CENGİZ SOLAKOĞLU
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Cengiz Solakoğlu graduated from the Istanbul Academy of Economics and Business Studies (now Marmara University) in 1964 and started his professional career in sales at Beko Ticaret A.Ş. in 1967. In 1977, he was appointed General Manager at the same company. In 1983, Solakoğlu was appointed General Manager of the Atılım Company under the Koç Group. During his eight-year tenure, he pioneered efforts to restructure and strengthen Arçelik’s “Authorized Dealer System.” Solakoğlu took office as Vice Chairman of Koç Holding Consumer Goods Group in 1991, and then as Chairman of the same group in 1994. Also serving as a member of the Executive Committee of Koç Group between 1996 and 1998, he was appointed Chairman of Koç Holding Consumer Durables Group in 2002. After 38 years of continuous service, Solakoğlu retired from the Group in 2004, due to the Group policy of mandatory retirement at the age of 60. Cengiz Solakoğlu is Member of the Board of Directors and chairs the Board of Şok Marketler A.Ş., a retail company of Yıldız Holding, as well as Bizim Toptan. Cengiz Solakoğlu is among the founders of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) and the 1907 Fenerbahçe Association. He was named a Leader of Civil Society by the Ekonomist magazine in 2003.
MURAT ÜLKER
Board Member
Born in 1959, Murat Ülker graduated from the Management Department of the School of Administrative Sciences at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul.
Mr. Ülker studied sector-specific subjects at international schools such as the American Institute of Baking (AIB) and Zentralfachschule der Deutschen Süßwarenwirtschaft (ZDS), serving an internship at American company Continental Baking. In three years, Murat Ülker visited nearly 60 biscuit, chocolate and food factories in the United States and Europe. He also worked on various projects for the International Executive Service Corps (IESC).
Mr. Ülker joined the Group in 1984 as a Control Coordinator. Over the following years, he assumed the roles of Assistant General Manager, and then General Director. As a member of the Executive Committee and a Board Member of various companies in the Group, he led a series of cornerstone investments based on the “Vertical Integration” model.
In 2000, Mr. Ülker became Chairman of the Executive Committee, serving as Chairman for eight years. In 2008 he became Chairman of the Board of Directors. As of January 29, 2020, Mr. Ülker continues to take an active role in companies affiliated to the holding as a Member of the Board, and his role as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at pladis and Godiva.
Murat Ülker enjoys sailing and traveling with his wife and three children. He is also known for his interest in modern art and Islamic calligraphy.
MEHMET TÜTÜNCÜ
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Mehmet Tütüncü completed his bachelor’s degree at Gazi University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and his master’s degree at Maltepe University, Department of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He attended training on Production, Quality Control and Maintenance Practices in Italy for six months with an IRI scholarship. He has certificates in various fields, including Strategic Marketing from Harvard Business School, and from IMD/Switzerland and Insead/Singapore.
Starting his career as a Domestic Industry Specialist at the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 1981, Mehmet Tütüncü worked as Production Manager, Operations Manager and General Manager at Best Rothmans Entegre Sigara ve Tütün Sanayi A.Ş. between 1987 and 1996. He started his first duty within Yıldız Holding as Business Coordinator at Ülker Gıda A.Ş. in 1996. Then he served as General Manager of Ülker Biscuits and Chocolate Plants, Vice President of Ülker Group, President of Food and Beverage Group, President of Food Group and President of Ülker International Group. In 2016, he was appointed as the Regional CEO responsible for Turkey, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia at the pladis organization established within Yıldız Holding. In 2017, Tütüncü continued his duties as Deputy CEO, taking responsibility for the South Asia and Latin America regions and pladis Global Information Systems and Business Models Transformation. Since October 2018, he has been serving as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Yıldız Holding. Tütüncü is a member of the Board of Directors of TÜGİS, as well as member of many Turkish and foreign sectoral organizations.
YAHYA ÜLKER
Board Member
Having graduated from Koç University Department of Business Administration in 2016, Yahya Ülker worked at various organizations operating in banking and biscuit production in London and Switzerland upon completing his undergraduate studies.
After starting his career at Yıldız Holding in 2018, Yahya Ülker worked at the Holding’s innovation company, Northstar Innovation, and played an active role in implementing the Holding’s innovation projects devised as an investment into the future through university-industry collaborations during his tenure.
Since 2019, he has led the teams of Yıldız Ventures, an organization he founded, working to incubate in-house start-ups in industries that would add value to the Holding’s strategy and to support the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Fulfilling his duties as Yıldız Holding Transformation and Technology Leader, Yahya Ülker also acts as the E-Commerce Leader for ŞOK Marketler, one of Türkiye’s leading retail brands.
He is a founding member of Q Angels, which is a part of the angel investor network in Türkiye. In addition to being a Startup Mentor at Endeavor Türkiye and a member of the Digital Technologies Business Council at DEİK (Foreign Economic Relations Board), Yahya Ülker is a recently recent Board Member of the Yenibirlider Association.
