Cem Erdem has been appointed General Manager and Chairman of TPAO, succeeding Ahmet Türkoğlu after his departure.
Cem Erdem has been appointed as the General Manager and Chairman of the Board of Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO), graduating from the Marine Engineering Department of the Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Maritime.
Following the departure of the former General Manager Ahmet Türkoğlu, Cem Erdem has assumed the vacant position. Previously, Cem Erdem served as the General Manager and Board Member of TP-OTC.
Erdem had been performing the duties temporarily.
Born in 1971 in Ankara, Cem Erdem is originally from Çaykara, Trabzon. He completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in Ankara. Graduating from the Marine Engineering Department of the Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Maritime in 1992, Erdem worked as a deep-sea watch engineer and second engineer in public and private sector organizations engaged in maritime transportation between 1992 and 1997.
From 1997 to 1999, he served as a maritime expert assistant at the Prime Ministry's Maritime Undersecretariat, and from 1999 to 2003, he worked as an engineer and manager in the energy and construction sectors in the private sector. He returned to the Prime Ministry's Maritime Undersecretariat, serving as the head of the ship inspection department from 2005 to 2008, and as the head of the maritime affairs department from 2008 to 2012.
Continuing his career as a ministry advisor at the Ministry of Transport and Communications from 2012 to 2015, Erdem served as the head of the training and certification department within the General Directorate of Maritime and Inland Waters Regulation from 2015 to 2019, and as the deputy general manager of maritime affairs in 2019 and 2020.
From 2020 to 2022, Cem Erdem served as the head of the marine operations department at Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO), and in 2022 and 2023, he worked as the deputy general manager at TPAO's subsidiary Turkish Petroleum Offshore Technology Center A.Ş. (TP-OTC).
Erdem served as a board member and general manager at TP-OTC A.Ş. in 2024 and 2025, and since November 1, 2025, he has been temporarily carrying out the duties of Chairman of the Board and General Manager of TPAO.
Erdem is married and has two children.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye