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Hakan Aran, chief executive of Turkiye Is Bankasi, the country's largest private-sector lender by assets, is expected to step down as early as Friday and be replaced by deputy CEO Hasan Cahit Cinar, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter remains private. Isbank did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the report.
Aran is expected to leave his post to take on the chairmanship of the board at Turkiye Sise ve Cam Fabrikalari A.S., known as Sisecam, according to the people cited by Bloomberg. Cinar's appointment as his replacement would still be subject to final regulatory approval, the sources said.
Aran has led Is Bankasi since April 2021. Cinar has served as deputy CEO in his current stint since last year.
Isbank ranks as Turkiye's largest private-sector bank by total assets as of the first quarter of this year. Its shares have risen more than 1,000% since Aran took charge in April 2021, according to Bloomberg's reporting.
Cinar has spent much of his career at the bank. He previously served as deputy CEO between 2018 and 2023, then moved to Trakya Yatirim Holding, before returning to Is Bankasi as deputy CEO last year.
Aran has been known as one of the few bank executives to publicly criticize aspects of Turkiye's disinflation program, often arguing for measures to protect small and medium-sized enterprises, industrialists and business owners.
Speaking at the LeadWorld Business and Economy Forum, Aran argued that continuing the anti-inflation program amid wartime conditions and elevated oil prices had become increasingly costly, saying that regardless of the central bank's actions, inflation was likely to settle in a range between 27% and 32%.
He suggested it might be worth discussing a shift toward an industrial and technology-focused transformation program alongside anti-inflation efforts, saying "everything has a cost, and that cost has risen a great deal."
Aran later said his remarks had been reported more harshly than intended, had lost context and contained translation errors.
He said he had supported the program since its first day and maintained that inflation remained the main problem requiring priority attention, adding that his forum comments had been about the rising cost of the fight against inflation amid the war and oil prices, not opposition to the program itself.
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