UĞUR DEMİREL
Board Member
Uğur Demirel was born in Ankara in 1968. He graduated from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ankara University in 1991. He began his professional career at Maret A.Ş., and later played a key role in the establishment of the Aytaç Integrated Meat Facility, where he served as Production Manager. In 1997, he moved to retail sector, taking on the role of Commercial Deputy General Manager at Gima. He later served as Commercial Director at CarrefourSA. Demirel joined Yıldız Holding in 2010 and served as General Manager of the sales company Pasifik Tüketim Ürünleri Satış ve Ticaret A.Ş. until 2015. Since then, he has been serving as the CEO of ŞOK Marketler Ticaret A.Ş.
In 2024, Yıldız Holding Retail Group was established and all retail companies under Yıldız Holding were consolidated under one umbrella. Since then, Uğur Demirel has been serving as President of Retail Group at Yıldız Holding, being responsible for ŞOK Marketler, Bizim Toptan, Seç Market, and G2M. He has completed Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School and executive leadership program at INSEAD. In addition to his role on Yıldız Holding’s Board of Directors, he also serves on the boards of group companies, including ŞOK Marketler Ticaret A.Ş., Bizim Toptan Satış Mağazaları A.Ş., G2M Eksper Satış ve Dağıtım Hizmetleri A.Ş., Mevsim Taze Sebze Meyve Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., and UCZ Mağazacılık Ticaret A.Ş. Uğur Demirel is married with three children.
MEHMET TAYFUN ÖKTEM
Independent Board Member
Tayfun Öktem, who graduated from Darüşşafaka High School with honors in 1982, studied in the USA for one academic year with AFS cultural exchange programs in 1980-81.
He graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Business Administration as an honor student in 1986. In 1988, he received his master's degree from the University of Minnesota (UMD), where he studied with a full scholarship.
Öktem, who also has a Strategic Marketing Management certificate from Harvard Business School, has worked as a senior professional manager, CEO and Board Member with global responsibility in international and multinational companies such as Unilever, ReckittBenckiser, Ülker International, Alliance Healthcare, both at home and abroad (London, Prague, Riyadh, Copenhagen).
After serving as an Independent Board Member within Nokia Turkey (Alcatel-Lucent Teletaş A.Ş.) for 2 terms between 2012-18, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Darüşşafaka Society for a period between 2019-22. During his membership on the Board of Directors, Öktem took an active role, especially in the Corporate Governance, Risk, Donation/Fundraising & Communication commissions. He is a member of the Darüşşafaka Society High Advisory Board.
He graduated from Anadolu University, Department of Cookery, within the scope of the "2nd University Program" in 2020. Öktem is married and has a child and speaks English and German.
FATMA FÜSUN AKKAL BOZOK
Independent Board Member
Fatma Füsun Akkal Bozok completed her academic education with a master's degree from Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and a PhD degree from Istanbul University, Faculty of Business Administration. After graduation, she started her professional career at Arthur Andersen Audit Company in 1980. Joining Koç Group in 1983, she first worked as an Audit Specialist and Assistant Coordinator in the Audit and Financial Group within the Holding. In 1992, she was appointed as Audit and Financial Group Coordinator, a position she held for 11 years. Akkal served as Director of the Finance Group between 2003 and 2006 and as a Board Member at Yapı Kredi Bank between 2004 and 2019. She is currently an independent board member at Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi A.Ş., Gözde Girişim Sermayesi Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş., Kocaer Çelik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. and Lila Kâğıt Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.
Akkal, who taught Auditing and International Accounting courses as a faculty member at Sabancı University between 2008-2020, is a member of TKYD, TİDE, T. Accounting Professionals Association and Boğaziçi Alumni Association.
ADİLE ESRA TÖZGE
Independent Board Member
Born in İzmir in 1966, Adile Esra Tözge graduated from İzmir American College and Boğaziçi University, Department of Economics.
Adile Esra Tözge has 12 years of Strategic Planning, Reporting, Logistics, Sales and Marketing experience in Germany-based Henkel Turyağ and France-based Saint Gobain Weber companies. In addition to these experiences, Adile Esra Tözge has been working at Kale Group for 20 years, first as a consultant on Sales, Marketing, Strategy, Reporting, Planning, Corporate Communication and Institutionalization, and later as Vice President and Executive Board Member reporting to Kale Group Chairman and CEO Zeynep Bodur Okyay.
During this period, Tözge managed joint projects with many international consultancy companies such as BCG, Deloitte, AD Little, Landor, Simon Kucher, such as transferring Kale Holding Management from İbrahim Bodur to Zeynep Bodur Okyay, institutionalizing the group, organizing, selecting and hiring a professional management team in the Holding, adapting it to the culture, establishing and operating the Boards of Directors, making processes, authority tables, reporting and targeting, adopting the Corporate Communications department as a strategic management style and brand positioning.
Tözge has served on the Boards of Directors of Kale Seramik, Kalekim, Kale Nakliyat and Bodur Gayrimenkul Companies. Currently she is working as a Board Member at Kaleseramik and Kalekim.
Adile Esra Tözge also works as a Member of the Board of Trustees at SEV Health and Education Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees at BUVAK Boğaziçi University Foundation and Member of the Board of Trustees at KSV İbrahim Bodur Kaleseramik Foundation voluntarily.
Adile Esra Tözge's husband, Galip Tözge, is currently working as Çalık Holding Banking Group President, after working at Citibank and Akbank. His son Selim Tözge is a business administration student at Penn State University.