Biography of the Mayor
Biography

He was born in Araklı district of Trabzon. He started his primary education in Adapazarı Kaynarca and completed in Florya Şenlikköy Secondary School. In 1974, he graduated from Yeşilköy 50. Yıl High School. He is one of the first graduates of both schools.

Starting municipal service career first in October 1974 in Sefaköy Municipality, he carried out his higher education along with his career.

He graduated from Istanbul School of Foreign Languages ​​in 1978.

He participated in many training programs on "Urbanism and Municipal Management" of the Middle East Public Administration Institute and conducted extensive research in this field between 1979-1988.

He examined the structure of local authorities in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France and produced an extensive study comparing the applications of such administrations with the ones in Türkiye between the years 1989-1993. 

In 1992, he completed his master's degree at Istanbul University Faculty of Business Administration with his thesis on “Universal Development of Municipalities and Analysis of Their Budgets". 

In 1993, Mr. Akgün began his doctoral studies in Istanbul University, Institute of Marine Science and Management. During his doctoral studies, he examined the activities, use of land and coastal planning of Barcelona, Spain particularly and the south coast of France and compared his findings with the practices in Türkiye. 

In 1996, he completed his doctoral dissertation on "Büyükçekmece in the Urban Development Process" and was awarded the title of "PhD".

Hasan AKGÜN is married with 4 children. He can speak English.

Published Books

Municipalities and Analysis of their Budgets (1992) 

Büyükçekmece in the Urban Development Process (1996)

Atatürk and the Republic (1998)

Local Governments in Turkey: History and Today (from Modernization to Globalization) (2013)

Local Governments in Turkey and Europe (2017)

Games of Ballot Box: What Happened in the 2019 Local Elections? (2021)

From Modernization to Globalization Local Authorities in Turkey History and Today (2022)

Besides, he published 3 volume of books named “Lausanne Peace Conference, Minutes and Documents” that manifests all the details and truths about the Lausanne Peace Treaty. (2013)

Memberships
  • He is a member of the Grand Club; one of the most important social organizations in Turkey which was established in 1882.
  • Since 2001, he holds the national delegation membership of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
  • Having participated as a founding member in the transformation of the “Turkish Municipal Association” which was established in 1945 to the “Union of Municipalities of Turkey” in 2002, AKGÜN is serving as a board member of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey.
  • He participated in the foundation of “Marmara Municipalities Union” in 1975 as Turkey's first Municipal Association of Municipalities. Having chaired the “Marmara Municipalities Union” between 2002 and 2004, AKGÜN still holds the Council membership in the Union.
  • He is the president of Büyükçekmece Basketball Team which competes in the Super League and has once qualified for the FIBA ​​European Cup.
  • He is a congress member of the Galatasaray Sports Club.
  • He is the first Turkish congress member of German Schalke 04, one of Europe's famous teams.
PhD Thesis

Having studied the urban characteristics of Büyükçekmece and the effects of İstanbul on such structure in his research, Hasan AKGÜN examined Büyükçekmece with a chronological method.

The dissertation focuses on the rapid urbanization as of 1950, the effects of the emergence and development of the life style unique to the town on Büyükçekmece and studies the population structure of the district in detail.

The urban land use pattern and socio-economic structure in 1995-1996 were revealed by a detailed survey.

The population of the district, which was considered from various perspectives in terms of both socioeconomic and demographic structure, was predicted to reach one million in the first quarter of the 21st century and the necessities in order to prevent this growth from becoming an issue such as unplanned urbanization and the measures to prevent the decrease in the quality of life of people were planned and discussed in the study.

The Mayor's Opinions, Applications and Successes

The rapid growth of population plays a significant role in the increase and diversification of the issues emerging in the cities. Accumulation of urban population in the cities results mainly from the inability to prevent the mass migrations from East and Southeast Anatolia Regions.

In this regard, the primary measure to be taken to relieve the pressure on the cities taking migration and prevent the resulting environmental issues is to develop policies towards controlling the population growth, establishing centers of attraction in the emigrant sending cities and taking control of migration. As a matter of fact, it was emphasized in the Istanbul Declaration adopted at the end of the Habitat II Conference that infrastructure and public services and employment opportunities should be expanded in rural areas in order to reduce migration to cities. However, it should be emphasized that today, in many cities, the problems have become very diverse and complex. In this respect, it is deemed necessary to establish a ministry that shall determine the urbanization strategies of the country, direct and control their implementation in order to find radical solutions to all the issues mentioned. Undoubtedly, authorities and responsibilities at the municipal level, financial resources and relations with the central government should be rearranged for the solution of urban problems at the local scale.

