28.02.2025 14:00
Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras and Menteşe Municipality Mayor Gonca Köksal have decided to get married. The couple will tie the knot in a ceremony in April, which will be attended by CHP leader Özgür Özel.
While serving as the Mayor of Bodrum, retired military officer Ahmet Aras, who was nominated as a candidate for the Mayor of Muğla and elected on March 31, and Gonca Köksal, who was nominated as Muğla's first female district mayoral candidate and won the election as the Mayor of Menteşe, have decided to unite their lives.
ÖZGÜR ÖZEL WILL ALSO ATTEND In a statement made by the Press and Public Relations Department of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality, it was noted that the date of the wedding ceremony to be held in April after the decision will be announced later. It was reported that the wedding ceremony of the couple will also be attended by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel.
WHO IS AHMET ARAS? Ahmet Aras was born on February 3, 1970, in Bodrum. After completing his primary education at Cumhuriyet Primary School and Bodrum Secondary School, he took the high school entrance exams and earned the right to attend the Science High School with a scholarship. He first registered at İzmir Atatürk High School and then passed the Military High School exam, choosing to continue his education at Maltepe Military High School. His professional career, which began in Konya between 1992-1993, continued in Ardahan, where he served for three years and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant between 1993-1996. In 1996, he was appointed as the President of the Bodrum Military Recruitment Office and was in Bodrum from 1996 to 2000 due to his duty. In 2000, he was appointed as the President of the Zara Military Recruitment Office and was promoted to the rank of captain during this duty. In 2004, he was appointed as the President of the Şanlıurfa Viranşehir Military Recruitment Office. He completed this duty, which continued until 2008, by being promoted to the rank of major. From 2008 until the end of 2011, he served in the Ministry of National Defense. In 2012, he was assigned to the NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force KFOR (Kosovo Force) tasked with ensuring security in Kosovo, where he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and awarded the NATO Medal. In 2013, he returned to Bodrum and entered the tourism sector.
Aras won the right to become the Mayor of Bodrum from the Republican People's Party by receiving 45.69% of the votes in the local elections on March 31, 2019. He was nominated for the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality in the local elections on March 31, 2024. He was elected as the Mayor of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality by receiving 55.01% of the votes on March 31, 2024. Additionally, on May 20, 2024, he ran for the presidency of the Aegean Coastal Municipalities Union in the ordinary council meeting and won the election. Since that date, he has been serving as the president of the union.
WHO IS GONCA KÖKSAL? Gonca Köksal was born in 1981 in Muğla. She completed her primary, secondary, and high school education in Muğla. Köksal completed her undergraduate education at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning, and her master's degree in Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments at Middle East Technical University and Sociology at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, with a thesis titled "The Transformation of Urban Space as a Social Scale: The Case of Muğla Urban Site."
In 2014, Köksal was elected as a member of the Menteşe Municipality Council from the Republican People's Party and served as the Chairperson of the Planning Commission, Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, and Representative of the Historical Cities Union until 2019. Between 2019-2024, she held the positions of Member of the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Council and Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, as well as Member of the Menteşe Municipality Council and Chairperson of the Planning Commission. In addition to these roles, Köksal has also served as a member of the Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Tourism Commission, Representative of the Union of Turkish Municipalities, Representative of the Union of Energy Cities, Member of the Menteşe Municipality Council, Representative of the Historical Cities Union, and Member of the Gender Equality Commission, and was elected as Menteşe's first female Mayor by the votes of the people in the Local Government Elections on March 31, 2024.