Kadir Topbaş

Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Metropolitan Istanbul, President of UCLG was born in Artvin, Turkey in 1945. He graduated from Marmara University- Faculty of Theology in 1972, and Mimar Sinan University-Department of Architecture in 1974. Topbas earned his PhD degree from Istanbul University-Department of Art History and Archeology, with a study on "Hidiv Mansion and its place in Bosphorus civilian architecture". Topbas worked as an architect for many years.

Between 1994 and 1998, Kadir Topbas worked as an adviser for Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when Erdogan was the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Topbas also served as the deputy director of Istanbul 1st Cultural Heritage Protection and Monuments Committee of the Ministry of Culture.

Kadir Topbas was elected as the Mayor of Beyoglu (a district of Istanbul) in 1999.During this period, he launched and successfully implemented an urban regeneration project called the "Güzel Beyoglu" ("Beautiful Beyoglu").

In March 2004 he run for Mayor of Istanbul and was elected with a vast majority of votes. He was re-elected in 2009 with a larger majority.

He served as President of MEWA and Vice-President of UCLG between 2004 and 2007, and was Co-President of UCLG from 2007 to 2010.