Emir Kir
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affiliationsSocialist Party (1995–2020)
Emir Kir | |
|---|---|
 Emir Kir in 2008 | |
| Mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode | |
| Assumed office 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Jean Demannez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 October 1968 |
| Party | Independent (since 2020)[1] |
| Other political affiliations | Socialist Party (1995–2020) |
| Alma mater | Université libre de Bruxelles |
Emir Kir (born 17 October 1968) is a Belgian politician who has been mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode since 2012, having been re-elected in 2018 and 2024. He was a member of the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) until he was expelled from the party in January 2020 after contacts with the Turkish far-right.
Kir was born on 17 October 1968 in Charleroi, Wallonia,[2][3][4] the son of Muslim Turkish immigrants who came to work in the Belgian mines as guest workers in the 1960s.[2][5][4] The family settled in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in 1977, following a mining accident which condemned his father to disability.[2][5]
Between 1987 and 1989, he studied political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).[2] He falsely claimed to be a "political science graduate" before a journalist revealed that he had lied since he had not submitted his final dissertation. He was only a candidate.[5]
With a working-class background and admiration for Guy Cudell (mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode for over forty years), he joined the French-speaking Socialist Party (PS) in 1995. Between 1995 and 2000, he worked as a social worker.[3][5][2]
Political ascent
In 2000, Kir presented himself as a candidate in the local elections in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. Obtaining the second highest score in the municipality, he became alderman for Social Affairs and Public Education.[2][5]
In 2004, following the regional elections, in which he achieved an unexpected score: 7,000 preferential votes (second PS score behind Charles Picqué), he left his post as alderman to become Secretary of State for Monuments and Sites and Public Cleanliness in the Brussels government,[2][3][5] as well as Minister of Social Action, Family and Sport in the French Community Commission (COCOF).[6]
In November 2005, Kir failed in a lawsuit against journalists for calling him "a denier, a liar and a delinquent". The court found it proven that Kir had taken part in a demonstration which had as its aim Armenian genocide denial.[5][7]
In 2006, he took part in the local elections, winning more votes than the then-mayor Jean Demannez,[8][5] but did not (yet) claim the maïorate, as he was still Secretary of State in the Brussels government, becoming instead first alderman.[8] He also participated in the 2007 federal elections, was elected, but did not take office for the same reason. In 2009, he remained Secretary of State following the regional elections, but stepped down in the middle of the legislature. He also retained his seat as minister in the COCOF.[9]