The population of Büyükçekmece, which is a medium-sized city that continues along the road and contains all the common features of coastal cities, is dominated by trade and service functions and the district is developing rapidly today.

Urbanization process in Büyükçekmece has not been considerably affected by the negative developments mentioned above concerning the entirety of Turkey as a planned development which is the necessity and basis of urbanization has been largely implemented in Büyükçekmece especially since the 1980s.

Despite the population increase and rapid construction throughout the urban development process, squatting has not been allowed and has been prevented by producing solutions in the housing demand within the framework of the laws. Büyükçekmece is the only settlement free of squatting despite remaining under the influence of Istanbul.

As a result of the successful implementation of the zoning plan, Büyükçekmece has now become one of the most successful districts where horizontal construction is being implemented. Big companies such as Alarko, Emar, Mesa Nurol initiated their villa city projects in Büyüküçekmece. Presently, 2 to 4 square meters of green space is available per person in Büyükçekmece.

It is extremely important to protect the lake basin, regularly inspect the development of the city towards the basin and prevent unauthorized and unplanned housing. It is because the Büyükçekmece Lake not only supplies water to the surrounding settlements, but also regularly meets a part of Istanbul's water requirement.

Other Services and Achievements
  • He served as the Director of Editorial Affairs and as the Deputy Mayor of Sefaköy Municipality between 1975-1980.
  • In 1981, he became the Deputy Director of Istanbul Municipality, Municipal Branch of Küçükçekmece, which he was among the founders.
  • In 1984, while performing his duty, he involved in the establishment and the organization of the district municipality of Bakırköy Municipality as per the legislative decree no 3330 which was a first time implementation under the organization of Metropolitan Municipality.
  • He served as a private consultant to the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Rauf DENKTAŞ for many years.
  • He also served as a private consultant during both the Prime Ministry and the Presidency terms of Derviş EROĞLU.
  • In 1986, he was appointed as the Deputy Mayor of Büyükçekmece Municipality.
  • While serving as the Deputy Mayor of Büyükçekmece, he was elected as the Mayor of Büyükçekmece for the first time in 1994. He solved the infrastructure problem of Büyükçekmece in 18 months that is not solved for 40 years. During this period, he created the development plan for the entire city. He prevented squatting and illegal construction in the city.
  • Türkiye's first and only television tower and the largest indoor exhibition center in the Middle East and Europe; “Tüyap” was gifted to the district.
  • He was elected as the Mayor of Büyükçekmece for the second time in 1999.
  • In 2001, a seminar on "Monitoring Urban Development from Space" was held in Büyükçekmece TÜYAP Fair Center with the contributions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Arianespace- the company sending the three satellites of Türkiye to space, and TÜBİTAK along with the partnership of Istanbul Technical University.
  • In 2004, he was elected as the Mayor for the third time. He transformed Büyükçekmece into a completely modern and contemporary world city throughout this period.
  • In the local elections held in 2009, he was elected Mayor for the fourth time in the new Büyükçekmece district, which was formed by merging of the town municipalities connected to Büyükçekmece District Municipality with the law numbered 5747 that entered into force in 2008.
  • During his term; he dedicated 36 schools, 12 multi-purpose halls and a teacher's lodge to national education. He contributed to the establishment of 4 foundation universities in Büyükçekmece and in 1997, he ensured the establishment of a state hospital in the district.
  • As a result of its works in urban planning services, social municipalism and culture and art activities, Büyükçekmece received the Council of Europe “12 Star Cities” award for the first time in 2012.
  • He was elected as the Mayor for the 5th time in the local elections held in 2014.
  • He is Türkiye's first and only mayor who did his doctorate on local governments.
  • He gifted the Atatürk Sports Complex, the 5th largest sports complex in Istanbul, to Büyükçekmece.
  • Türkiye's longest pedestrianized coast was put into service in Büyükçekmece.
  • He has put the Atatürk Cultural Center, which has one of the biggest stages in Istanbul and was selected as the "easiest building", to the service of the Büyükçekmece citizens.
  • The Public Academy Project, which is an educational and cultural project, was selected as a model project by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in 2012.
  • In 2012, “My color is Büyükçekmece”artistic activity project entered the Guinness Book of Records.
  • He was awarded the title of “The Mayor with the highest increase in interactions in the social media” As a result of the “TT Mayor 2013” research organized in cooperation with Istanbul University (I.U.), Human, Society and Technology Association (ITTD) and CeBIT Informatics Eurasia 2013 which included 94 mayors of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir,
  • Hasan AKGÜN received the “District Mayor of the Year” award with 270,992 votes from the readers all over the world from China to the USA in the “Stars of the Year” survey, which was held for the 12th time this year by Ekovitrin Magazine in 2013, where 105 candidates competed in 35 categories and which lasted for about 3 months.
  • He ensured the development of bilateral relations by maintaining active relations with 17 sister cities of Büyükçekmece Municipality, which is one of the most important criteria of the European Charter of Local Self-Government.
  • He received the European Diploma award in 2015. The Europe Awards, organized by the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly, have been organized for over 60 years.
  • In 2016, he was elected as the "Permanent Honorary President of FIDAF" by the FIDAF [Federation of International Dance Festivals], headquartered in South Korea, with the votes of all 59 member countries.
  • In 2017, he organized the 1st International Local Governments Congress in Büyükçekmece. A first in Türkiye, the congress under the honorary chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Ruşen KELEŞ was held with the participation of local government representatives and academicians discussing the past, present and future of local governments via the 133 reports selected from 210 applications.
  • In 2017, he received the European Flag of Honor award. It is one of the most prestigious awards in the world within the scope of the European Awards given to the member countries of the Council of Europe by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
  • In 2017, the Best City Information System award was received at the Golden Ant awards organized by the Union of Marmara Municipalities.
  • In 2018, the Council of Europe Local and Regional Authorities Congress Monitoring Committee meeting was held in Büyükçekmece for the first time in İstanbul. At the meeting 120 delegates from 47 countries attended, reports on the functioning of Local Democracy were discussed.
  • In 2018, he was granted The Most Successful Mayor of the Year Award at the 3rd Mood Awards given by Mood magazine.
  • In 2018, Büyükçekmece Municipality received 12 Star Award of the Council of Europe for the 7th time. Büyükçekmece Municipality is the only municipality in Türkiye that has been awarded this title seven times consecutively. At the same year, « the Flag of Honor » was received by the Council of Europe.
  • He was elected as the Mayor for the 6th time in the local elections held in 2019.
  • In 2019, he received the 15th City and Life Award organized by the New Searches Initiative Platform Association with the "Great Atatürk Park" project.
  • In 2019, International Idealkent Awards was received.
  • In 2020, the Partner of the European Local Democracy Week award was received by the Council of Europe.
  • In 2021, continuity award was given by the International Photographic Art Federation for the 21 years continuation of the International Güler Ertan Photography Art Contest.
  • In 2021, « European Mobility Week National Award » was received by the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye.
  • In 2021, the “Young Farmer Smart Agriculture Project” was awarded in the Youth Friendly Cities Idea and Project Implementation Competition organized by the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye.
  • In 2021, The European Plaque of Honor award was received by the Council of Europe.
  • As a result of the campaign for the Most Roma Friendly Mayor organized by the Zero Discrimination Association in 2022, the Housing Policies Special Award was received.

