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Mayor of Istanbul

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Summary

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Field	Value
post	Mayor
body	Istanbul
incumbent	Nuri Aslan
acting	yes
incumbentsince	26 March 2025
style	None, de facto full (given and family) name.
termlength	Five years, renewable indefinitely
website
inaugural	Pepe Salih Paşa
(Ottoman Empire)
Haydar Yuluğ
(Republic of Turkey)
formation	13 July 1855
11 July 1958
26 March 1984
(As Metropolitan Municipality)
native_name	İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı
department	Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

(Ottoman Empire) Haydar Yuluğ (Republic of Turkey) 11 July 1958 26 March 1984 (As Metropolitan Municipality)

The mayor of Istanbul is the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The mayor is elected popularly every five years. Nuri Aslan has served as interim mayor of Istanbul since 26 March 2025.

This article covers the Ottoman Empire to the modern day Republic of Turkey, during the Ottoman period and in the Republican era until 1930.

Ottoman Empire

During 1453–1858

In the Ottoman Empire, the duty of municipal government was the responsibility of the "Şehremini", a mayor-like leader, and local religious judges, "Kadı".

The first mayor of Istanbul after the conquest on May 29, 1453 was Hızırbey Çelebi. Until 1858, the capital of the Ottoman Empire was governed by a total of 422 kadis.

Tanzimat period (1858–1876)

The idea to establish a municipality organization based on Western standards was first discussed in 1854 during the Crimean War when diplomats and journalists of allied nations came to Constantinople. Later, the parliament accepted a law for the establishment of the office of a mayor and a city council.

Salih Paşa received the first title of the new, modern Şehremini on July 13, 1858, and governed until November 4, 1858. During the Tanzimat period, 18 mayors took office.

First constitutional monarchy (1876–1908)

In 1876, as First constitutional monarchy was proclaimed, Kadri Paşa was the mayor of Istanbul. During this period 10 mayors governed Istanbul.

Second constitutional monarchy (1908–1923)

During the reign of Young Turks, between 1908–1918 and until the foundation of the republic, 23 mayors served in the capital.

