The “Homeland Coffers” established in the town of Pirot in 1863 were the seeds from which Ziraat Bank grew. The organization, known as the “Homeland Coffers”, set up by Mithat Pasha was established by and under the auspices of the state, and we went down in history as the initial example of National Banking.

Mithat Pasha was inspired by the tradition of collective work based on the principle of helping each other, which was already a Turkish tradition while setting up the “Homeland Coffers” organization, established with the resources provided by farmers.

A set of regulations governing such funds, known collectively as “Regulations for the Homeland Coffers”, was enacted in 1867 and became the legal framework for the first regulated credit system in the Ottoman Empire. With these regulations, the “Homeland Coffers” entered operation, serving successfully for many years.

In 1883, the Homeland Coffers were replaced by Benefit Funds.

On August 15th, 1888, Ziraat Bank was officially established, and was to undertake the functions of the “Benefit Funds” as a modern financial institution. The governing statute of Ziraat Bank was enacted on August 28th, 1888, and the Bank’s headquarters was opened on September 17th. As Benefit Funds were turned into bank branches, a new era began in our organized agricultural loan history.

During World War I and the ensuing Turkish War of Independence, Ziraat Bank undertook vitally important duties. Money supplied by Ziraat Bank in 1919 to cover the expenses of detachments of the Turkish National Army during the War of Independence was used to purchase equipment for soldiers.

When the Grand National Assembly of Turkey convened in Ankara on April 23rd, 1920, the Ankara Branch of Ziraat Bank was placed in charge of all the branches and assistance funds in territories under the assembly’s jurisdiction. Subsequently, control of the Bank’s Izmir and Istanbul organizations was taken over by the Ankara Branch. Ziraat Bank’s national unity was completely restored from October 23rd, 1922.

With the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Ziraat Bank embarked upon a period of rapid growth and development, expanding its branch and service network, first reaching farmers and then the whole of Turkish society. Ziraat Bank’s mission was no longer confined to agriculture. Ziraat Bank served as the motor of Turkey’s economic recovery and development.

Ziraat Bank continued to grow, ultimately becoming the truly global banking institution that it is today. The Bank’s New York and London representative’s offices were turned into branches in 1983 and 1987 respectively, while other offices entered service in Duisburg, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, and Rotterdam. Ziraat Bank was ranked 452nd in the Euromoney magazine’s 1988 list of the World’s Five Hundred Biggest Banks in terms of Equity.

During this period, Ziraat Bank publicly opened Turkey’s first banking museum in its head office building in the Ulus district of Ankara and also launched the country’s first banking school. Ziraat Bank Moscow, Kazkommerts Ziraat International Bank (KZI Bank), Turkmen Turkish Commercial Bank (TTC Bank), and Uzbekistan Turkish Bank (UT Bank) were all founded and entered operation in 1993.

In the same year, the Euromoney survey of the “World’s Top 500 Banks” placed Ziraat Bank in 202nd place overall, in 41st position on the basis of its net profit and in 1st place worldwide in terms of its return on equity.

By 1999, the Bank had 21 subsidiaries, and had also opened a branch in Skopje that year as well.

Law 4603 ratified by Parliament in 2000 transformed Ziraat Bank into a joint-stock company. This change represented a milestone in Ziraat Bank’s journey towards becoming a stronger, more effective, and profitable financial institution. In 2001, Ziraat Bank embarked upon a thorough transformation in which the Bank’s organizational structure was completely overhauled to bring it into line with the needs of modern banking and international competition. In this process, Emlak Bank, another state-owned bank, was merged into Ziraat Bank.

In 2001, a board of directors had been set up and given responsibility for the administration of all state-owned banks. Having successfully completed its mission, the joint board of directors was disbanded in 2005.

In March 2008, Ziraat Bank’s branch in Skopje, Macedonia was turned into a foreign subsidiary bank in order to meet the needs of local customers.

In order to strengthen its presence in the Balkans and the Middle East, Ziraat Bank opened branches in Greece, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, increasing the number of countries where it was present to 17 as of 2011.

In the Turkish Customers Satisfaction Index carried out by the Turkish Quality Association (KalDer), Ziraat Bank received the highest score among public banks in the retail banking customer satisfaction category between 2007 and 2010.

Ziraat Bank was Turkey’s most profitable bank in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

With a net profit of TL 3.5 billion in 2009, Ziraat Bank attained the highest profit ever recorded by any Turkish company.

The list of “1,000 Largest Banks” based on data pertaining to the end of 2010 was published by the magazine, “The Banker”, in 2011. Ziraat Bank was ranked 2nd in Western Europe and 5th in the world in the “Best Return on Average Capital” category in this study.

As a result of a reshuffle of duties in 2011, Mr. Hüseyin Aydın was appointed as the General Manager of the Bank. In 2011, a project of change and transformation was launched in Ziraat Bank in line with the Bank’s vision, mission and values in order to give priority to the best practices in the sector.

Successfully moving forward toward its 150th year of service, Ziraat Bank continues to contribute to Turkey’s sustainable development and to offer service to millions of customers from all segments.