Mustafa Atici (; born 2 October 1969) is a Turkish-born Swiss businessman and politician who currently serves as member of the

Executive Council of Basel-Stadt The Executive Council () is the executive body of the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt. The seven-member collegial body is elected by the people for a period of four years. The last election was held in October/November 2024. The people directly elect ...

since 2024 for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. He previously served on the

National Council (Switzerland) The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States (Switzerland), Council of States, represents the states, preventing mor ...

from 2019 to 2023 and on the

Grand Council of Basel-Stadt The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt () is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the canton's execu ...

from 2005 to 2019.

Early life and education

Atici was born 2 October 1969 in Elbistan, Turkey, the fourth of eight children, of grain traders of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

descent. His father was a grain wholesaler who traded the grain of small village producers in

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia region () is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in th ...

in Istanbul. The family was considered

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...

living on the second floor of a commercial building and sheep, cows and goats on the first floor. He completed primary school in

Elbistan Elbistan (;Aksüt, Ali"''On the Alevism of Elbistan, Nurhak, Ekinozu and Afsin - Elbistan Nurhak Ekinözü Afşin Aleviliği Üzerine - Zum Alevitentum in Elbistan, Nurhak, Ekinözü und Afşin''"- Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştırmaları Dergisi 201 ...

, some high school in

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

before entering

Pertevniyal High School Pertevniyal High School of Istanbul was founded in 1872 by Pertevniyal Sultan, the mother of Sultan Abdulaziz. It cost 3520 gold coins to build the school. The school was forced to relocate after the fire of 1911, which destroyed much of downtown ...

in Istanbul in 1982. Between 1987 and 1989, he began studying industrial engineering at

Gazi University Gazi University () is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Ankara, Turkey. It was founded in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk originally as the Gazi Education Institute (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Gazi Eğitim Ens ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. After a brief stay with relatives in

Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urba ...

, he came to Basel in 1991 visiting relatives and decided to study economics at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

. He received a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the European Institute of the University of Basel in 1998. Initially he wanted to go back to Turkey to become a

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

Professional career

During a visit to his sister in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

he became familiarized with the business model of

Doner kebab Doner kebab or döner kebab is a dish of Turkish cuisine, Turkish origin made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking elemen ...

shops and decided to launch in Basel. He was a pioneer of the industry opening the first shop ("City-Liner") in 1996. He sold this venture in 2002. Since 2000, Atici operates the restaurants of

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

, claiming his business runs that well because he was the inventor of the

cocktail sauce Cocktail sauce, also known as seafood sauce, is one of several types of cold or room temperature sauces often served as part of a dish referred to as a seafood cocktail or as a condiment with other seafoods. The sauce, and the dish for which it i ...

with

döner Doner kebab or döner kebab is a dish of Turkish origin made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. The operator ...

combination.

Political career

Since having arrived in Switzerland he was impressed by the federal administration and multilingualism of Switzerland and soon decided that he wanted to get involved in Swiss politics. He applied to become a citizen the day he was allowed to do so. Being raised in a family with a social democratic background, he joined the SP. As a representative of the SP, he was elected into the

in 2005 and served as a member of the Grand Council until May 2019. In the Grand Council he advocated for a better framework for the

Small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...

(SMBs) and also the improvement of the education. He took part in a delegation of Swiss politicians around

Balthasar Glättli Balthasar Glättli (born 12 February 1972) is a Swiss politician. He is a member of the National Council and, was the president of the Green Party of Switzerland from June 2020 until April 2024. Early life and education Glättli was born 12 ...

to Diyarbakir and

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

, serving as a translator in their interviews with imprisoned politicians like

Hatip Dicle Mehmet Hatip Dicle (born 1955, Diyarbakir, Turkey), is a Kurds, Kurdish politician from Turkey. He was a member of the Democracy Party, then of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Early life and education Dicle grew up in a Kurds, Kurdish fam ...

and Selma Irmak. After

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

bombed the mainly Kurdish population in Afrin,

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and subsequently invaded and captured Afrin, he was a leading force behind a resolution of the Grand Council which condemned the Turkish invasion of Afrin. In the parliamentary elections in 2019 he was placed third in the Canton Basel-Stadt and until October 2023 he represented the Canton of Basel-Stadt in the

Federal Assembly of Switzerland Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

. In view of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, he voiced support for an accelerated visa program for victims with relatives in Switzerland. In May 2024, Atici was elected to serve as member of the

Personal life

Atici is married and has two children. In 1990s six of his siblings lived in Switzerland. He is also a member of the

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

cultural centre of Basel. He is a Swiss and Turkish dual citizen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atici, Mustafa Members of the National Council (Switzerland) 2019–2023 21st-century Kurdish politicians People from Elbistan 1969 births Living people Swiss people of Kurdish descent University of Basel alumni Gazi University alumni