Mustafa Sarıgül (born 15 November 1956) is a Turkish writer, entrepreneur and politician. He is currently the leader of

Party for Change in Turkey The Party for Change in Turkey, or TDP ( tr, Türkiye Değişim Partisi), is a Turkish political movement originally started and founded in 2009, transforming into a political party in 2020 under the leadership of Mustafa Sarıgül. It was former ...

. He was the mayor of the Şişli district in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

between 1999 and 2014. He is recently embroiled in a legal battle with the current mayor of Şişli who accused Sarıgül for threatening the life of his family.

Biography

Mustafa Sarıgül comes from Eastern Anatolia Region, where he grew up and visited the local school. As a young boy he herded sheep. In 1962 his family moved to

, where he saw his father, who worked as a bouncer and warehouse worker, for the first time. He studied at Marmara University professorship. He started his professional career directing İstanbul Elektrik Tramvay ve Tünel, a local transport company.

Political career

In the parliamentary elections in 1987, he was elected as a member of the Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkish: ''Sosyaldemokrat Halkçı Parti'', SHP) with a record vote in the city of Istanbul as the youngest Member of

Parliament of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

. Between 1999 and 2002 Sarıgül was a member of the Democratic Left Party (''Turkish: Demokratik Sol Parti,'' DSP) under Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in ...

. On 19 April 1999, he was overwhelmingly elected mayor of Şişli, as the successor of Cuneyt Akgun. In 2002, he joined the Yeni Türkiye Partisi (''New Turkey Party'') of Foreign Minister

İsmail Cem İpekçi Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...

, before he became a member of the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP) in 2003. Within the CHP Sarıgül was an internal party rival of chairman

Deniz Baykal Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...

. Due to that background he later was expelled from the party in 2005. He was involved in a fistfight with some of the delegates during the 2005 General Assembly of CHP that tarnished his potentials to get involved with national politics of Turkey. After a period as an independent, he announced in 2008 to become again a member of the Democratic Left Party. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of the metropolitan municipality of

from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

in the local elections of 2014. In the local elections of 2019 he ran for mayor of Şişli for the DSP and reached the 2nd place. On 21 December 2020 He founded Party of Change in Turkey

Personal life

Mustafa Sarıgül first wife Gülsüm Köksaloğlu died early. He has divorced from his second wife Aylin Kotil in 2008 and has two children. He is the author of two books; ''TBMM'de Bir Milletvekili'' and ''İstanbul'da Direksiyon Sallamak''.

Corruption Charges

Sarıgül was elected into the Turkish Parliament in 1987 as the youngest MP and as member of SHP. Another MP from SHP, Tevfik Koçak, made a request to investigate corruption and bribery charges related to the procurement of military aircraft. Claims are made later by Tevfik Koçak, that Sarıgül made another request to the parliament falsifying Koçak's signature to withdraw the claim about the corruption charges. Sarıgül was dismissed from SHP in 1992.

Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party i ...

prepared a report in 2005 with details of bribery and corruption claims in the Şişli municipality. He was dismissed from the CHP in 2005. Can Ataklı, a columnist applying to CHP, running for mayorship in İstanbul in 2013, questioned Sarıgül's connections with Soros and

Gulen Movement is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik. Other villages in Gulen include Brekke, Byrknes ...

, requesting Sarıgül to publicize the financial support he receives from businessmen.

Publications

Mustafa Sarıgül is author of two books; * ''TBMM'de Bir Milletvekili'' * ''İstanbul'da Direksiyon Sallamak''Reference to his books

References