Meet Binali Yildirim, Istanbul's mayoral candidate

Former prime minister and speaker of the Turkish parliament Binali Yildirim secured 48.6 percent of the votes in the March 31 Istanbul election, trailing behind the opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, who secured 48.8 percent of the vote share, but the country's Supreme Election Council (YSK) later annulled the results, citing irregularities in the counting process.  

Istanbulites will once again step out to exercise their right to vote for the mayorship on June 23.

One of the colourful personalities in Turkish politics, Yildirim has campaigned on the promise of bringing more jobs in the fields of big data and information technology as well as upgrading the city's metro lines and building new green spaces.

Born in 1955 in Erzincan, a mountainous city in the eastern part of Turkey, Yildirim studied shipbuilding and ocean engineering at the Istanbul Technical University, completing his master’s degree in the same department.

He is married and has three children.

Between 1978-1993, he worked in several positions at the former Directorate General for the Shipbuilding Industry, where he rose through the ranks and became general manager of Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. (IDO) in 1994, serving in the position until 2000.

As the head of IDO, Yildirim oversaw the department adding new ferries and ferry lines and IDO became one of the leading public transportation companies in the world.

Yildirim was also a founding member of the AK Party. During his political career, he served as the minister of transportation and communication between 2002-2016. 

In May 2016, Yildirim became Turkey's prime minister and the head of the governing AK Party. As Turkey switched from a prime ministerial to a presidential democracy in 2018, Yildirim was elected as the speaker of the new parliament. 

He resigned from his role as the speaker of parliament in February this year and submitted his papers as a candidate for Istanbul's mayoral race. 

During his time as minister of transportation and communication Yildirim oversaw the AK Party-led government's flagship urban renewal projects, which included increasing the number of airports from 26 to 55.

He also introduced and completed high-speed train lines between Istanbul-Eskisehir-Konya.

One of Istanbul's most renowned bridges, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge over the Bosporus strait, was also constructed under Yildirim's supervision. The bridge became instrumental in reducing traffic congestion between the European and Asian sides of the city. 

In July 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan awarded him the medal of honour for his contribution to the country's development.