Organizational Chart

Nazlıcan Akcı Management Development Center Director & Senior Training and Projects [email protected]

Nazlıcan Akcı holds a bachelor's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Istanbul Technical University. She has actively engaged in local government initiatives, design research, and cultural projects. Between 2017 and 2020, she worked with the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts on contemporary art and design biennials. Currently, she serves as a Senior Training and Projects Expert and Management Development Center Director at the Marmara Municipalities Union. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Istanbul Citizens Assembly within the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Özge Sivrikaya Director of Sustainability and Climate Change Center& Senior Projects Expert   [email protected]

Özge Sivrikaya completed her undergraduate studies with a double major in Political Science and International Relations & History Departments at Boğaziçi University. She had her master's degree at Aarhus University, Department of Political Science in Denmark. Sivrikaya wrote her thesis on the impact of intergroup threat perception on attitudes of social policy. She started her career as a research assistant at Bilgi University, Department of History. Sivrikaya is currently working as the Sustainability and Climate Change Center Director and Senior Projects Expert in Marmara Municipalities Union. Her works are focused on sustainable development, climate change, projects, international cooperation, local diplomacy, and local governments.

Samet Keskin Data and Technology Center Director& Senior Expert, Urban Policy [email protected]

He completed his high school education at Istanbul Atatürk Science High School and his undergraduate education at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering. He completed his master's degree at Istanbul University, Department of Sociology, Urban Studies Program with his thesis on “Data Collection and Management in the Development of Cultural Policies: The Case of Istanbul District Municipalities”. In addition to data management, evidence-based policy making, smart cities, digitalization, artificial intelligence and new technologies, he conducts various research and studies on urban policies, culture and arts policies and publishing. Since 2022, he has been the Director of the Data and Technology Center.

Ezgi Küçük Çalışkan Urban Policy Center Director & Urban Planning Coordinator [email protected]

She is the Urban Planning Coordinator at Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU). She also serves as the Director of the Urban Policy Center, the editor of the Şehir & Toplum journal, and the program coordinator of the Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) at MMU. Ezgi Küçük Çalışkan graduated from Izmir Institute of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning. She holds a master's in Urban Design from Istanbul Technical University. She received a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University, with her dissertation dealing with property relations in urban fringe belt areas. Her academic studies continue at the Turkish Network of Urban Morphology. Besides working in fields such as urban morphology, urban and regional policies, property, participation, and mapping, she enjoys being occupied with graphic designing, painting, and comic book making.

Merve Ağca Migration Policy Center Director & Senior International Affairs and Projects Expert [email protected]

Merve Agca is Director of Migration Policy Center and Senior International Affairs & Projects Expert at Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU). Since 2018 she works as Project Coordinator of Resilience in Local Governance (RESLOG-Turkey) Project and coordinate EU Beurs Project in frame of EU Scholarship programme. Since 2017 she leads MMU Migration Platform which consists of representatives of the departments of MMU’s member municipalities working for refugees and migrants.

She completed her undergraduate education at Marmara University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration (French). She studied political science at Grenoble Institutes of Political Studies (IEP de Grenoble) and completed her master's degree at Istanbul University, Local Governments, Urban and Environmental Studies Program. In her thesis, she examined the role of local governments in the field of migration management. She works in the fields of international relations, local diplomacy, governance, migration, asylum, social cohesion, local governments and climate change.

Görsev Argın Uz Local Government Academy Director & Director of Training and Projects [email protected]

She has been working as Director of Training and Projects at Marmara Municipalities Union and directing Local Government Academy. She completed her bachelor's degree in City and Regional Planning and received a master's degree in Urban Design at Middle East Technical University (METU). She received her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). In her Ph.D., she studied the effects of mobile technologies on the walking experience in cities. She prepared the dissertation named "Post-Flânerie: Altering Rhythm, Visual Attention, and Experience During Walking in Hybrid Public Space." During her Ph.D., she worked as a Research/Teaching Assistant at ITU and continued her research as a visiting researcher at KU Leuven (Ghent, Belgium). She continues her academic studies as a member of the Brussels-based working group "Alt_Shift* Altering Practices for Urban Inclusion." Her areas of interest are urban design, tactical urbanism, hybrid public space, active mobility, walking, and mapping.

Directorate of Editorial Affairs and Logistics

Sefa Şahin
Director of Editorial Affairs and Logistics
[email protected]

Şahin completed her undergraduate studies in Marmara University Department of Information and Document Management and had his master's degree at the Department of Local Administrations of the same university. He has been working as the Director of Editorial Affairs and Logistics. He is also the Director of MMU Library and Information Centers Platform and the director of Kebikeç Seminars.

