Mustafa Demir (born 18 January 1961) is a Turkish architect, politician, and Mayor of the

Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun recorded a population of 710,000 people. The cit ...

. Prior to his becoming mayor, he was the Samsun Deputy in the 22nd, 23rd and 24th legislative terms and served as the Minister of Public Works and Housing. He is the founder and former chairman of the ruling

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contemporar ...

Samsun Province Samsun Province ( tr, Samsun ili) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast with a population of 1,252,693 (2010). Its adjacent provinces are Sinop Province, Sinop on the northwest, Çorum Province, Çorum on the west, A ...

chapter.

Early life and education

He was born in the

Black Sea Region The Black Sea Region ( tr, Karadeniz Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Samsun. Other big cities are Trabzon, Ordu, Tokat, Giresun, Rize, Amasya and Sinop. It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the ...

town of

Şalpazarı Şalpazarı is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The population is around 12,000 including the surrounding villages. The mayor is Refik Kurukız ( MHP). Şalpazarı is a home to sizeable Chepni Turkmen popu ...

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

into a family with 9 children. His father Hüseyin Demir was a famous

coppersmith A coppersmith, also known as a brazier, is a person who makes artifacts from copper and brass. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The term "redsmith" is used for a tinsmith that uses tinsmithing tools and techniques to make copper items. Hi ...

nicknamed 'Bakırcı Hüseyin' in the Şalpazarı District. Following his primary and high school education in Trabzon, Demir matriculated in 1979 at the

Karadeniz Technical University Karadeniz Technical University ( tr, Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi or KTÜ) is a public research university in Trabzon, in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Established in 1955, it is the fourth oldest university in Turkey. Karadeniz Technical U ...

and graduated in 1983 with a degree in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

Early Career

Demir started his career in commerce while in high school. His first career was in the field of copper-aluminum plate and kitchen goods fabrication and wholesaling. After graduating from high school, Demir underwent military training as a reserve officer and control engineer. After his release from the military, he resumed his work in the private sector. He worked as a Science Expert at Türkiye Real Estate Bank and later in the field of architecture and real-estate development in Samsun.NTV News
He became the Founding Member of the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) Samsun Branch and assumed the position of Vice President of the Branch. He also served as a member of the Atakum Municipality City Council.

Political career

He entered the Parliament on behalf of the

in the 2002 elections and became a Samsun Deputy in the 22nd Term. He served as the Chairman of the Public Works, Zoning, Transport and Tourism Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. He was re-elected in the 2007 elections and entered the Parliament, and was re-elected as the chairman of the same commission in the 23rd Term. He was reelected as a member of parliament during the

2007 Turkish general election General elections were held in Turkey on 22 July 2007 to elect 550 members to the Grand National Assembly. Originally scheduled for November, the elections were brought forward after parliament failed to elect a new president to replace Ahmet ...

. In 2009, Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

appointed Demir as Minister of Public Works and Housing, a post he held until 2011. He re-entered the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as the 24th term

Samsun Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun reco ...

deputy. In the

2023 Turkish parliamentary election The 2023 Turkish parliamentary election is scheduled to take place on 18 June 2023, as part of the 2023 general election, alongside the presidential election on the same day. Voters from 87 electoral districts will elect 600 Members of Parliame ...

he was elected from the Istanbul's second district.

Mayor of Samsun

Demir was elected as Samsun Metropolitan Municipality mayor in

2019 Turkish local elections The Turkish local elections of 2019 were held on Sunday 31 March 2019 throughout the 81 provinces of Turkey. A total of 30 metropolitan and 1,351 district municipal mayors, alongside 1,251 provincial and 20,500 municipal councillors were elected, ...

. He succeeded Zihni Şahin who held the role briefly after the resignation of Yusuf Ziya Yilmaz. Yilmaz remains popular for his efforts to overhaul and renovate Samsun, a city that had been in recession for decades. As Mayor of Samsun, Demir has continued Yilmaz's legacy of advocating for major urban redevelopment projects and promoting efforts to improve quality of life in the city and region. Under Demir, major urban renewal initiatives have taken place in

İlkadım İlkadım is the central borough of the city of Samsun, Turkey. Samsun is one of the 30 metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders. Geography İlkadım is within the city of Samsun at . It includes the p ...

and

Atakum Atakum is a central district in Samsun, Turkey. Its population was 210,082 as of 2020. Atakum is a largely middle class suburban district located to the west of the primary city of Samsun and further suburban Ondokuzmayıs. The city's population ex ...

. Projects include the renovation of

Samsun Saathane Square Saathane Square is a public square in Samsun's Ilkadim district and takes its name from the Samsun Clock Tower which is located in the center of the square. Along with Republic Square (Samsun), it is one of two important and historical squares ...

Republic Square (Samsun) Republic Square ( tr, Samsun Cumhuriyet Square) is a large public square located in Ilkadim district of Samsun, Turkey. It is one of the two largest and busiest public squares in the center of Samsun including Samsun Saathane Square. The square ...

, various public parks in the city center, the reopening of Istiklal Street to vehicular traffic, and the construction of a new public library in

. His administration has also overseen the construction of multiple housing, underground and road infrastructure projects.

Personal life

Demir is married to Ümmühan Demir. They have 5 children and he resides in

References