Fatih Macoglu, the popular “Communist Mayor” of a city in eastern Turkey, is now vying for control of a vibrant and hip Istanbul district along the Asian banks of the Bosphorus.
In 2019, he was elected mayor of Tunceli, a majority Kurdish Alevi city in eastern Anatolia known for being extremely secular and left-leaning.
During his five-year term, he won plaudits for knocking down the doors of his office as a form of transparency.