Notable connections in Türkiye Sigorta: Which names intersected in which institutions?

NEW Party Izmir Deputy Ümit Özlale brought up the academic and family relationships of the people working in the management of public financial institutions after the resignation of Türkiye Sigorta General Manager Taha Çakmak. İYİ Party Samsun Deputy Erhan Usta added a new name to these connections.

It was reported that after Çakmak's resignation, measures were taken against his personal assets and a travel ban was imposed on him. Official authorities did not make a detailed statement regarding the scope of the investigation in which the measures were implemented.

ERISAH ARICAN IS AT THE CENTER OF THE NETWORK OF RELATIONSHIPS

Prof. Dr. Erişah Arıcan serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Borsa Istanbul and the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Türkiye Wealth Fund. Arıcan also served as the doctoral thesis advisor of former Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak and former Central Bank Governor Şahap Kavcıoğlu.

Arıcan, a lecturer at Marmara University, is Aydın Ayaydın's nephew.

Doğan Başar, who was the Human Resources General Manager of the institution during Şahap Kavcıoğlu's term as Central Bank President, later served as deputy general manager at Türkiye Sigorta.

Çağrı Akpınar, another deputy general manager of Türkiye Sigorta, is also Arıcan's doctoral student. Akpınar is the brother of Özgür Akpınar, Deputy Dean of Marmara University Faculty of Financial Sciences.

Official records of Türkiye Sigorta confirm that Doğan Başar and Çağrı Akpınar serve as deputy general managers. According to the resume published by the company, Akpınar joined Türkiye Sigorta in 2019 and was appointed deputy general manager in September 2023.

BORSA ISTANBUL BOARD MEMBER'S WIFE IS ALSO IN TÜRKİYE SİGORTA

The name Erhan Usta brought to the agenda was Şahika Balbay Demiroğlu.

According to Usta, Demiroğlu, after serving as deputy general manager at credit rating agency JCR, moved to Türkiye Sigorta as investor relations director. Demiroğlu is the wife of Borsa Istanbul Board Member Cem Demiroğlu.

In the official records of Türkiye Sigorta, it is seen that Şahika Balbay Demiroğlu is the Investor Relations Director and serves on the Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee.

TWO FORMER CENTRAL BANK VICE PRESIDENTS

Two former Central Bank Deputy Governors are among those whose network of relations intersects with the fund investigation.

Erkan Kilimci served as the Governor of the Central Bank between 2016 and 2018. Later, Kilimci, who was in the management of TERA, was arrested within the scope of the fund investigation.

Taha Çakmak served as vice president between 2021 and 2023, during Şahap Kavcıoğlu's term as Central Bank President. In August 2023, he was appointed general manager of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik.

Çakmak and Kilimci did not serve as Central Bank Deputy Governors in the same period. Çakmak's work history is also included in the resume published by Türkiye Sigorta.

INWHICH FUNDS ARE TÜRKİYE SİGORTA'S RESOURCES INVESTED IN?

The financial connection in Özlale's statement was Türkiye Sigorta's investment portfolio.

Türkiye Sigorta is a company controlled by the Türkiye Wealth Fund. TVF sold 5 percent of its shares in the company to international investors for 6.75 billion TL in May 2026. Following the transaction, TVF Finansal Yatırımlar AŞ's share reached 76.1 percent and its free float rate reached 23.9 percent.

Özlale requested clarification of the allegations that high amounts of investments were made in the funds taken into liquidation process and the stocks subject to the investigation, with the resources consisting of premiums collected by Türkiye Sigorta.

A confirmed breakdown of the amount of the company's investments in these funds has not yet been revealed.

FULL TEXT OF ÜMİT ÖZLALE'S STATEMENT

Taha Çakmak's resignation and the anatomy of a relationship network

One resignation many connections

Taha Çakmak, whose resignation was made public today and whose assets were reported to have been seized in the news, is not an ordinary person. He served as vice president when Şahap Kavcıoğlu was the President of the CBRT. Erkan Kilimci, who was previously the Vice President of the CBRT between 2016 and 2018 and later took part in the TERA management, was also arrested within the scope of the fund investigation. Kilimci and Çakmak did not serve as vice presidents in the same period; However, it is necessary to investigate in which institutions these names, who worked in public finance management in different periods, met later. The connections of this circle, which includes former deputy minister Bülent Aksu, who was mentioned in the fund investigation, with the Berat Albayrak period should be clarified.

Name where the paths cross: Erişah Arıcan

Mr. Berat Albayrak wrote his thesis with Erişah Arıcan. Ms. Erişah is such a valuable person that she is both the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Borsa Istanbul and the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Türkiye Wealth Fund. There is not much information about where he received his undergraduate degree, but it was always at Marmara University. He is the nephew of Aydın Ayaydın, who is a faculty member at the same university.

Erişah Hanım has very successful thesis students. One of them is Şahap Kavcıoğlu, whom we mentioned above. Doğan Başar, who served as the general manager of human resources at the CBRT during his presidency, also serves as the deputy general manager at Türkiye Sigorta, where Taha Çakmak is the general manager.

Türkiye Sigorta also has a technical assistant general manager. His name is Çağrı Akpınar. He is the brother of Özgür Akpınar, Deputy Dean of Marmara Faculty of Financial Sciences, and a doctoral student of Erişah Arıcan.

Where did Türkiye Sigorta's money go?

Well, Türkiye Sigorta A.Ş., which was claimed to have previously been subject to an injunction and this decision was lifted hours later. Why is it important? Why do we question the investment decisions of this institution when we talk about fund profiteering? Because there are allegations that he invested a high amount of money in the funds that were decided to be liquidated and in the stocks that were subject to investigation, with the premiums he collected. The main shareholder of Türkiye Sigorta is TVF Finansal Yatırımlar AŞ, which holds 76.1 percent of its capital. The remaining 23.9 percent share is traded on Borsa Istanbul. Therefore, being a shareholder of Borsa Istanbul and having company shares traded on the stock exchange should not be confused. The main question here is, with what investment decisions and with what risks are the corporate resources used at this scale.

FULL TEXT OF ERHAN MASTER'S MESSAGE

“Teacher Ümit, you summarized the list well, let me add something:

Şahika Demiroğlu, who was made deputy general manager at JCR and then became Türkiye Sigorta investor relations director. She is the wife of Cem Demiroğlu, a member of the Borsa Istanbul board of directors.”