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Ahmet Piriştina facts for kids

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Ahmet Piriştina
24th Mayor of İzmir
In office
18 April 1999 – 15 June 2004
Preceded by Burhan Özfatura
Succeeded by Aziz Kocaoğlu
Personal details
Born (1952-04-08)8 April 1952
İzmir, Turkey
Died 15 June 2004(2004-06-15) (aged 52)
İzmir, Turkey
Political party Republican People's Party (2003-04)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic Left Party (1994-2003)
Relatives Mergim Priştina Gülmen
Occupation Mayor of İzmir

Ahmet Piriştina (born April 8, 1952 – died June 15, 2004) was an important Turkish politician. He served as the Mayor of İzmir, a big city in Turkey, from 1999 until his death in 2004. His family originally came from Prishtina, a city in Kosovo.

Ahmet Piriştina was born in İzmir, Turkey. He was elected Mayor of İzmir twice, in 1999 and 2004. As mayor, he became known for keeping his promises and being an honest leader. He passed away from a heart attack when he was 52 years old. Many people in İzmir honored him after his death, and over a million people attended his funeral.

Ahmet Piriştina's Work as Mayor

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Ahmet Prishtina street in Prizren, Kosovo, named after the mayor.

During his time as mayor, Ahmet Piriştina started many projects. These projects aimed to solve big problems in İzmir and protect its natural beauty and history. Here are some of his key achievements:

Improving İzmir's Environment

  • İzmir Port Area Urban Design Competition: This competition asked for new ideas to develop the İzmir port area. The goal was to create a new, modern city center near the port.
  • Channel Project: This project aimed to collect all the dirty water from homes and factories in İzmir. After cleaning this water, it was safely released into the Gulf of İzmir. This greatly reduced pollution in the Gulf.
  • Parks and Gardens: Mayor Piriştina created a huge amount of new green spaces, about 1,333,495 square meters. He also added grass to street dividers and under bridges. This doubled the city's green areas and made them look much better.
  • Protecting Water Sources: He worked hard to make sure İzmir had a reliable supply of clean water. He also protected existing water sources, like the Tahtalı dam and its surrounding area. This dam is very important for İzmir's water supply.

Modernizing City Life

  • Metro Project: He built the İzmir Metro system to help reduce traffic jams. The İzmir Metro used advanced technology and became a good example for other cities.
  • Car Park Project: As more people moved to İzmir, there were fewer open spaces and parking lots. Despite these challenges, Mayor Piriştina's government created new parking areas to meet the city's needs.

Preserving Culture and History

  • Parent House of İzmir: The old Fire Department Building was a special historical building. Mayor Piriştina had it restored and turned it into the "Parent House of İzmir."
  • Museums in İzmir: He also built a culture park to display historical items. This museum contains many valuable artifacts from different civilizations.
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