Turkey’s first and only communist mayor, Fatih Mehmet Macoglu, has been making headlines with his unexpected successes. Macoglu is the mayor of the small town of Ovacik in Tunceli province with a population of about 3,300.
Macoglu assumed his post in April 2014, facing great expectations and even greater hurdles. Notably, in the Nov. 1 general elections, Macoglu’s Communist Party did not receive a single vote in Ovacik. This discrepancy indicates that electing a Communist mayor was not an ideological issue for the residents of Ovacik. The choice was about Macoglu, his passion for service, his determination to help the people and his humility. He is a communist who genuinely praises democracy.