Significant development at Türkiye İş Bankası: CEO Hakan Aran to hold online meeting with 20,000 employees

Türkiye İş Bankası CEO Hakan Aran is holding a series of critical online meetings today (April 29, 2026), where he will address approximately 20,000 of the bank's employees.

The meetings, described in banking circles as a "democratic transformation move," are expected to cover numerous strategic topics ranging from foundation management to the general assembly. The digital meetings, planned in two stages, will begin at 1:45 PM and 5:45 PM, respectively, near the end of the workday.

The main agenda items for the meeting include the bank's medium- and long-term vision, new developments in digitalization, and preparations for the General Assembly of the Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş. Employees' Supplementary Social Security and Mutual Aid Foundation, which will be held in June.

Aran, who took office as the 17th CEO of İş Bankası on April 1, 2021, is expected to make assessments on a wide range of topics during these meetings, from the bank's capital structure to its technological transformation goals.

A NEW ERA IN THE SUPPLEMENTARY FUND: PARTICIPATION, NOT PROXY

The most critical issue expected to be brought to the agenda at the meeting is the foundation's new board of directors election process. In previous periods, the foundation's management was primarily determined based on proxies collected through BASİSEN (Banking, Finance and Insurance Workers' Union).

Following union president Metin Tiryakioğlu's handover of his seat to Cüneyt Akarsu in 2025, a signal for a new approach in bank management had been given.

In today's meeting, Hakan Aran is expected to call on employees to "participate directly instead of giving proxies," emphasize the importance of democratic participation in management processes, and propose that the fund's management be determined through a more transparent, grassroots-oriented model.

Aran's agenda is not limited to ballot box elections. The bank's future vision and developments in next-generation banking will also be on the table. It is anticipated that the General Manager will share details regarding a "democratic banking" model in which employees are more actively involved in management processes.

ARAN'S STRIKING REMARKS HAD DRAWN ATTENTION

Aran, who recently criticized the current economic climate in harsh terms, caused a major stir in the economic world by stating, "The current climate shaped by war does not allow for the implementation of an inflation-fighting program. There seems to be no room for hope other than exiting this program and transitioning to a new economic program."