Mehmet Yıldırım (politician born in 1949)

Mehmet Yıldırım is a Turkish civil engineer and politician. He served as a member of parliament from Kastamonu from the Republican People's Party between 2002 and 2007. He was known for his defense of the products of his region in the parliament and was publicly known as the "Garlic Deputy".

He was born in 1949 in Taşköprü district of Kastamonu. He graduated from Işık Engineering School affiliated with Istanbul State Engineering and Architecture Academy. Before entering politics, he worked as a construction site manager and chief engineer in road construction works, and then became a freelance civil engineer and contractor.

political life

He was elected as Kastamonu MP from the CHP list in the 2002 general elections and was in the Parliament in the 22nd term. During his tenure, he tried to bring Kastamonu's local products, especially Taşköprü garlic, to the national agenda and expressed the problems of the producers. When he came to the podium with garlic in one of his speeches, it caused a wide repercussion and his nickname was born from there.

He became CHP's candidate for Kastamonu mayor in the 2014 local elections, but did not win the election. Before the June 2015 general elections, he tended to run as a candidate from the AK Party, but did not enter the party's list.

He died in Kastamonu on May 13, 2024, at the age of 75. He was buried in his hometown, Taşköprü.