Ahmet Piriştina (8 April 1952 – 15 June 2004) was a Turkish politician who was Mayor of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

from 1999 to 2004. He was of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

descent, his family was from the city of

Prishtina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...

. Piriştina was born in İzmir,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He was elected as Mayor of İzmir in two consecutive elections, in 1999 and 2004. As mayor he became known in Izmir for keeping his electoral promises and being an honest politician. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 52. Mayor Piriştina's image was draped by Izmir residents over buildings, monuments, boats and buses, while over a million people attended his funeral. "In Izmir, the metropolis on the Aegean coast, Mayor Priştina died suddenly at the age of fifty-two following a massive heart attack. An entire city-its buildings, busses, boats, and monuments-were all draped with the photos of the late mayor. A crowd estimated in excess of one million attended his funeral. What was the reason behind the affection of the people for this son of Albanian immigrants. First, as a mayor, he has done something quite unusual for a politician: he had delivered on his promises. Second, he displayed an even more unusual characteristic: he was honest."

References

External links

* Who is who database
''Biography of Ahmet Piriştina''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piristina, Ahmet 1952 births 2004 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Turkey 21st-century mayors of places in Turkey Turkish people of Albanian descent Mayors of İzmir Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 20th Parliament of Turkey