has three children.

Betül Altınsoy was born in Ankara in 1984. She completed her secondary education at Ankara Tevfik İleri Anatolian Imam Hatip High School. She completed her undergraduate studies in Marmara University Faculty of Law between 2002 and 2006. She subsequently obtained her LL.M. degree in Public Law from Marmara University between 2007 and 2008.

Altınsoy began her legal career as a trainee lawyer at Şanlı Law Firm (2007–2008), where she worked in the fields of corporate law, intellectual and industrial property law, competition law, and real estate law. She worked as a lawyer at Özkan Law Firm between 2009 and 2010, providing legal advisory services to both individual and corporate clients in the areas of commercial law, contract law, labor and social security law, and intellectual property law.

Since 2010, she has been serving as the founding and managing attorney of Altınsoy Law Firm. She provides legal consultancy to real and legal persons, particularly in mining and energy law. She works in the areas of litigation management, contract structuring and strategic legal planning. Between 2016 and 2018, she also collaborated with Karakaya Law Firm as a legal advisor and business partner.

In addition to her professional career, Altınsoy has actively participated in civil society organizations, working on projects related to human rights, refugee rights, and women’s rights.

She served as a Member of the Central Disciplinary Board of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) between 2018–2021 and 2021–2023. Between 2023 and 2025, she served as a Member of the Central Decision and Executive Board and concurrently as Deputy Secretary General.

She is fluent in English and has an intermediate level of Arabic.

The term of office of the members of the Board of Directors is 3 years.​

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