Adnan Menderes Yayla
Chairman of the Board
Adnan Menderes Yayla graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Economics in 1985. He completed his MBA studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the United States between 1992 and 1994.
Beginning his career in 1985, he served as Assistant Finance Inspector and Finance Inspector at the Ministry of Finance, before continuing his career as Head of the Project Evaluation Department at the Privatization Administration in 1995. From 1996 to 2000, he advanced through the positions of Manager, Senior Manager, and Partner at the Istanbul and London offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers. His executive trajectory continued at T. Dış Ticaret Bankası (Fortis), where he oversaw the Financial Control Group and Risk Management as Executive Vice President until 2008. In May of that year, he joined QNB as Executive Vice President and Group CFO, a role he has held while also leading Financial Control and Planning since October 2013. As of 2025, Adnan Menderes Yayla has been appointed Chairman of the Board of QNB Invest.
Zeynep Aydın Demirkıran
Vice Chair of the Board
Zeynep Aydın Demirkıran graduated from Ankara Atatürk Anatolian High School before completing her undergraduate studies in Economics at Bilkent University and earning her Master's degree in Economics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Demirkıran served as a faculty member at Georgetown University until December 1998. Between 1999 and 2002, she worked as a Specialist in the Risk Management Department at İşbank. She joined QNB Finansbank in 2002, working as a Specialist in the Risk Management Department until 2002. Later that year, she moved to QNB, where she advanced through the roles of Senior Risk Manager and Basel II Program Coordinator.
She was appointed as Chief Risk Officer in September 2011, a position she continues to hold while also serving as Vice Chair of the Board of QNB Invest as of 2025.
Zeynep Kulalar
Board Member
Zeynep Kulalar graduated from the Department of Business Administration at Middle East Technical University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1994. Launching her career that same year, she served as a Portfolio Manager at Yapı Kredi Bank until December 2002, followed by a tenure as Corporate Portfolio Manager at MNG Bank from January 2003 to July 2005.
Upon joining QNB in July 2005 as Corporate Marketing Team Manager, she progressed through a series of leadership positions, including Key Account Management Unit Manager, Corporate Banking Sales and Marketing Unit Manager, and various heads of departments focusing on Foreign Trade, Portfolio Management, and Performance. Her executive rise continued with her appointment as Corporate Banking Director in June 2016 and Executive Vice President in December 2019.
Since January 2022, she has served as Executive Vice President responsible for Corporate Banking and Project Finance, while also holding a seat on the Board of QNB Invest.
Cenk Akıncılar
Board Member
Cenk Akıncılar graduated from the Department of Mathematics at Eskişehir Anadolu/Osmangazi University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences in 1996. Following a brief period as a Mathematics Teacher, he joined Pamukbank in 1998, where he served as a Senior Specialist responsible for Compensation and Industrial Relations within the Human Resources Department until May 2003.
Upon moving to QNB in May 2003, Akıncılar advanced through a wide range of managerial roles, including Assistant Manager positions in Human Resources Recruitment, and System Development and Projects, followed by Unit Manager roles covering Organizational Development, Performance, Strategic Reporting, and Revenue Management. He subsequently led the department encompassing Human Resources Management Systems, Employee Affairs, and System Authorization Management.
His leadership trajectory culminated in his appointment as Human Resources Director in July 2018 and Executive Vice President of Human Resources in January 2019. He has been serving as a Board Member of QNB Invest since August 2019.
Burçin Dündar Tüzün
Board Member
Burçin Dündar Tüzün received her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at Middle East Technical University in 1997, followed by a Master of Business Administration degree from the Faculty of Business Administration at Bilkent University in 1999.
Tüzün began her banking career in 1999 as an Assistant Inspector at Finansbank A.Ş.’s Board of Inspectors. In 2005, she joined the Corporate Credit Allocation Department, where she held the positions of Corporate Credit Allocation Manager, Unit Manager, and Department Head. In November 2016, she was appointed as Director overseeing Corporate and Commercial Credits, including structured finance allocation, and further grew in 2018 to include credit monitoring and financial institutions credit management.
Since December 2019, she has continued her role as Executive Vice President. She has been serving as Board Member of QNB Invest since 2024.
Cumhur Türkmen
Board Member
Cumhur Türkmen completed his undergraduate studies in Mathematical Engineering at Yıldız Technical University and subsequently received his Master of Business Administration degree from Bilgi University.
He began his professional career in 1997 as a Software Engineer at Sabancı Holding and joined QNB Finansbank in 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, he worked as a Software Engineer and Project Manager at IBTech A.Ş., QNB Finansbank’s technology company. In 2010, he was appointed Unit Manager of the QNB Finansbank Business Development and Strategy Office, and later served as Group Manager of the CEO Office in 2012 and as Director of Digital Banking at Enpara.com in 2015.
Cumhur Türkmen is one of the founding executives of Enpara.com and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Enpara Bank A.Ş. As of 2025, he has been appointed Board Member of QNB Invest.
Esen Pamir Karagöz
Board Member and Chief Executive Officer
Pamir Karagöz graduated from the Department of Business Administration at Middle East Technical University. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Leadership Program certificate from Harvard Business School.
Karagöz began her professional career as an auditor in 1998. Between 1999 and 2008, she held various roles in the Retail Banking division of Citibank Türkiye, including Strategy, Sales, Wealth Banking, and Affluent Customer Segment Management. In 2008, she was appointed to Barclays’ Emerging Markets regional office in Dubai as a senior executive responsible for Premier Banking and investment products. At Barclays, she led market entry strategies, product development, customer value management, and strategic channel management across 14 countries, including Russia, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, and African countries.
She subsequently served as a senior executive at Mashreqbank during its restructuring process, managing sales and marketing for wealth, investment, insurance, and mortgage products in the UAE, Egypt, and Qatar between 2011 and 2012. Following a tenure as Director of Strategy, Marketing, and Business Development at Deloitte Türkiye from 2012 to 2015, she joined QNB Invest as Executive Vice President responsible for Retail and Wealth Management.
Since February 2018, Karagöz has served as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of QNB Invest, as well as Board Member of QNB Asset Management. In May 2024, she was elected Chair of the Board of the Turkish Capital Markets Association. Simultaneously, she serves as Vice Chair of the Capital Markets Licensing, Registration and Training Agency, Co-Chair of the Placement Committee at the Women on Board Association, and is a member of the Technological Entrepreneurship Council and the Carbon Market Advisory Board under the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Türkiye.