Yılmaz Büyükerşen (born 8 November 1937) is a Turkish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, educator and current

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

Biography

Büyükerşen graduated from the Eskişehir Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences (later renamed

Anadolu University Anadolu University ( tr, Anadolu Üniversitesi) is a public university in Eskişehir, Turkey. The university is known for its success in verbal fields such as history and communication. Its Faculty of Communication Sciences is sometimes considered ...

) in 1962. During his academy years, he worked as a

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

and editor in various newspapers. With his friends from the academy, he established a

chamber theatre Chamber theater is a method of adapting literary works to the stage using a maximal amount of the work's original text and often minimal and suggestive settings. In chamber theater, narration is included in the performed text and the narrator migh ...

and later a municipal theatre with funds raised by selling their blood to

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...

s. Following his graduation, he was offered an assistantship at the finance department of the academy. In 1966, he earned his

PhD. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

In 1968, he became associate professor; and in 1973, he became

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. Also in 1973, he prepared a model for

open universities The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

in Turkey. In 1976, he was elected as chairman of the Eskişehir Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences. In July 1998 he was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from the British

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

as Doctor of the University. He has also been awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

by former

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

, and the

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

by former President

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for th ...

. In 1982, with the new Law of Higher Education in Turkey, he was elected rector of Anadolu University by the

president of Turkey The president of Turkey, officially the president of the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı), is the head of state and head of government of Turkey. The president directs the executive branch of the government of Tu ...

. After his 5-year term ended, he was elected again in 1987 by President

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...

. Besides this post, he served as a member of the Radio and Television High Council (

RTÜK Radio and Television Supreme Council ( tr, Radyo ve Televizyon Üst Kurulu), also known in short as RTÜK, is the Turkish state agency for monitoring, regulating, and sanctioning radio and television broadcasts. RTÜK was founded in 1994 and is ...

), and was elected to chairmanship of the organisation twice. In 1993, following new laws on RTÜK, his chairmanship ended. He established the first school of cinema and television in Eskişehir. His focus has been on culture and literature, establishing faculties of literature,

Communication Sciences Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differe ...

, applied

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

s and also a state conservatory. Büyükerşen is also the only professional wax sculptor in Turkey. The wax sculpture of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

Anıtkabir Anıtkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and the first President of the Republic of Turkey. It is located in Ankara and was designed by architects Professor Emin O ...

Museum was designed and produced by Büyükerşen. His works are also displayed in the

Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Museum Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Museum, also known as Eskişehir Wax Museum, ( tr, Yılmaz Büyükerşen Balmumu Heykeller Müzesi) is a wax museum in Odunpazarı second level municipality in Greater Eskişehir, Turkey. The museum is situated on Atatür ...

in Eskişehir. He is married, with two children and two grandchildren.

Politics

In the

1999 Turkish local elections Local elections were held in Turkey on April 18, 1999. Results Metropolitan municipality mayors Mayor of other municipalities References External linksResults of the local elections (in Turkish) {{Turkish elections Local elections in Tu ...

, he was elected as Mayor of Eskişehir from the Democratic Left Party (DSP), with 44% of the total vote. During his first term, he executed a series of "Urban Development Projects". He also started the construction of Estram, the electrified

tram system A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

in Eskişehir. In the 2004 local elections, he was re-elected with 45% of votes, again with the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Due to his success and high popularity, he was then widely regarded by

Turkish media The mass media in Turkey includes a wide variety of domestic and foreign periodicals expressing disparate views, and domestic newspapers are extremely competitive. However, media ownership is Concentration of media ownership, concentrated in th ...

as a possible future leader of the Turkish left. He was elected for a third term in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

. In January 2011, he left the DSP and joined 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 ...

(CHP) the following month. In the 2014 local elections, he was re-elected with 45% of the vote. He has been credited as an example of how a capable and progressive mayor can transform a functioning conservative city into a cultural centre.

References

External links

Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buyukersen, Yilmaz 1936 births Living people People from Eskişehir Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Mayors of places in Turkey Turkish educators