Page 76 - World Of Nurol Magazine 29

Let’s start by getting to know more about you. Can you tell us
about when and where you were born, and your family?

I was born in Istanbul on May 28, 1968. My mother, Ayşe Kulin, has
Bosnian origins from her father’s side (family name comes from
Kulin Ban, who united Bosnians under a single flag), and Circassian
origins from her mother’s side (she is the great granddaughter of
the Ottoman State’s last Minister of Finance). Living in Bosnia
until the end of the 1890s, the family was forced to depart from
these lands where once held the title of derebey, or local lord,
first moving to Rami in Istanbul. It was during the Balkan Wars
that they migrated to Turkey. My grandfather, Muhittin Kulin, is
also the founder and first director general of the State Hydraulic
Works.

My grandfather on my father’s side, Tevfik Kazım Kemahlı, was
a diplomat, while my great grandfather on my father’s side was
Sultan Abdülhamit’s Serasker, the equivalent of today’s Chief
of General Sta§. Following the deposition of the Sultan in the
early 1900s, he migrated to France together with his family. Her
daughter, in other words my paternal grandmother, grew up in
France, which is why she barely knew any Turkish by the time she
went to Turkey. My father Eren Kemahlı was later born as the son
of this couple. So we’re a large family with a deeply-rooted past. 50 Most E©cient CFO of Turkey Award

Can you tell us about your childhood years? If I’m not mistaken,
you’ve only spent a brief time in Turkey with your family?

Yes, I went abroad at a very early age for my education. The breaks. In the summer of 1989, I told my mother not to help me
first years of my childhood passed at a large house in the with my internship, because I wanted to find my job on my own.
Yeniköy district of Istanbul. While I was only two-years-old, At that time, working as an intern in the newly opened foreign
my elder brothers, who are about five and six years older than banks in Istanbul had a certain prestige, so I followed this trend.
me, went to Switzerland to attend school. Afterwards, my I applied to the Standard Chartered Bank, which had branch in
brother Selim and me were sent to London, also to study. İstanbul, and was accepted as a management trainee. After
finishing school, the bank made me an o§er to work with them,
Those were times of political strife and tensions in Turkey, with and they sent me abroad for training in 1990 when I was 22. Then,
widespread terror; so our family thought this would be the the German-based Banka West LB acquired Standard Chartered
best for us. Right after I finished fifth grade at the Şişli Terakki Bank, and I began working at the headquarters of this bank in
Elementary School, when I was only 11-years-old, I was sent Düsseldorf, and later worked in Brussels, Frankfurt (Investment
to a boarding school overseas, without knowing any foreign Banking) and London (Credit Analysis).
languages. I took English courses for two years, as well as classes
at the same level as my peers in the United Kingdom. Are you satisfied with your choice in the banking sector?

It must have been di¸cult for you as a small child, living away You cannot control certain situations in life, and a series of
both from your family and the place you were raised. coincidences may lead you along very di§erent paths. This was
certainly the case for me. My father was involved in shipyard
Yes it was; but it’s much easier for children to adapt. Maybe I was operations, and when I first started university, I expected to work
encouraged by the fact that my elder brothers were also studying together with my father after school; I couldn’t imagine working
far away from home. I was saddened at first, feeling lonely in a in another business. However, my father had to change jobs at
foreign country. But I was soon able to start interacting with the the time when I was finishing university, and so the job that I
people around me; besides, by the end of my first month over had hoped for was no longer available. This is what led me to
there, I could speak English well enough to express myself. begin a career in a bank rather than as a businessman managing
an already established enterprise. Am I happy with this choice
Afterwards, you’ve always continued your education overseas. today? Yes, I am.
Was it your family who decided this? How were you guided in
making this choice? How did you start working in the Turkish banking sector, and
which bank facilitated this?
In the UK, schools really assist you in making choices about
your future education. After seven years in elementary school, First, I worked as a Credit Analyst at the İstanbul branch of
I went to Oxford High School. British universities are deeply- West LB, and in 1993 I started working in the Corporate Banking
rooted institutions with hundreds of years of history that Department, and was promoted to manager in 1996. During
provide excellent education. Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh my tenure as the Strategic Clients Manager of West LB, I was
is one such university, and that’s where I studied Business responsible for managing credit relations between West LB
Management. and the international corporate clients of Turkish companies,
and I also established and managed the Treasury Marketing
Was banking your first choice? How did it happen? Unit (TMU). In September 1996, I began working at Finansbank
as a Credit Marketing Manager and continued in this position
My siblings and I used to meet in Turkey during the summer until the end of 1997. Between early 1998 and November 2007,

77

29 SAYI DERGI NUROL ING.indd 77 26.02.2018 20:19:16