Eda Topal
Editorial Affairs and Logistics Expert
[email protected]

Ecem Şentürk
Editorial Affairs and Logistics Expert
[email protected]

Emrehan Furkan Düzgiden
Corporate Communications Coordinator
[email protected]

Emrehan Furkan Düzgiden graduated from Plato Vocational School's Media and Communication Department and Beykent University's Faculty of Fine Arts, Cinema, and Television Department. He began his career in 2016 at the Marmara Municipalities Union as a Corporate Communications Specialist, and has continued since 2025 as the Corporate Communications Coordinator. During this period, he has taken on responsibilities in many areas such as agency relations, communication strategies, event coordination, and publication management. He has played an active role in the publication of more than 80 works by MBB Publications. Since 2019, he has also served as the Managing Editor of Şehir & Toplum magazine.

Burak Arlı
Corporate Communications Expert
[email protected]

İpek Nur Arısoy
Corporate Communications Expert
[email protected]

Gamze Aydın
Jr. Corporate Communications Expert
[email protected]

Ezgi Küçük Çalışkan
Urban Planning Coordinator
[email protected]

She is the Urban Planning Coordinator at Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU). She also serves as the Director of the Urban Policy Center, the editor of the Şehir & Toplum journal, and the program coordinator of the Marmara Urban Forum (MARUF) at MMU. Ezgi Küçük Çalışkan graduated from Izmir Institute of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning. She holds a master's in Urban Design from Istanbul Technical University. She received a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning at Istanbul Technical University, with her dissertation dealing with property relations in urban fringe belt areas. Her academic studies continue at the Turkish Network of Urban Morphology. Besides working in fields such as urban morphology, urban and regional policies, property, participation, and mapping, she enjoys being occupied with graphic designing, painting, and comic book making.

Samet Keskin
Senior Expert, Urban Policy & Data and Technology Center Director
[email protected]

İrem Kurtuluş Korkmaz
Senior Urban Policy Expert, Architect
[email protected]

Ali Emre Soner
Urban Policy Expert
[email protected]

Büşra İnce
Urban Policy Expert
[email protected]

Büşra Yılmaz
Urban Policy Expert
[email protected]

Meltem Özden
Jr. Urban Policy Expert
[email protected]

Görsev Argın Uz
Director of Training and Projects
[email protected]

She has been working as Director of Training and Projects at Marmara Municipalities Union and directing Local Government Academy. She completed her bachelor's degree in City and Regional Planning and received a master's degree in Urban Design at Middle East Technical University (METU). She received her Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from Istanbul Technical University (ITU). In her Ph.D., she studied the effects of mobile technologies on the walking experience in cities. She prepared the dissertation named "Post-Flânerie: Altering Rhythm, Visual Attention, and Experience During Walking in Hybrid Public Space." During her Ph.D., she worked as a Research/Teaching Assistant at ITU and continued her research as a visiting researcher at KU Leuven (Ghent, Belgium). She continues her academic studies as a member of the Brussels-based working group "Alt_Shift* Altering Practices for Urban Inclusion." Her areas of interest are urban design, tactical urbanism, hybrid public space, active mobility, walking, and mapping.

Nazlıcan Akcı
Senior Training and Projects Expert & Director of Management Development Center
[email protected]

Özge Sivrikaya
Senior Projects Expert & Director of Sustainability and Climate Change Center
[email protected]

Dila Toprak
Training and Projects Expert
[email protected]

Emre Sivri
Training Officer
[email protected]

Esma Elipek
Training Expert
[email protected]

Halenur Dönmez
Training and Projects Expert
[email protected]

Hatice Kübra Baştuğ
Training and Projects Expert
[email protected]

Hazan Sertkaya
Jr. Training and Projects Expert
[email protected]

İskender Güneş
Training Expert
[email protected]

M. Tarık Şimşek
Training Officer
[email protected]

Mücahit Demir
Training Expert
[email protected]

Gamze Güler
Legal Affairs Coordinator
[email protected]

After completing her undergraduate education at the Faculty of Law of Marmara University, she earned a Master's degree in Public Law with a specialization in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law from Bahçeşehir University. Her thesis was titled "The Offense of Collusion in Tenders (TCK Art. 235)" related to crimes in economy, industry, and commerce. She then pursued a Doctoral program in Public Law, specializing in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law, at Medipol University, where she prepared her thesis on "The Crime of Human Trafficking (TCK Art. 79)" related to international crimes. Güler began her professional career as a lawyer at a private law firm. She later worked as a managing lawyer at a private company and subsequently established her own law office, where she worked as a freelance lawyer. She is currently serving as the Legal Affairs Coordinator at the Marmara Municipalities Union and also serves as the secretary of the Marmara Municipalities Union Legal Platform, which brings together municipal lawyers.

Mustafa Kabil
Financial Services Director
[email protected]

Mustafa Kabil completed his undergraduate studies at Marmara University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. He worked at the Budget and Audit Directorate in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. He is currently working as the Financial Services Director in Marmara Municipalities Union.

Sümeyya Merve Çetin Büyük
Financial Services Deputy Director
[email protected]

Buse Eşgünoğlu
Financial Services Expert
[email protected]

Melike Öztürk
Human Resources Expert
[email protected]

Burcuhan Şener
International Affairs Director
[email protected]

Şener completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University. She had her master's degree in the field of European Union Studies at Department of International Relations of Leiden University in Netherlands. She conducted academic studies on the European Union and she studied the legal framework and policies of the European Union on immigration and asylum and the European Common Asylum System in her thesis. Şener, who started her career in Marmara Municipalities Union, now works as the International Affairs Director. She works in the fields of international relations, local diplomacy, migration, asylum, social adaptation and local governments.

Merve Ağca
Senior International Affairs and Projects Expert & Migration Policy Center Director
[email protected]

Ayşe Göç Yalçınkaya
International Affairs and Projects Expert
[email protected]

Ahmet Cihat Kahraman
Environmental Management Coordinator
[email protected]

Ahmet Cihat Kahraman is the Environmental Management Coordinator of MMU. He worked as a project assistant in rural development projects before his work in Marmara Municipalities Union.
He completed his undergraduate studies in Environmental Engineering at Selçuk University, and simultaneously graduated from of Heat and Energy Major of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the same university. He took his master's degree in Environmental Engineering at Istanbul University with his thesis on the modeling studies on the effective collection and recovery of Electronic Waste. He completed his PhD program at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa with his dissertation focusing on the analytical determination of environmental management performance of cities with Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to his academic studies focused on integrated waste management, air quality, water/wastewater management, sustainability and climate change, he also conducts studies on the environmental situation of the Ergene River and Marmara Sea.

Mustafa Özkul
Environmental Management Deputy Coordinator
[email protected]

Yunus Demiryürek
Information Technologies Coordinator
[email protected]

Yunus Demiryürek completed his undergraduate studies at On Dokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Engineering. He is currently working as Information Technologies Coordinator in Marmara Municipalities Union.

MMU Sustainable Development Goals Embassy

Özge Sivrikaya
Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador
[email protected]

Özge Sivrikaya completed her undergraduate studies with a double major in Political Science and International Relations & History Departments at Boğaziçi University. She had her master's degree at Aarhus University, Department of Political Science in Denmark. Sivrikaya wrote her thesis on the impact of intergroup threat perception on attitudes of social policy. She started her career as a research assistant at Bilgi University, Department of History. Sivrikaya is currently working as Senior Projects Expert and Sustainable Development Goals Ambassador in Marmara Municipalities Union. She is also Sustainability and Climate Change Center Director. Her works are focused on sustainable development, climate change, projects and international cooperation.

M. Cemil Arslan
Secretary General

He completed his undergraduate education in the Public Administration Department at Gazi University’s Faculty of Economics and Social Studies. He earned both his master's and Ph.D. degrees from Marmara University in the Local Governments and Decentralization Program. He also pursued post-doctoral studies in the UK.

He started his working life in Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 1995; he worked as an Auditor, Director of Expenditures, Head of Financial Services Department, member of Executive Committee as well as the Chairman of the Board of Belbim Co., Bimtaş Co., and Istanbul Transportation Co.

He has been working as the Secretary General of Marmara Municipalities Union, additionally the General Coordinator of MARUF (Marmara Urban Forum), and the Chief Editor of the “City and Society” magazine.

Management

Management Development Center

Sustainability and Climate Change Center

Data and Technology Center

Urban Policy Center

Migration Policy Center

Local Government Academy

Directorate of Editorial Affairs and Logistics

Department of Corporate Communications

Department of Urban Planning

Directorate of Traning and Projects

Department of Legal Affairs

Directorate of Financial Services

Directorate of International Affairs

Department of Environmental Management

Department of Information Technology

MMU Sustainable Development Goals Embassy

Secretary General