Mustafa Akaydın (born 24 April 1952, in

Çorum Çorum () is a northern Anatolian city in Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul. It is the seat of Çorum Province and of Çorum District.< ...

) is a Turkish politician of 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), who served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

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 ...

. Prior to his political career, Akaydın held positions as a

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

general surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

and a rector of

Akdeniz University Akdeniz University () is a public research university established in Antalya, Turkey. It has been chosen as the second most beautiful university in Turkey, after Boğaziçi University. It is one of the leading educational institutions in the co ...

Early life and academic career

Mustafa Akaydın was born in 1952 and received his primary and secondary education in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. He graduated from the

Hacettepe University Hacettepe University () is a public research university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2021. The university has two main c ...

Faculty of Medicine in 1975. Akaydın became a General Surgery Specialist at the

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

Medical Science Faculty in 1979. In 1980, he became a lecturer at Akdeniz University. In the following years, he became associate professor in 1984 and then professor in 1992. He also participated in a one-year training in Germany and the United States, in

organ transplants Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be trans ...

and

breast surgery Breast surgery is a form of surgery performed on the breast. Types Types include: * Breast augmentation * Breast reduction * Breast-conserving surgery, a less radical cancer surgery than mastectomy * Lumpectomy * Mastectomy * Mastopexy, or brea ...

. From 1988 to 1990, Akaydın served as chairman of the Antalya Chamber of Doctors. Akaydın worked as vice-rector of Akdeniz University from 1996 until 2004, and later as rector from 2004 to 2008. As rector, he took a firm stance on the university's headscarf ban. He also served on the Inter-University Committee between the years of 2000 and 2008, becoming the committee's chairman in the last two years of his membership.

Politics

On 1 December 2008 Akaydın entered politics. He stood in the 2009 local elections as a candidate of the

, winning the mayorship of Antalya with 42.34% of the vote. He succeeded Menderes Türel of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Term as mayor

's bus drivers contributed strongly to Akaydın's March 2009 election victory. Akaydın had also promised to introduce a new electronic

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

card system known as "Halk Kart", to replace the "Antkart" system introduced by his predecessor, Menderes Türel. However, The new system brought by Akaydın was considered too expensive by local people. Antalya lost its host spot in the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

, when a shortage of funds halted construction of the necessary facilities. Some locals and city authorities felt the decision was politically motivated, as Akaydın's election was a defeat for the ruling Justice and Development Party, and

is the hometown of Turkish president

Abdullah Gül Abdullah Gül (; ; born 29 October 1950) is a Turkish politician who served as the 11th president of Turkey from 2007 to 2014. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister of Turkey, Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003, and concurrently s ...

. Akaydın solved the serious sewage collection and disposal problem in Antalya, which involved construction of a new disposal center near Hurma. This center also produces electricity in order to reduce energy spending.

Defeat

Menderes Türel won back the Antalya mayorship in the tense 2014 elections, by a margin of just over 23,000 votes. Following the elections, security forces discovered a number of official documents being burnt, and Türel accused Akaydın of being responsible. After taking office, Türel launched a corruption investigation, which included a raid on Akaydın's home.

Personal life

Akaydın is married, and he has two children and one grandchild.

References

External links

Official Web Site of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akaydin, Mustafa 1952 births Living people 21st-century mayors of places in Turkey People from Çorum Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Mayors of Antalya Ankara Science High School alumni Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey