Board of Directors
Chairperson: Devrim Çubukçu
Vice Chairperson: Esra İren
Member: Selim Akbaş
Member: Kaan Ünver
Member: Mete Saylan
Secretary-General: Dr. Ceyhun Emre Doğru
Devrim Çubukçu
Mehmet Ateş
After graduating from TED Ankara College in 1990, he continued his education at Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Economics. He started his career as a Customs Specialist at the T.C. Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Customs. Mehmet Ateş has been working as the External Relations Manager at Philip Morris Sabancı since 2000 and as the Director of External Relations and Corporate Communications at Novartis Turkey, and as the Corporate Relations Director at JTI Turkey since 2012. Ateş, who has a working group chairman and board member titles and memberships of several non-governmental organizations such as TÜSİAD, YASED, DEİK, and Aegean Exporters’ Associations, also has a thesis and reports on tax and intellectual property.
Atilla D. Yerlikaya
Graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Economics, Atilla D. Yerlikaya has been serving as the General Manager of Corporate Strategy and Policy at Amazon Turkey since July 2018.
Between 1999 and 2001, he was the General Manager of Doğuş Magazine Group, the publisher of National Geographic, Car, Formula 1 Racing, and L’Officiel magazines, Executive Board Member of Shell Turcas between 2005 – 2006, and he served as a Member of the Executive Board between 2006 – 2018 at Coca-Cola İçecek, of which Anadolu Group is the main shareholder.
He served as a member of the supervisory board in the International Investors Association YASED between 2005 – 2009 and as the Head of the Food and Agriculture Working Group in 2011 – 2014. Yerlikaya, who was the Chairman of DEIK Turkey – Pakistan Business Council between 2015 – 2020, still serves as the Chairman of the Executive Board of DEIK Turkey – Luxembourg Business Council and the Chairman of TUSIAD Retail Working Group.
In 2016, Yerlikaya was elected as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Amsterdam-based Global Sustainability Standards Board, which is considered one of the world’s leading standards board and reference source in the field of sustainability. He also served as the Vice President of the United Nations Global Compact Turkey Network between 2012 – 2018.
He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Boğaziçi University Foundation and the author of the book “Cive Pakistan”.
Ebru Şenel Erim
Graduated from Hacettepe University Nutrition Sciences Department, Ebru Şenel Erim started her career in 1995 at Unilever Turkey as Nutrition Expert. Later assigned in 1999 as Nutrition Manager, Ebru Şenel Erim undertook the Corporate Communications Manager role in 2004.
Erim, who successfully continued managing Unilever Turkey’s communication activities, was appointed in December 2011 as External Affairs Director of Unilever NAMETRUB region (North Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) and Director of Unilever Turkey’s Sustainable Business and Communications, in line with Unilever’s new global structure.
Ebru Şenel Erim, has demonstrated experience in corporate communications, public affairs, media relations, sustainable business, government relations, sustainability, external affairs, crisis management, medical communications, and nutritional counseling.
She is married with one child.
Güray Karacar
After graduating from Saint-Joseph French High School, Karacar continued his education at Marmara University Faculty of Communication Sciences and served as the Secretary-General of the Corporate Governance Association of Turkey between 2003 and 2016. During his tenure, he served as Executive Board Member of Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) MENA Region, World Bank Civil Society Dialogue Consultant, TUSIAD Corporate Governance Committee and BORGIP Project Member, and International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) country representative. He took part in the promotion of the Global Compact and the Millennium Development Goals by working as the National Program Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program between 2005 and 2007.
He organizes seminars, conferences, and training in Anatolian cities and in Istanbul to introduce the corporate governance approach in a wide framework, as well as to prepare publications on family companies, capital markets, economic journalism, non-governmental organizations, and the football industry. Among the publications he has authored and contributed to are Family Business Management Guide (2010), Turkish Football Industry Management Guide (2010), What Is This Corporate Governance? (2005), Non-Governmental Organizations Management Guide (2014), Handbook of Business Journalist (2011), Turkey Corporate Governance Map Research Report (2005), Corporate Governance Perception Survey (2015), Turkey – Pakistan – Iran Business Environment and Privatizations Comparison Report (2013) TUSIAD Corporate Governance Code of Best Practice.
