Ahmet Piriştina was a well-known Turkish

Turkish people

Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

 politician

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

. He is of Albanian

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 descendant.

Biography

Ahmet Piriştina was born in İzmir

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 in 1952. He was elected mayor of İzmir from Republican People's Party

Republican People's Party (Turkey)

The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...

 in two (1999, 2004) consecutive elections. He died of a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 at the age of 52. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Political life

During his terms of office he launched many projects to resolve the structural problems of İzmir and protect İzmir's natural resources and cultural heritage. Some examples of his achievements are:

• İzmir Port Area Urban Design International Ideas Competition: The aim of this competition was to encourage new ideas for the development of urban areas and the architectural character of the İzmir port area, and, following this competition, construct a new city centre in the port area of an international repute.
• Channel Project: The aim of this project was to collect the domestic and industrial waste water throughout İzmir and, after purification, to discharge them to the Gulf of İzmir
  Gulf of Izmir
  The Gulf of İzmir , formerly known as the Gulf of Smyrna, is a gulf on the Aegean Sea, with its inlet between the peninsula of Karaburun and the mainland area of Foça...
  
  , the biggest natural gulf of Turkey. This project resulted in a reduction in the pollution levels of the Gulf.
• Parks and gardens: Mr Piriştina created 1333495 square metres (1,594,847 sq yd) of open spaces. He also grassed over street refuges and viaducts and not only doubled the area of open spaces but also improved their appearance.
• Metro Project: He constructed the İzmir Metro
  Izmir Metro
  İzmir Metro is a subway network in İzmir, Turkey that is constantly being extended with new stations being put in service. The network, consisting of one line, starts from Üçyol station in Hatay in the southern portion of the metropolitan area and runs towards northeast to end in Bornova...
  
  to reduce traffic congestion. With its high technology and coordination, the İzmir Metro System became an important model for many developed countries.
• Car Park Project: Rapid immigration resulted in a spate of unplanned and chaotic construction, accompanied by a decline in open spaces and car parking lots. Such a one process, local administrations experience difficulties in finding corresponding places for increasing access needs, and come across with high costs. Despite these problems, the İzmir Metropolitan Government created new areas to meet the requirements for car parking.
• The Project of Protecting Water Sources: While providing a reliable water supply to İzmir, he was setting workers to resolve firmly to protect existent water sources for ensuring high quality and healthy water to İzmir. Besides of these, Piriştina entrenched and safeguarded the dam of Tahtalı and its basin. Tahtalı barrage is important for İzmir because it makes up the shortage in water supply to the city.
• Parent House of İzmir: Among the buildings constructed during the period of İzmir’s Republic, Fire Department Building had a privilege. Because of this concession, Mr. Piriştina restored this building and made it Parent House of İzmir.
• Museums in İzmir: Ahmet Piriştina constructed a culture park for historical artifacts (stone, ceramic and precious works of art). This museum contains many precious works covering several civilisations.

External links

• Who is who database - Biography of Ahmet Piriştina