Mansur Yavaş facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mansur Yavaş
Mansur Yavaş in 2024
29th Mayor of Ankara
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 April 2019
Preceded by	Mustafa Tuna
Mayor of Beypazarı
In office 18 April 1999 – 29 March 2009
Preceded by	İbrahim Demirr
Succeeded by	Mehmet Cengiz Özalp
Member of the Beypazarı Municipal Council
In office 26 March 1989 – 27 March 1994
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
Personal details
Born	(1955-05-23) 23 May 1955 (age 70) Beypazarı, Turkey
Political party	Republican People's Party (2013–2016, 2018–present)
Other political affiliations	Nationalist Task Party (1989–1992) Nationalist Movement Party (1992–2013)
Spouse	Nursen Yavaş ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Istanbul University
Signature

Mansur Yavaş (born 23 May 1955) is a Turkish lawyer and politician. He is currently the Mayor of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. He has held this important job since April 2019.

He was first elected in the 2019 Ankara mayoral election. He ran as the candidate for the Nation Alliance, which is a group of opposition parties like the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Good Party. He was re-elected by a large number of votes in the 2024 Ankara mayoral election.

Before becoming Ankara's mayor, Yavaş worked as a lawyer. He also served as the mayor of Beypazarı, a district in Ankara, from 1999 to 2009. He is known for being very popular and for his good work in Ankara. For example, he was praised for how he managed things during the COVID-19 pandemic. He made sure city workers were paid and that stray animals were fed. He also helped reduce the city's debt by stopping wasteful spending. In 2021, he even won the World Mayor Capital Award!

Early Life and Education

Mansur Yavaş was born in Beypazarı, a town in the Ankara Province of Turkey. His father used to be a carpenter and also sold newspapers. Young Mansur helped his father by working as a paperboy.

He finished his primary and secondary school in Beypazarı. In 1979, he started studying law at Istanbul University and graduated in 1983. After serving in the military as a prosecutor (a type of lawyer for the military), Yavaş went back to Beypazarı and started working as a private lawyer.

Early Political Career

Yavaş first got involved in politics in 1989 when he was elected as a member of the city council in Beypazarı. He tried to become the mayor of Beypazarı in 1994 but didn't win that time. He continued his law practice and council work until 1999. In April 1999, he ran for mayor again and this time he won with more than half of the votes.

The 2014 Ankara Mayoral Election

Mansur Yavaş was the candidate for mayor of Ankara for the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the local elections held on 30 March 2014. On election night, he announced that he believed he had won. He asked his supporters to stay at the voting stations to watch the vote counting.

Later, Yavaş said that a government news agency was slow in showing the votes from areas where his party had strong support. He believed this was done to discourage his volunteers. He also said his team had reported many problems with the election results.

The 2019 Ankara Mayoral Election

Mansur Yavaş taking over as Mayor of Ankara from outgoing mayor Mustafa Tuna during an official handover ceremony on 8 April 2019

Even though he had left the CHP for a short time, Yavaş decided to rejoin and run for Mayor of Ankara again. This time, he was supported by the Good Party, forming the Nation Alliance. He started his campaign with a good lead over his main opponent.

During the campaign, some people made claims against him, but his supporters believed these claims were not true and were just for political reasons.

On 31 March, Mansur Yavaş won the election. He became the first CHP Mayor of Ankara in 25 years, getting 50.9% of the votes. He officially started his job on 8 April 2019.

Mayor of Ankara

When Mansur Yavaş became mayor, he quickly started making changes. He stopped hiring new city staff for a while to check for any past problems. He also changed some top city officials. He was praised for cleaning the statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara, which had been neglected for years.

In April 2019, the city council tried to take away some of the mayor's powers. Yavaş said this was against the rules and used his power to stop these changes. He also criticized how the previous city leaders had given city jobs to companies that were losing money, just because of political connections.

Mansur Yavaş became very well-known across Turkey for his work. He started a quick "100-day plan" that got a lot of news coverage. He stopped the practice of giving city jobs to family or friends, which he believed had caused Ankara to be in debt.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mansur Yavaş started a project to give bread to poor people. He also made public transportation in Ankara free on national and religious holidays. He famously got rid of expensive luxury cars bought by the previous mayor. Instead, he offered these cars for free to couples getting married in Ankara for a day.

For transportation, Yavaş has worked to build and protect bike paths and walking areas. He wants to encourage people in Ankara to use less fossil fuels. He also plans to create a large trade fair in Ankara to compete with the world's biggest trade fairs. New houses in the capital now need to have solar energy and rainwater storage systems. Students also get a 50% discount on water bills.

In late 2020, Yavaş announced that he would provide free internet in 928 villages in Ankara within 45 days.

The 2023 Presidential Elections

Many people thought Mansur Yavaş would be a strong candidate to run against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 Turkish presidential election. Polls showed he had a good chance of winning. However, on 6 March 2023, the leader of the Republican People's Party, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, announced he would be the candidate. Mansur Yavaş, along with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and leaders of five other parties, were named as vice-president candidates.

Personal Life

Mansur Yavaş married Nursen Yavaş in 1986. They have two daughters named Armağan and Çağlayan.

Electoral History

Local Elections

Election	Party	Votes	%	Outcome	Map
March 1994 Beypazarı	Nationalist Movement Party	4,351	31.17%	2nd	N/A
April 1999 Beypazarı	Nationalist Movement Party	8,437	51.12%	1st	N/A
March 2004 Beypazarı	Nationalist Movement Party	10,320	54.8%	1st	N/A
March 2009 Ankara	Nationalist Movement Party	667,305	27.3%	3rd	N/A
March 2014 Ankara	Republican People's Party	1,416,770	43.82%	2nd	N/A
March 2019 Ankara	Republican People's Party	1,662,209	50.93%	1st
March 2024 Ankara	Republican People's Party	1,997,429	60.38%	1st

See also

In Spanish: Mansur Yavaş para niños