Republic of Turkey

No.	Portrait	Name
(Birth–Death)	Term of office	Political party	Notes	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Governors as mayors (1923–1960)	1	2	3	4	5	–	6	7	8	Mayors during the military rule (1960–1963)	9	10	(9)	11	12	–	–	13	Elected mayors of Istanbul Municipality (1963–1980)	14	–	15	16	17	Mayors during the military rule (1980–1984)	18	19	20	Elected mayors of Istanbul Municipality (1984–present)	21	Motherland Party (Turkey)}}"	22	Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey)}}"	23	24	Independent politician}}"	25	Justice and Development Party (Turkey)}}"	26	Justice and Development Party (Turkey)}}"	27	Republican People's Party}}"	–	Independent politician}}"	(27)	Republican People's Party}}"	–	Republican People's Party}}"
[[File:Haydar Yuluğ.jpg	80px]]	**Haydar Yuluğ
(1878–1937)**	15 April 1923	8 June 1924		Republican People's Party}}"		CHP	After the proclamation of the republic on October 29, 1923, the governor of the city was charged with the duties as deputy mayor.
[[File:Erkulseyitoğlu Mehmet Emin Bey.jpg	80px]]	**Emin Erkul
(1881–1964)**	8 June 1924	12 October 1928
[[File:Muhittin Üstündağ.jpg	80px]]	**Mühittin Üstündağ
(1884–1953)**	14 October 1928	4 December 1938		With the municipality act of April 3, 1930, the title of mayor was abandoned and the governor of Istanbul province took over the duties of the mayor. The two separate councils of the province and the municipality were unified.
[[File:Mehmet Lütfi Kırdar.jpg	80px]]	**Lütfi Kırdar
(1889–1961)**	8 December 1938	16 October 1949
	**Fahrettin Kerim Gökay
(1900–1987)**	24 October 1949	26 October 1957		Independent	The two councils were reestablished on March 1, 1957
	**Kemal Hadımlı
(1908–19??)**	12 July 1957	5 October 1957			DP	Deputy Governor of Istanbul, appointed as acting mayor.
	**Mümtaz Tarhan
(1908–1970)**	29 November 1957	11 May 1958
	**Ethem Yetkiner
(1912–1973)**	14 May 1958	24 December 1958
	**Kemal Aygün
(1914–1979)**	25 December 1958	27 May 1960
	**Refik Tulga
(1907–1981)**	27 May 1960	14 June 1960			Military
	**Şefik Erensü
(1912–1989)**	14 June 1960	24 September 1960
	**Refik Tulga
(1907–1981)**	24 September 1960	26 February 1962
	Turan Ertuğ	27 February 1962	16 March 1962		(Deputy)
	Kamuran Görgün	18 March 1962	30 January 1963
	Kadri İlkay	30 January 1963	31 January 1963		(Deputy)
	**Niyazi Akı
(1913–1992)**	31 January 1963	28 February 1963		(Deputy)
	**Necdet Uğur
(1923–2004)**	28 February 1963	9 December 1963
[[File:Haşim İşcan büstü.JPG	80px]]	**Haşim İşcan
(1898–1968)**	10 December 1963	11 March 1968		Republican People's Party}}"		CHP	The municipality act of July 27, 1963, enabled the election of the mayor. The polls held on November 17, 1963, were the first regional elections to elect the mayor.
	**Faruk Ilgaz
(1922–2014)**	12 March 1968	6 June 1968		Justice Party (Turkey)}}"		AP	(Deputy)
	**Fahri Atabey
(1913–1994)**	8 June 1968	9 December 1973
	**Ahmet İsvan
(1923–2017)**	14 December 1973	11 December 1977		Republican People's Party}}"		CHP
	**Aytekin Kotil
(1934–1992)**	14 December 1977	12 September 1980
	**İsmail Hakki Akansel
(1924–2016)**	12 September 1980	30 August 1981			Military
	**Ecmel Kutay
(1927–1998)**	30 August 1981	24 March 1982
	**Abdullah Tırtıl
(1923–1996)**	24 March 1982	26 March 1984
[[File:No image.png	80px]]	Bedrettin Dalan
(born 1941)	26 March 1984	28 March 1989		ANAP	On March 8, 1984, the metropolitan municipality act was put into force and on March 23 the municipality of Greater Istanbul was established.
[[File:Nurettin Sözen at 30 August Celebrations (cropped).jpg	80px]]	Nurettin Sözen
(born 1937)	28 March 1989	27 March 1994		SHP
[[File:Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish Prime Minister, in Brussels (cropped).jpg	80px]]	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
(born 1954)	27 March 1994	6 November 1998		RP/FP	Elected in the 1994 election. Sacked after being sentenced to 10 months in jail.
[[File:Ali Müfit Gürtuna (cropped).png	80px]]	Ali Müfit Gürtuna
(born 1952)	12 November 1998	28 March 2004		FP
(until 2001)	Elected by the city council.
Independent
(from 2001)
[[File:Kadir Topbas at 38th Istanbul Vodafone Marathon (2) cropped.jpg	80px]]	**Kadir Topbaş
(1945–2021)**	28 March 2004	22 September 2017		AKP	Re-elected twice (in 2009 and 2014). Resigned at the request of AKP and incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
[[File:Mevlüt Uysal (cropped).jpg	80px]]	Mevlüt Uysal
(born 1966)	22 September 2017	17 April 2019		AKP	Elected by the city council.
[[File:Ekrem İmamoğlu June 8 2022.jpg	80px]]	Ekrem İmamoğlu
(born 1970)	17 April 2019	6 May 2019		CHP	Elected in the March 2019 election. Election annulled by the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) on 6 May 2019.
[[File:Ali Yerlikaya and Johannes Hahn in Turkey (cropped).jpg	107x107px]]	Ali Yerlikaya
(born 1968)
Acting	7 May 2019	27 June 2019		Independent	Governor of Istanbul, appointed as acting mayor.
[[File:Ekrem İmamoğlu June 8 2022.jpg	80px]]	Ekrem İmamoğlu
(born 1970)	27 June 2019	23 March 2025		CHP	Re-elected in the June 2019 re-run election and 2024 Turkish local elections.
	Nuri Aslan
(born 1969)
Acting	26 March 2025	Incumbent	{{Age in years and days	26 March 2025			}}	CHP	Elected by the city council to serve as acting mayor.

References

"Başkan".
(8 November 1998). "Erdoğan'ın başkanlığı hukuken bitti".
(13 November 1998). "İstanbul'a yeni başkan".
İSTANBUL, Fatma AKSU /. (23 September 2017). "Kadir Topbaş istifa etti.. Ak Parti'nin yeni başkan adayı o mu olacak?".
"Son dakika: İBB Başkanlığı'na Mevlüt Uysal seçildi!".
(2025-03-26). "Istanbul Municipality elects acting mayor - Türkiye News".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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