Ahmet Akın (born August 13, 1973,

Gönen Gönen is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Balıkesir Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,162 km2, and its population is 74,871 (2022). It lies on the southern part of Marmara Sea. The town is mostly known for its therapeutic h ...

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

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 ...

) is a Turkish businessman and politician and social democratic politician serving as the 4th Mayor of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality. He has served as a member of the Turkish parliament for Balıkesir during the 25th, 26th, and 27th terms. He is also the deputy chairman responsible for local governments at the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP).

Biography

On August 13, 1973, Akın was born in Gönen, Balıkesir. After completing his primary and secondary education in Gönen, he graduated from İzmir Atatürk High School. Akın pursued language and economics studies at Eurocentres in Cambridge,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and then completed his political science education at Bahçeşehir University. Following his graduation from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Beykent University, he went on to obtain a master's degree in Political Science and International Relations at Selçuk University. Akın attended various training sessions and seminars on "Renewable Energy Resources and Production" in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on different occasions. He has worked as a general manager in private sector organizations in the energy field and as a

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

and board member in international

holding companies A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own stock of other companies ...

. Akın is proficient in English, Spanish, and

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

s, and he is married with two children.

Political career

In the June 2015 general elections in Turkey, where no single party reached the required number of seats to form a majority government, Akın, as a member of the

(CHP), was elected as a deputy for Balıkesir. He was once again elected as a CHP deputy for Balıkesir in the November 2015 general elections. During the 26th term of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), he served as a member of the Public Economic Enterprises Commission and the Foreign Affairs Commission. In 2016, he became the chief advisor to the CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. On April 22, 2018, before the 2018 general elections in Turkey, Akın switched to the İYİ Party along with 14 CHP (Republican People's Party) deputies in order to form a parliamentary group. On May 10, 2018, it was announced that 15 deputies, including Akın, had returned to the Republican People's Party. In the 2018 general elections, he was nominated as the top candidate for Balıkesir and was re-elected as a member of parliament. Prior to the 2019 local elections, he was nominated as the candidate for the Mayor of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality by the CHP Party Council. However, following the alliance decision between the CHP and the İYİ Party, he withdrew his candidacy in favor of İsmail Ok, the İYİ Party candidate. During the 37th Ordinary Congress of the Republican People's Party, he was elected as a member of the Party Council. After the congress, he was appointed as the deputy chairman responsible for energy and infrastructure projects in the CHP Central Executive Board. On May 14, 2023, he did not apply for candidacy in the general elections. Instead, he was introduced by the CHP chairman, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as a ministerial candidate during the election campaign. On June 1, 2023, he submitted his resignation to the CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu during the Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting and resigned from the MYK. On June 5, 2023, it was announced that he had been appointed as the deputy chairman for local governments within the CHP, according to a statement made by the CHP. On March 29, 2024, in the 2024 Turkish local elections, he ran as the Mayor of the Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality from the

(CHP) and was elected with 51.1% of the vote over Yücel Yılmaz from Justice and Development Party (AKP) with 40.5%.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akın, Ahmet Living people 1973 births 21st-century mayors of places in Turkey People from Gönen Turkish businesspeople Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Mayors of Balikesir Politicians from Balikesir Bahçeşehir University alumni Beykent University alumni Selçuk University alumni