M. Behçet Vargönen, General Manager & Chairman of the Management Board
Born in 1966 Bergama/Türkiye, Mr. M. Behçet Vargönen has graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in Business Administration. Mr. Vargönen, who started his career in 1991 as a Trainee Credit Specialist Assistant at Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş. was appointed as a Credit Specialist in 1997 to the Credit and Risk Management Directorate of İşbank AG, the German subsidiary of Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş., in Frankfurt am Main. Between 1998 and 2013, he served in various periods as Dep-uty Director of the Credit and Risk Management Department at the İşbank AG, as well as Branch Manager in İşbank AG Nuremberg, Munich and Dusseldorf branches. In October 2013, Mr. Vargönen was appointed as Deputy General Manager at İşbank AG. After serving as the Executive Board Member responsible for After Market from January 2016, he returned to İşbank AG Düsseldorf Branch as Branch Manager between July 2017 and October 2021.
Mr. Vargönen joined Ziraat Bank International AG on October 15, 2021 as General Manager / Member of the Management Board. By resolution of the Supervisory Board of Ziraat Bank International AG he has been appointed as Chairman of the Management Board (CEO) with effect from December 7, 2022.
He is married and has two children.
İlhan YENİAYDIN, General Manager and Member of the Executive Board
Born in 1978, İlhan YENİAYDIN graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Gazi University, Department of Economics and Banking.
In 2004, he began his career at Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. as an Assistant Inspector at the Board of Inspectors and served as an Inspector for eight years. Following his inspection role, he held various managerial positions at Ziraat Bankası A.Ş., including Service Manager at the Corporate Loans Allocation and Management Group, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Inspectors, Head of the Internal Control and Compliance Department, Chairman of the Board of Inspectors, Head of the Corporate Communications Department, Head of the Retail Loans Allocation and Management Department, and Regional Manager of Ankara – Yenimahalle.
In addition to these roles, he undertook management, supervisory and audit board memberships at subsidiaries within the Ziraat Banking Group. In this capacity, he served as Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Ziraat Bank Azerbaijan ASC (2014–2016), Board Member at Ziraat Finansal Kiralama A.Ş. (2016–2017), Board Member at Ziraat Sigorta A.Ş. and Ziraat Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş. (2018), Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at Ziraat Bank Uzbekistan JSC (2018–2021), and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Ziraat Bank International AG (2021–2024).
At Ziraat Bank International AG, he served as Deputy General Manager responsible for Credit Allocation and Analysis as of 13 May 2024, and was appointed as General Manager and Member of the Executive Board as of 25 July 2025.