Karacar, who served as Tofaş External Relations Director between 2016 and 2021, also took roles as TOBB Automotive Industry Council Member, Automotive Industry Association Board Member, Turkish – Italian Business Council Member, TKYD, TEID, KIYED Board Member. In 2021, he started to work at Sanofi Pharmaceuticals as Market Access and Corporate Affairs Director for Turkey and Levant Region.
Esra İren
After graduating from Izmir American College, she graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1993 and worked as a lawyer in İzmir Postacıoğlu Law Firm between 1993-1999. She completed her master’s degree in Private Law at Dokuz Eylül University Social Sciences Institute in 1996 with her thesis titled “Carrier’s Freight Claim”. After that, she worked as a legal consultant at Gide Loyrette Nouel Law Firm and then as Legal Counsel at Philip Morris SA. And also undertook the role of Compliance Coordinator. She was appointed as PepsiCo Food Legal and Government Affairs Director in 2008. She was appointed as PepsiCo Food Legal and Government Affairs Director in 2008 and has been the Senior Director of Government Affairs at PepsiCo Turkey and the Greater Balkans Region since June 2017. She is also a member of the company’s Executive Board. She is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of MEDER – Soft Drinks Association, which is under the umbrella of the Federation of Food & Drink Industry Associations of Turkey, Member of the Board of Directors of ÇEVKO Environmental Protection and Packaging Waste Evaluation Foundation, and she is the Chairman of YASED Food and Agriculture Working Group and a Board Member of the Public Affairs Institute of Turkey.
Kaan Ünver
Following his high school degree at TED Ankara College and undergraduate degree at Hacettepe University Department of Business Administration, Mr. Kaan Ünver had his MBA at New York, College of Insurance, Department of Actuary. Kaan Unver began his career as investment and finance expert at Undersecretariat of Turkish Treasury. He continued his career as Debt Management Department Head of Undersecretariat of the Treasury. Before joining Anadolu Group, Mr. Unver was Corporate Affairs Manager at Philip Morris/Sabancı between 2004 – 2009, Corporate Affairs Division Head at Turkcell between 2009 – 2011 and Metro Group Country Representative between April 2011 – September 2017.
Kaan Unver works as Anadolu Group Coordinator of Corporate Affairs and Communication since October 2017. Mr. Unver holds various positions as board member and working group chairman at Turkish Industry & Business Association, Foreign Economic Relations Board, International Investors Association and Food Retailers Association.
Murat LeCompte
Murat LeCompte served as SOCAR Turkey’s Head of External Relations between 2017 – 2020 and was appointed as Advisor to SOCAR Turkey CEO in October 2020. LeCompte has more than 30 years of corporate experience in the Energy and Technology industries at home and abroad.
Murat LeCompte spent his childhood years in the USA and Turkey. After completing his high school education at TED Ankara College, he graduated from Boğaziçi University with degrees in Tourism Management and the University of Houston with degrees in Hotel Management and Business Administration.
Murat LeCompte, who worked in the Information Technologies sector for 16 years between 1990 – 2006, also worked as a manager in different fields in both Turkey and USA and undertaken many important projects. LeCompte, who recently worked at Intel Corporation in the technology sector, held positions such as Strategic Relations and Business Development Manager, National Education Projects Director, and Public Relations Manager. LeCompte also served as Intel’s sole spokesperson in Turkey.
LeCompte, who moved to the energy sector in 2006, served as the Corporate Communications Director at BP Turkey for more than 11 years and took an active role in mega projects such as the Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline (BTC) and the Trans – Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP).
LeCompte currently advises the senior management of SOCAR (The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) in different strategic areas in Turkey such as media relations, corporate and public relations, corporate responsibility projects, internal communication, and crisis management.
Murat LeCompte, who has many internal and external awards in both corporate relations and business development fields, is the Vice Chairman of the Corporate Communication Professionals Association in addition to being a member of the board of directors of the Public Affairs Institute of Turkey. Murat LeCompte is married and has 3 daughters.
