Mustafa Sarıgül (born 15 November 1956) is a Turkish writer, entrepreneur and politician who is currently a member of the Grand National Assembly from Erzincan. He was the mayor of the

Şişli Şişli () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 10 km2, and its population is 276,528 (2022). Located on the European side of the city, it is bordered by Beşiktaş ...

district in

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 ...

between 1999 and 2014 as a member 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). He is recently embroiled in a legal battle with the current mayor of

who accused Sarıgül for threatening the life of his family. He was the leader of Party for Change in Turkey from 2020 to 2023, when the party was absorbed into the CHP.

Biography

Mustafa Sarıgül was born in

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

, where he grew up and went to 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 Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...

professorship. He started his professional career directing , a publicly owned 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. 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. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

. On 19 April 1999, he was overwhelmingly elected mayor of

, as the successor of Cuneyt Akgun. In 2002, he joined the Yeni Türkiye Partisi (''New Turkey Party'') of Foreign Minister İsmail Cem İpekçi, 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 (20 July 1938 – 11 February 2023) was a Turkish politician. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in numerous governmen ...

. 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

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

from CHP's lists in the 2023 Parliamentary election, becoming the first MP elected under CHP's banner there since 36 years ago. The Party of Change in Turkey merged with the CHP on 23 June 2023.

Corruption allegations

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 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 George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundatio ...

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

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.

Publications

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarigul, Mustafa 1956 births Living people 20th-century mayors of places in Turkey 21st-century mayors of places in Turkey People from İliç Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Democratic Left Party (Turkey) politicians Movement for Change in Turkey politicians Leaders of political parties in Turkey Members of the 18th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey