Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz (born August 28, 1951) is a Turkish engineer and politician who served as the mayor of

Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

between 1999 and 2018. Yılmaz succeeded Kemal Vehbi Gül, who served as mayor between 1983 and 1999. Yılmaz is remembered for his leadership during a time of significant reform and development in Metropolitan Samsun.

Early life

Yılmaz was born in the

Çarşamba Çarşamba is a municipality and district of Samsun Province, Turkey. Its area is 774 km2, and its population is 140,664 (2022). It is in the center of the Çarşamba Plain. The mayor is Hüseyin Dündar (Independent). Ferhan Şensoy - writ ...

district of

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

in 1951. After completing his primary, secondary and high school education in Samsun, he graduated from Yıldız Technical University Mechanical Engineering Department, which was then called Istanbul State Engineering and Architecture Academy. Yılmaz started his career as a highway engineer in 1975. After being appointed as the Chief Machinery Supply Engineer to Ankara Highways 4th Regional Directorate in 1983, he was appointed to the General Directorate of Highways Supply Branch Manager in 1987. He was appointed to the 11th Regional Directorate of Van Highways in 1990 and to the 7th Regional Directorate of Samsun Highways in 1992. After working in Samsun for six years, he was appointed to the 17th Regional Directorate of Istanbul Highways.

Mayor of Samsun

While Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz was serving as the 17th Regional Director of Highways, he was nominated by Mesut Yılmaz as the Samsun Mayoral Candidate for the

1999 Turkish local elections Local elections were held in Turkey on April 18, 1999, on the same day with the parliamentary election. Results Metropolitan municipality mayors Mayor of other municipalities References External linksResults of the local elections (in T ...

on February 1, 1999, by the Motherland Party. He took over the presidency from CHP's Muzaffer Önder with 28.00% of the votes in the elections held on April 18, 1999. Yılmaz, who also presided over

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

for 1.5 years during his first term as mayor. He resigned from his the Motherland Party before the 2004 elections and joined

Ak Party The Justice and Development Party ( , AK PARTİ), abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. It has been the ruling party of Turkey since 2002. Third-party sources ...

on 18 November 2003. Yılmaz, who was nominated as the

candidate for the mayorship of

. On February 14, 2004, he was re-elected mayor, receiving 46.30% of votes. He became the first mayor to win re-election in Samsun after 1980. Yılmaz was nominated for the third time for the 2009 local elections on January 12, 2009. He comfortably won a third term with 48.45% of the votes. During this period of his presidency, the 16-kilometer

Samsun Tram The Samsun Light Rail Transit System (Samsun Tramway) is a light rail transit system located in Samsun and Atakum, Turkey. The Samsun Tramway connects Ondokuz Mayıs University to Samsun Stadium. The system was constructed in three phases bet ...

began service to great fanfare. On December 3, 2013, Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz was nominated for a fourth term during the

2014 Turkish local elections Local elections (formal: local authority general elections, Turkish: ''Mahalli İdareler Genel Seçimi'' or simply ''Yerel Seçimleri'') were held in Turkey on 30 March 2014, with some repeated on 1 June 2014. Metropolitan and district mayors as ...

. Yılmaz's legacy in Samsun is one of rapid economic development, urbanization and public works projects. During his mayoralty, several major boulevards, the

, Piazza Samsun ,

Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium is a football stadium in Tekkeköy, Samsun, Turkey. It was opened in 2017 with a seating capacity of 33,919 spectators. It is the home ground of Samsunspor which plays in the Süper Lig. It replaced the club's former ho ...

, Samsun Stadium, University of Samsun, and

Sheraton Hotel Samsun The Sheraton Hotel Samsun is a hotel in Samsun, Turkey. The hotel is Samsun's second tallest building with 28 floors and a height of 115 meters. The building was completed in 2015 and is located along the seafront of the city to the north of its p ...

Parliament

Yılmaz, resigned from his position as mayor on April 26, 2018, in order to become a parliamentary candidate on behalf of

. He elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly as a Samsun deputy in the

2018 Turkish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Turkey on 24 June 2018 as part of general elections, with presidential elections taking place on the same day. Originally scheduled for 27 October 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called snap elections o ...

Personal life

Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz is married to Semiha Yılmaz, a former history teacher. The couple has no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yilmaz, Yusuf Ziya 1951 births Living people Members of the 27th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 28th Parliament of Turkey