TİM Board of Directors Representative for the Aegean Region Announced

Representative from Aegean Region Appointed to TİM Board Birol Celep, Board Member of Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters Union, will serve as the representative of exporters from the Aegean region at the Turkish Exporters Assembly, the umbrella organization of 105,000 exporters nationwide, for the 2022-26 term. At the TİM General Assembly held on 13 June, TİM President-elect Mustafa Gültepe and TİM Sectors Council members held their first meeting in Istanbul. The 15 members who will serve on the TİM Board of Directors alongside TİM President Mustafa Gültepe were determined as follows: "Ahmet Güleç, Adil Pelister, Çetin Tecdelioğlu, Fikret Kileci, Kutlu Karavelioğlu, Ali Kavak, Baran Çelik, Başaran Bayrak, Birol Celep, Burak Yakın, İbrahim Pektaş, Melisa Tokgöz, Mustafa Şenocak, Selahattin Kaplan and Zeki Poyraz." Burak Sertbaş, Chairman of Aegean Ready-made Clothing and Apparel Exporters Union; Ömer Celal Umur, Chairman of Aegean Tobacco Exporters Union; and Davut Er, Chairman of Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters Union, will serve as members of the TİM Sectors Council in the coming period. TİM Board Member Birol Celep, emphasizing that he has served Turkish exports since 2003 as Audit Board Member, Board Member, Board Vice-Chairman, Board Chairman, Coordinator Vice-Chairman of Aegean Exporter Unions, and TİM Sectors Council Member, stated: "I am pleased to serve as a bridge between the Aegean Exporter Unions and the Turkish Exporters Assembly, with the support of our TİM President Mustafa Gültepe. I will serve as the representative of our 7 agricultural unions and 5 industrial unions under the Aegean Exporter Unions, which are leaders in the agricultural sector in Turkey. I extend my thanks to our TİM President Mustafa Gültepe and the 12 exporter union chairmen under the umbrella of EİB for the confidence they have placed in me."

Who is Birol Celep?

Birol Celep was born on 4 June 1960 in Foça Gerenköy and graduated from Industrial Vocational High School. Starting in 1984, Celep held positions in production and purchasing at his family's cotton sector companies Celepler Cotton and Celpam Cotton, operating in the Gediz and Bakırçay basins. In 1994, he took an active role in the management of K.F.C. Food Textile Industry Import Export Investment Inc., which was established for dried fruit production and export. Celep has been Chairman of the Board of K.F.C. Food Inc. and Safe Food Corporation, a firm based in the USA, for over 20 years, and is also a Board Member of Celepler Cotton Industry and Trade Ltd. Beginning in 2003, Celep served as an Audit Board Member at Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters Union. He held the position of Vice-Chairman during 2010-2014 and was elected Chairman of the Board of Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters Union in 2014. Re-elected as Chairman of the Board of Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters Union in 2018, Birol Celep became Coordinator Vice-Chairman of Aegean Exporter Unions the same year. First elected to the TİM Sectors Council membership in 2018, Birol Celep was elected to the TİM Sectors Council membership for the second time in 2022. Celep became a TİM Board Member on 20 June 2022. Married to Olcay Celep, Birol Celep is the father of two sons and grandfather of three.