Servet Yıldırım
Servet Yıldırım started his career as an Assistant Economics Specialist at the Economic Research Department of Türkiye İş Bankası, then worked in the Fund Management Department of the bank. After he started working as a reporter in Reuters News Agency at the end of 1989, Servet Yıldırım was appointed as the head of Reuters’ Turkish News Service in 1996. Yıldırım started as News Editor-in-Chief on CNBC-e in 2004; In 2005, he was appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of the channel. Yıldırım then was appointed as Doğuş Broadcasting Group’s Head of Economy Group in 2011 and took part as a commentator in various programs on NTV and CNBC-e until August 2018. Yıldırım was appointed as the Corporate Relations Director of Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI) in September 2018. Yıldırım, who has been a columnist for Yeni Binyıl, Sabah, Belge, Radikal, and Milliyet newspapers since 1998, continues to write columns in Finans Dünyası magazine and Dünya Newspaper, where he is still a member of the Editorial Advisory Board. Servet Yıldırım also continues his role as a board member at United Nations Global Compact Turkey, Forum Istanbul, Turkey – Pakistan Business Council, Turkey – Kazakhstan Business Council, and MEDER Soft Drinks Association. Yıldırım, who is married and has two children, completed his undergraduate education at the Middle East Technical University, Department of Business Administration in 1986.
Dr. Mete Şaylan
Dr. Mete Şaylan graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 1996 and received his Specialization in psychiatry from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine Department of Psychiatry in 2001. Then he took part in drug clinical research, health economics, and public relations tasks in international pharmaceutical companies. Since 2016, he has been working at Bayer Turkey as Market Access, Public Relations, and Sustainability Director for Turkey and Africa – Middle East Countries.
Selim Akbaş
After completing his secondary education at Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi and his undergraduate education at Istanbul University Faculty of Law, he completed his master’s degree in Public Law at Kadir Has University.
After working at the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1995 – 2006, he left the public service and worked as the Official Relations Manager at British American Tobacco between 2006 – 2012 and as the Director of Corporate Relations at Doluca between 2012 – 2016. He has been working as Oyak Renault / Groupe Renault Public Relations Director since 2016. He is also Head of YASED’s Automotive Working Group, Executive Board member of DEIK Spain and Romania Business Councils, BUSIAD Board member, Automotive Industry Association member, and TOBB Automotive Industry Council member.
Dr. Ceyhun Emre Doğru
Dr. Ceyhun Emre Doğru is a consultant and scholar of corporate affairs & public policy.
Dr. Ceyhun Emre Doğru is the managing partner of CORPERA Consulting. He advises organizations on corporate affairs and public policy to support their strategic business priorities. Emre’s work focuses on analyzing policy-making processes, identifying emerging issues, monitoring legislative changes, developing public policy strategies, coordinating external communications, engaging public authorities and advocating policy positions. He also assists organizations in building governance and culture that align corporate affairs with overall business objectives. Emre led major projects in various sectors including technology, energy, automotive, manufacturing, professional services, infrastructure, agriculture, health and FMCG. He also serves as secretary general of the Corporate Affairs Institute of Turkey.
Earlier in his career, Emre worked as a partner at StratejiCo., as well as a policy analyst at NATO, the United Nations, and Strategic Forecasting. He served as TUSIAD’s (Turkish Industry & Business Association) permanent representative to Washington, DC in 2012.
Dr. Doğru has completed his undergraduate studies at Ankara University Faculty of Political Science and Université Libre de Bruxelles. He received his MA degree at the European Institute and obtained his Ph.D. degree from Koç University in 2018, based on the research on corporate affairs strategies in international relations.
Emre likes developing and implementing ideas that make business, politics, and society work better. He contributes to academic projects and civil society activities by making publications and giving lectures. His articles have been published in various journals, including Harvard Business Review, FastCompany, Dünya, Palgrave and Hurriyet Daily News. He is a certified ethics and compliance officer, and an advocate of corporate governance and anti-corruption principles. He is a member of the board of Luxembourg and Belgium Business Councils of Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).
Emre is fluent in English and French. He is married with two children and is passionate about water sports.