Mr. Zafer graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics. He also completed his master’s and Ph.D. degrees at the same university. Since 1992, Mr. Zafer has held various positions across different units, branches, and inspection board organizations at several banks. Mr. Zafer was appointed as Executive Vice President at VakıfBank on June 13, 2006, and currently serves as the Executive Vice President responsible for Information Technologies and Operations.
Corporate, Commercial, SME, Retail and Individual Banking
Mr. Çelebi graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics. Since 1995, Mr. Çelebi has held various positions at VakıfBank, serving as auditor, manager, and head across different units and branches. Mr. Çelebi was appointed as Executive Vice President on October 4, 2013, and currently serves as the Executive Vice President responsible for Corporate, Commercial, SME, Retail and Individual Banking.
Human Resources, Organizational Development and Strategy
Mr. Şuayyip İlbilgi graduated from Gazi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics. Since 1996, he held the positions of associate, manager and head in various departments at VakıfBank. Mr. İlbilgi was appointed as Executive Vice President on August 1, 2017.
Credit Allocation Management
Mr. Akyol graduated from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration. Since 1993, he held the positions of auditor, manager and head in various departments and branches of VakıfBank. Mr. Akyol was appointed as Executive Vice President at VakıfBank on May 31, 2019.
General Accounting, Corporate Communications, Subsidiaries and Sustainable Banking
Mr. Merdan graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Finance. He also completed his master’s degree at THK University. Mr. Merdan began his career in 1996 at Ziraat Bankası Banking School and, since 1999, has held various positions at VakıfBank, serving as auditor, manager, and head across different units. Mr. Merdan was appointed as Executive Vice President on May 31, 2019, and currently serves as the Executive Vice President responsible for General Accounting, Corporate Communications, Subsidiaries and Sustainable Banking.
Treasury Management and International Banking
Mr. Muhammed Onay Özkan graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, and Department of Finance. Since 2000, Mr. Özkan held the positions of auditor, manager and head in various departments and branches of VakıfBank. Mr. Özkan was appointed as Executive Vice President at VakıfBank on May 31, 2019.
Credit Monitoring, Company Analysis and Credit Policies
Mr. Çokçetin graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Finance. After working for a period at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Çokçetin has held various positions at VakıfBank since 1996, serving as financial analyst, manager, and head across different units and branches. Mr. Çokçetin was appointed as Executive Vice President at VakıfBank on July 13, 2020, and currently serves as the Executive Vice President responsible for Credit Monitoring, Company Analysis and Credit Policies.
Support Services
Having graduated from Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Mr. Karataş completed his master’s degree in Yıldız Technical University. Since 1996, Mr. Kadir Karataş held the positions of financial analyst, auditor, manager, head and regional director in various departments and branches of VakıfBank. Mr. Karataş was appointed as Executive Vice President at VakıfBank on August 13, 2020.
Legal Affairs and Legal Proceeding
Mr. Dereli graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Law. He completed his master’s degree in Commercial Law at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in Germany. Mr. Dereli began his professional career as a freelance lawyer in 2002 and joined VakıfBank in 2010 as Assistant Legal Counsel. Between 2019 and 2025, Mr. Dereli served as Deputy Chief Legal Counsel at VakıfBank. He currently serves as a Board Member of Birleşim Varlık Yönetim A.Ş. and as a member of the Amateur Football Disciplinary Board of the Turkish Football Federation. Mr. Dereli was appointed as Executive Vice President on July 1, 2025, and currently serves as the Executive Vice President responsible for Legal Affairs and Legal Proceedings.
Head of Group
Digital Banking and Payment Systems Group
Mr. Yıldırım graduated from the Department of Political Science at Bilkent University and completed his master’s degree in Sociology at Başkent University. He began his professional career as an advisor at the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and later worked as a Portfolio Manager in Public Finance at DenizBank. In 2020, Mr. Yıldırım joined Halkbank as an Advisor to the General Manager and subsequently served as Head of Payment Systems Marketing Department and later as Group Head of Private Banking and Digital Transformation. During this period, he also served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Halk Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri A.Ş. and chaired the Market Development Committee of the Interbank Card Center. Mr. Yıldırım was appointed as Group Head at VakıfBank on April 16, 2026, and currently serves as Group Head responsible for Digital Banking and Payment Systems. He is fluent in English and has an intermediate level of Arabic.