 

Throughout his term in the office,

 

  • Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festivalwas selected as the “Best Festival in the World” in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 by the CIOFF [International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts]. (The Festival is Türkiye's first CIOFF member and the only one in category A.)
  • Held traditionally and regarded as the most established local administrations project contest, the “Golden Ant Municipal Work Awards” picked the Büyükçekmece Municipality as the winner out of 203 projects from 512 applications.
  • Also in 2014, the Büyükçekmece Municipality received an award with “Our Barriers Cannot Stop Us”project at the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation”, held in Guangzhou, China in which 55 countries participated.
  • Büyükçekmece Municipality Golden Bridge Folk Dance Ensemble was awarded the world’s number one prize with the full scores by 19 countries in the International Folk Dance Competition held in Cheonan by FIDAF [Federation of International Dance Festivals] in 2016.
  • In 2017, the World Costumes Museum received the Best Archive and Collection award in the Museum Encouragement Competition organized by the Union of Historical Towns.
  • In 2018, the International Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival received the "World's Best Culture and Art Festival" award for the 6th time. The award was presented to Hasan Akgün by Koo Bon Young, president of the Federation of International Dance Festivals (FIDAF), at the World Dance Festival held in Cheonan, South Korea.
  • In 2018, the International Büyükçekmece Culture and Art Festival received the "World's Best Culture and Art Festival" award for the 6th time. The award was presented to Hasan Akgün by Koo Bon Young, president of the Federation of International Dance Festivals (FIDAF), at the World Dance Festival held in Cheonan, South Korea.
  • FIDAF Honorary Festival Award was received in 2019.
  • Honorary Festival award given by CIOFF and FIDAF in 2021.
Hobbies
  • Reading and researching books and classical works particularly based on research.
  • Visiting and examining cities and regions with a rich historical texture, unspoilt naturalness and developing countries that stand out with their urban identity, and strolling in historical cities street by street
  • Following the scientific meetings about municipal work throughout the world.
  • Classic cars and photography are among his interests.
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