Burak Gültekin Takes DEFMED Presidency After Three-Year Term With 300-Plus Events

DEFMED’s next leadership team inherits an active events program and a scholarship effort that supported students across the association’s 2023–2026 term. At its October 31, 2026, general assembly in İzmir, the Dokuz Eylul University Maritime Faculty Alumni Association elected Burak Gültekin as president, with Bülent İbik handing over the role.

The assembly took place at the İzmir Branch of the İMEAK Chamber of Shipping. Members also heard the outgoing term’s activity, financial and audit reports, giving the incoming team a record of the association’s work as it begins its 2026–2029 term.

Events and student support

DEFMED took part in more than 300 events during the 2023–2026 term. These included traditional gatherings, fairs, company and sector visits, receptions, faculty events and invitations from maritime organizations. Activities took place in several cities, especially İzmir, Istanbul and Ankara, and connected the faculty and its students with alumni and people from across the maritime sector.

The figure gives a sense of the association’s operating reach, though the report groups together events of different kinds rather than detailing attendance or individual outcomes. For the incoming team, sustaining that activity will involve maintaining recurring gatherings while continuing visits and events that connect students and alumni with maritime companies and organizations.

Scholarships were another part of the term’s work. DEFMED’s Traditional Educational Support Scholarship Program provided support to 104 students in the 2023–2024 academic year. In 2024–2025, it supported 50 students, including 14 recipients of merit scholarships. The reported totals cover separate academic years; the association did not describe them as a cumulative count.

The association also contributed to faculty events and student community activities. It continued financial and personal support for students and alumni in need, according to the term’s account. The report does not specify scholarship amounts or the criteria for each type of assistance, so the reported student counts are the clearest measure of the program’s reach.

Continuity on the agenda

Preserving the association’s institutional memory is a stated priority for the new term. DEFMED says it aims to pass accumulated experience from one management team to the next, maintain traditional events and continue its support programs. Those priorities link the association’s alumni network with the faculty and student community, while giving future boards a basis for carrying existing activities forward.

Gültekin’s term will use the motto, “Drawing strength from our roots, we move forward together with confident steps into the future.” The association says it will continue work to strengthen solidarity among members and cooperation between the faculty and the maritime sector. The stated aims point to continuity in the core program; the assembly account does not set out additional targets or timelines for the coming term.

At the meeting, İbik reviewed the association’s activities as he left the presidency. Past presidents Orçun Erbayraktar, Kenan Yalavaç and Osman Bilgin also shared evaluations. Kenan Yalavaç was identified as DEFMED’s second-term president. Yusuf Öztürk, president of the İMEAK Chamber of Shipping İzmir Branch, conveyed wishes for the new administration and the coming term.

Other attendees named in the report included Ali Önemli, chairman of the TKKD Board, and Murat Pamık, vice dean of Dokuz Eylul University Maritime Faculty. Özgür Alemdağ presented the 2023–2026 activity report. Samsa Emin Körüklü shared the financial statements and audit reports with members.

Management and oversight for 2026–2029

The regular members of the new board of directors are Burak Gültekin, Aylin Kurtulan, Cihan Köse, Cumhur Turgut, Fadime Ünen, Gülgün Dede, Mehmet Melih Cen, Melike Aysu Gürgan, Neslihan Özer, Samsa Emin Körüklü and Ulaş Emiroğlu.

Alternate board members are Emre Can Atak, Erdem Kan, Gencay Kuru, Gökhan Güngör, İbrahim Toktaş, Mehmet Arda Tuncalı, Müge Büber, Onur Topal, Sevim Eser, Soner Esmer and Şahin Aktan.

The regular audit board members are Hakkı Deniz, İbrahim Erkan Gökerkan and Ufuk Yıldırım. Ahmet Özgür Alemdağ, Ali Önemli and Devrim Fırat are the alternate audit board members. Working committee representatives are Burçak Er Aydinç, Cenkay Tamer, Nergis Özispa, Önder Güven, Peyruze Ersoy, Ruken İpek, Ülkem Gürdeniz and Vasfi Erdoğan.

DEFMED thanked İbik and the outgoing board for their work, along with past leaders, board members, association members and supporters. The new team’s practical task is to carry forward the event schedule and student assistance described in the term report, while maintaining the links between alumni, the faculty and the maritime sector.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye