Özlem Çerçioğlu was born on 11 August 1968 in the Nazilli district of Aydın. She completed her primary, secondary and high school education in Nazilli. She graduated from Selçuk University in 1988. Following her university education she worked abroad and implemented various projects, particularly focusing on developing social relations and working in the private sector.

She actively participated in social initiatives including education support, drug abuse prevention, integrating street children into society and women’s rights.

Political Career

Özlem Çerçioğlu served as a Member of Parliament for Aydın from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the 22nd and 23rd terms of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, following the general elections of 2007 and 2011. During her parliamentary term she was a member of the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission on Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural Resources, Information and Technology; she also served as a member of the CHP Party Council.

Elected Mayor of Aydın in 2009, Çerçioğlu became the first Mayor of Aydın Metropolitan Municipality when Aydın gained metropolitan status in 2014. Re-elected in the 2019 and 2024 elections, she served four consecutive terms as mayor and retained the title of Aydın’s first female mayor. She was frequently referred to in local and national media as the “Heeled Efe” — a title that alludes both to the traditional warrior ethos of Western Anatolia and to the representation of women’s leadership in local governance.

In a statement made on 14 August 2025, Çerçioğlu announced her resignation from the CHP, stating that despite efforts to resolve internal party issues, no satisfactory outcomes were achieved. She emphasized that she could no longer reconcile her fundamental principles of honesty, public ethics and service within the rule of law with antidemocratic practices within the party. She expressed her resignation decision with the words “there is no longer any possibility to continue on the same path” and affirmed that she would continue serving the people of Aydın with the same dedication as before, without any distinction.

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In her speech on AK Party's 24th Anniversary Program, she announced that she would continue her political life within the framework of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and emphasized her intention to launch a urban transformation mobilization in Aydın, a region classified as first-degree earthquake zone.

Personal Life

Özlem Çerçioğlu was born into a high-income family. She is married and a mother of two children. Fluent in English, she received vocational training in machinery, drawing and construction at a two-year college. After graduation she gained professional experience through positions at various industrial institutions both within and outside Türkiye.