Sinem Dedetaş, who was elected as the mayor of Üsküdar with 49.9% of the votes in the municipal elections on March 31, has become one of the prominent figures of the wind of change following the elections. With Dedetaş from the CHP taking office as the first female mayor in Üsküdar, the 20-year tradition of the Welfare, Virtue Party, and AKP in the district came to an end. Born in Eskişehir in 1981, Sinem Dedetaş completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Ship Architecture and Marine Engineering at ITU and her master’s degree in the same department. Serving as the Chairman of the Board of the TMMOB Chamber of Marine Engineers between 2014 and 2016, Dedetaş acted as the General Manager of Istanbul City Lines, a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), from 2019 to 2023. How did Sinem Dedetaş enter the political stage? What changes does Üsküdar expect during her five-year term? Sinem Dedetaş from the CHP, the first female mayor of Üsküdar, answered questions from DW Turkish. „Complaining is not a solution.“ Dedetaş describes it as the first public experience of the Chamber of Marine Engineers (GMO), stating that she has always had a sense of social issues and prefers to offer solutions rather than to complain about problems. She explained that the Human Resources Department of the Istanbul Municipality contacted her in 2019 and offered her the position of General Directorate for City Lines, expressing her delight in seeing what could be achieved through the correct use of public resources during her tenure. Before the municipal elections, IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu asked all bureaucrats, „Would you consider entering politics?“ Dedetaş stated that she was asked the question and answered „yes,“ relying on her experience and desire to provide services, and said, „Without the City Lines experience, I might not have dared to do this.“ Due to her profession, Dedetaş has always worked in seemingly male-dominated fields. However, she believes that success should be evaluated independently of gender. She explained that throughout her career, she had always had the mission of being the „first woman“ and said, „I became the first female president of GMO, the first female CEO of City Lines, and the first female president of the International Union.“ „I have never considered myself inadequate because I am a woman,“ she says. Dedetaş said, „Now she has the opportunity to become the first female mayor of the Üsküdar municipality and is aware that she must work hard to earn the favor of those who voted for her.“ Dedetaş believes that she can also be a good role model for women. Dedetaş said, „Thanks to the opportunities that the Republic has given us, I was able to reach where I am today,“ and offered the following advice to women: Dedetaş’s fight against the privatization of the Golden Horn. Dedetaş is also known for her efforts against the privatization attempt of the Haliç Shipyard. She explained that with her appointment as the General Manager of City Lines, they had proven how justified this endeavor was and stated that they had brought the shipyard to a point where it could produce again, increasing its annual turnover from 1 million to 160 million TL, while preserving the industrial heritage on one hand and making it alive and beneficial to the public on the other. Social assistance, tourism, and urban transformation. So what are the main services that Sinem Dedetaş plans for Üsküdar? Dedetaş points out that urban poverty, which has become a serious problem for Istanbul and the whole of Turkey, also applies to Üsküdar, where people are forced to live on social assistance. Dedetaş explains that they will soon implement projects that will revive the local economy and support artisans, and states that steps to support tourism are also an important issue for Üsküdar, being a historical district: „Üsküdar does not receive the value it deserves. We want to prevent Üsküdar from being just a transit and transfer point, and make it a place where both the people of Üsküdar and residents of other districts and tourists come.“ Urban transformation is also one of the biggest issues in Üsküdar. According to Dedetaş, who stated that 70% of the building stock in the district consists of buildings from before 1999, Üsküdar has become a „tired of promises“ district, especially regarding urban transformation. Dedetaş explained that each neighborhood has different problems and they will propose different solutions to these problems: „We have always stated that our municipality will be a guarantee between citizens and contractors and will provide free consultancy services. I speak of both.“ „
