Mayor of Istanbul

This is a list of mayors of Istanbul, Turkey.

In the Ottoman Empire, the duty of municipal government was the responsibility of "Şehremini" (Şehir: City and Emin: Trustable Person) and local religious judges called "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.

The idea to establish a municipality organization in a modern way was first discussed in 1854 during the Crimean War when diplomats and journalists of allied nations came to Istanbul. Later, the parliament accepted a law for the establishment of the office of a mayor (Turkish: Şehremini) and a city council.

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

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

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

After the proclamation of the republic on October 29, 1923, the governor of the city was charged with the duties as deputy mayor. 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. The two councils were reestablished on March 1, 1957.

After the coup d'etat on May 27, 1960, the military abandoned the mayor and appointed 7 officials until 1963.

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.

During the military rule from September 12, 1980, until 1984, mayors were assigned.

With the act of December 4, 1981, the municipality of some big cities in Turkey was reorganized to meet the changed requirements.

On March 8, 1984, the metropolitan municipality act was put into force and on March 23 the municipality of Greater Istanbul was established.

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