Our Trustees

Born in Erzurum in 1959, Abdullah Tivnikli completed his primary and secondary education there before earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and a Master's in Business Administration. In 1986, together with his brother Fahreddin Tivnikli, he founded Eksim Dış Ticaret AŞ. Through strategic investments in energy and real estate, he expanded the firm's success in food and foreign trade, transforming Eksim Holding into one of Türkiye's leading industrial conglomerates.

A visionary entrepreneur, Tivnikli contributed significantly to participation banking, telecommunications, food, and energy. While in the UK, he closely studied and helped model participation banking, playing a pioneering role in establishing its legal framework in Türkiye and in founding Albaraka Türk and Kuveyt Türk.

From 1988, he served as a Board Member of Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank, became Vice Chairman of the Board in 2001, and was a Board Member of Türk Telekom from 2008 onward. Beyond business, he consistently dedicated time and resources to charitable and foundation work both at home and abroad.

In 2009, he founded the Istanbul Research and Education Foundation (İSAR Vakfı). He was also a founding figure of several other organizations, including SETA, served as a Trustee Board Member of Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, and acted as Honorary Consul of Bahrain. Abdullah Tivnikli passed away on November 6, 2018; following his death, İSAR Vakfı was renamed Abdullah Tivnikli İSAR Vakfı.

Born in Erzurum in 1954, İsmail Fahreddin Tivnikli completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in his hometown before graduating from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. As a member of one of Erzurum's established merchant families, he founded Eksim Dış Ticaret AŞ in Istanbul in 1986 alongside his brother Abdullah Tivnikli, thereby laying the foundations of Eksim Holding. What began as an enterprise focused on food and foreign trade later expanded into successful ventures in energy production, electricity distribution, and real estate. Until his passing, Fahreddin Tivnikli remained actively involved in the management of Eksim Holding. Beyond his business pursuits, he devoted considerable time to charitable and foundation work, leading numerous initiatives both domestically and internationally. As a co-founder and long-standing trustee of the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Foundation, he actively participated in and contributed to various other foundations and philanthropic efforts. İsmail Fahreddin Tivnikli passed away on December 4, 2014.