Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş aiming for another term

That will carry him through his pet project, Istanbul as the European Capital of Culture 2010 and the many other projects he has planned.

As with many other people who have achieved success in Istanbul, Topbaş’s family came from eastern Anatolia. Born in 1945 in a village in Artvin province located on the Turkish-Georgian border, the following year the baby Kadir and his family moved to Istanbul where his family owned the famous Saray Muhallebicisi. First he studied theology and then architecture before earning a doctorate from Istanbul University in the history of architecture. Somewhere in between he preached in an Edirne mosque although that didn’t suit him apparently because he turned to politics.

It’s been a long way since then. No one doubts how religious he is even if he decided that architecture was much more interesting than theology. He served as an advisor on the city’s historical buildings to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when the latter was mayor of Istanbul. Later he made two attempts to become a member of Parliament from Artvin but lost both times.

Topbaş became well-known in Istanbul when he was elected Beyoğlu mayor for the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in 1999. Among his first actions was to try to impose rules against drinking within the most popular quarter of Istanbul for tourists and Istanbul residents, the area around Beyoğlu’s famous Çiçek Pasaj; however, he collided with restaurant owners and people who loved to eat and drink in that area and had to back down. He seems to have learned a lesson in taking on an Istanbul icon because after that he tried to work more closely with the people living in Beyoglu and in particular with the "Güzel Beyoğlu (Beautiful Beyoğlu)" project in trying to reverse the effects of years of neglect, disinterest and lack of municipal funds.

Topbaş ran for the metropolitan mayor’s position in the local elections of 2004, as an AKP candidate, and won. Now he is running for a second term and it is almost impossible to see how he can lose. His major opponent is the candidate from the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu who is better known for his work in Ankara and while Kılıçdaroğlu has become known for his tireless search for corruption, the election will show whether or not his record will be enough to wean voters away from Topbaş. In the meantime the mudsling goes on as some try to uncover any kind of dirt against Topbaş or malfeance in office and in turn his supporters play up the issue of Kılıçdaroğlu’s ignorance of Istanbul.

The mayor works very hard at his job and manages to attend openings, conferences, receptions, planning sessions and travels abroad as well. Still he is very attached to his wife Özleyiş and family. The couple has been married about 35 years and she puts his interests first staying in the background for the most part. The couple has three children - two boys and a girl - and two grandchildren with a third on the way. Many of his pictures show him smiling and happy whether he’s at a function or with his family while other photos demonstrate his serious side as he stands with Tayyip Erdoğan and other dignitaries at an opening or ceremony although he himself rarely has time for protocol.

Determination and long-sighted goals traits of Mayor Topbaş
Topbaş is a determined man, perhaps one might even say stubborn and exhaustingly energetic. When he sets his sights on particular goals even though they may be long term, he goes after them and is able to convince people to go along with him. He pays a great deal of attention to details and when a bureaucrat comments on any particular project or plan, he asks if that person knows firsthand what he’s talking about. If not, he insists that he go and see.

Everyone knows that Topbaş wants to change Istanbul into a more livable city and has had that as a goal for a long time. Undoubtedly his interest in architecture and architectural history has been a strong motivation. He has from the beginning supported projects that would be of assistance to the people of Istanbul. His most far-sighted project was getting Istanbul named one of the European Capitals of Culture in 2010.

Within that, the mayor promised a series of projects that were intended to prepare the public for 2010. These included developing the Fatih district, rehabilitating the Sultanahmet area and Beyoğlu, renovating historical houses in Zeyrek and other such projects. A series of new museums and cultural centers were planned as well as activities encouraged in some of the already established museums.

Now that work for 2010 is well underway, Topbaş has turned more of his attention to the transportation system in Istanbul. He has just offered a summary of the investments in that system between 2004 and 2008. Referring to the large number of people migrating from eastern Anatolia and villages to Istanbul, he stresses that this only made problems worse for the city that had never implemented a comprehensive transport design in spite of several proposals made from the mid-19th century onwards. The end result is an integration of new and old transit lines, transit centers and car parks with tramways, light metro, commuter trains and ferry boats with a card that allows a person to change from one to the other transport type without paying extra. The city’s investments between 2004 and 2008 came to 22.6 billion TL or 60 percent of the entire four-year budget with investments of 20 billion TL for local municipalities.

Lack of water a continuing issue
One of the other significant problems that have been on the desk of every mayor for the past couple of decades is finding enough water. How to find sources of water for the burgeoning population of Istanbul as rainfall became more and more scarce and the water levels in the dams nearby fell. It is a matter of considerable concern for the inhabitants of the city who now number more than 12 million. Experts have probably examined every feasible possibility with the exception of praying for rain and either they are too expensive such as desalination plants or would take years to set in action.

Add to Topbaş’ portfolio is his election to be In November 2007 he became co-president of United Cities and Local Governments and is up for the 2008 World Mayor award.

The mayor hasn’t always had it his own way. Change can make people anxious and a major source of concern was Topbaş’s proposed Galataport which would have totally transformed the harbor area from the Galata Bridge to Tophane on the east up to Galata Tower on the hill. Five-star hotels, cultural centers, restaurants and theaters would have replaced the rather rundown Karaköy district. Even the nargile shops would have had to leave and the Istanbul Modern Art Museum would have been torn down. After shock and outrage lessened, it was noticed that the plans went against the city’s planning code. So the plans were shelved until a new one could be devised.

Another project that didn’t originate with Topbaş has been the Marmaray, the railroad and rail commuter tunnel connecting Üsküdar and further on to Gebze on the Asian side of Istanbul to Yenikapı and Sirkeci feeding into already existing rail systems. In spite of the fact that Topbaş has wanted this to be completed quickly and the tunnel has been pretty much finished, the major transit point at Yenikapı has not. This has been held up at the mayor’s order because in excavating at Yenikapı, major archaeological discoveries were made there that have included the only known Byzantine war vessel and have extended the history of prehistoric settlements to some 8000 years ago. The engineers working on the transit station have been doing their best to excavate around the excavation but it is estimated that the project scheduled to be completed in 2012 has already been delayed two years.

Some nostalgically inclined people have a few regrets because as one turns Istanbul into a modern "western" city, much of the color is being taken out of it. The noisy chaos in and around Eminönü Square may have seemed annoying at times but it was always full of interesting surprises, colorful people, pigeons trying to snatch a seed from the sellers and so on. This is probably balanced out by the planting of millions of trees and flowers, especially tulips, along street verges and in parks.

To be sure the city is filled with many old buildings that need renovating, streets that need repaving, water pipes that need repairing and so do all the other huge old cities of the world. The metropolitan government has many tasks to perform and hires many subcontractors to do such work. At the beginning of each mayor’s term in office, he puts out contracts to find companies that can take on these jobs. And Topbaş has not escaped being accused of hiring only those companies that were loyal to the AKP. Most every mayor meets the same accusations as he takes office. Whether or not this is true for Topbaş, one has to say that Istanbul is a different city from the one he inherited five years ago and the metropolis works pretty well.

So having an architectural historian like Topbaş as mayor has certainly been an advantage.