ISTANBUL, October 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ —

Turkish Airlines, Europe’s best airline for six consecutive years according to Skytrax, announced a number of changes to strengthen the leadership team and the airline’s organizational structure in the United States.

Effective August 1st, 2016, Murat Şeker was appointed as new Chief Financial Officer of the global carrier. In this position Murat Şeker will be responsible of all financial operations for Turkish Airlines. During his previous roles, he has gained great experiences in finance as head of investor relations and financial institutions at state-owned T.C. Ziraat Bankasi A.Ş., Turkey’slargest lender. He also served as Professor at Boğaziçi University, Board Members of Ziraat Investment, Ziraat Private Pension Company and Ziraat Insurance, as an analyst at Global Indicators Analysis, and as an economist of the World Bank, in the United States.

Also effective August 1st, 2016, Turkish Airlines created three new positions for its global market. The airline appointed Ayşegül Denli as Senior Vice President Finance, Zekeriya Demir, as Senior Vice President Accounting and Financial Control, and Kadir Coşkun, the former Business Analyst, as new Investor Relations Manager.

“I would like to congratulate all of them on their new positions and look forward to working with them intensively on the further expansion of our company. These appointments will help us to strengthen Turkish Airlines position and support the further progress of our global activities, especially in the United States,” says M. İlker Aycı, Turkish Airlines’ Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee.

Ayşegül Denli has gained tremendous experiences in financial, organizational, administrative audit processes and Actuary and Risk Management. From 1988 to 1997 she covered several roles in operational and financial auditing, and in 1997 she joined AXA Holding A.Ş., where she was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2007, managing several headquarters and branch offices, and reporting directly to the CEO.

Zekeriya Demir has covered several roles as Director of Finance. He began his professional career in 1996 as Lead Auditor in Sahra YMM Ltd. Şti., before serving as General Manager in Gürsoy Şirketler Grubu, a transportation Group, from 2000 to 2006. Further appointments included that of Audit Committee Member at Nergis Holding A.Ş., Director of Finance at Türker Şirketler Grubu from 2006 to 2007 and Professor at Kırklareli Üniversitesi from 2009 to 2015.  In 2015 he was apponted Financial Director at STM Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Tic. A.Ş.

Kadir Coşkun started his experience in Huawei Inc. Turkey, before joining Turkish Airlines in 2009. During the years, he developed several competences in technical monitoring, System Design of Procurement, Quality Control, Supplier Relations and Business Analysis.

About Turkish Airlines:

Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines is a 4-star airline today with a fleet of 334 (passenger and cargo) aircraft flying to 291 destinations worldwide with 242 international and 49 domestic. According to the 2016 Skytrax survey, Turkish Airlines was chosen as “Europe’s Best Airline” for the sixth and “Best Airline inSouthern Europe“ for the eighth consecutive time. Having won in 2010 the world’s “Best Economy Catering Service”, in 2013 and also in 2014 the world’s “Best Business Catering Service”, and “Best Business Class Lounge Dining”, “Best Business Airline Lounge” awards in last year’s survey, Turkish Airlines was awarded again the world’s “Best Business Class Dining Lounge“ and “Best Business Class On-Board Catering“ prizes in this year’s survey. More information about Turkish Airlines can be found on its official website http://www.turkishairlines.com or its social media accounts onFacebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin, and Instagram.

About Star Alliance:

The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca Brazil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,330 airports in 192 countries.