Emir Kir

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.

Early life Kir was born on 17 October 1968 in Charleroi, Wallonia, the son of Muslim Turkish immigrants who came to work in the Belgian mines as guest workers in the 1960s.

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.

In 2006, he took part in the local elections, winning more votes than the then-mayor Jean Demannez,

Mayoralty

Election and first term (2012–2018) In 2012, he ran in the local elections, again winning the greatest number of votes, higher than that of the head of the list Jean Demannez. as well as the first mayor of foreign origin in the Brussels region.

In 2014, he was appointed by the Brussels government as chairman of the Brussels Regional Investment Company (GIMB).

In 2015, Kir was absent from a one-minute silence in the Chamber of Representatives for the centenary of the Armenian genocide. He was called upon by Socialist Party (PS) leader Elio Di Rupo and told to follow the party line and vote in favour of recognition of the genocide.

Second term (2018–2024) He was elected to the Federal Parliament for the first time following the 2014 elections. He was re-elected as mayor of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode following the 2018 elections, with 3,904 preferential votes and, again, an absolute majority.

In April 2019, when interviewed by Al Arabiya of Saudi Arabia, Kir compared Belgium to Nazi Germany for the , a large revitalization program which also included an initiative against Islamic extremism in Brussels. The following month, he distributed campaign leaflets saying that the plan was an attack on Muslims, for which he was accused by other parties of sectarianism and clientelism.

Kir was expelled from the party in 2020 following a controversial meeting with a delegation of Turkish mayors which also included representatives from the far-right MHP party.

In April 2024, Kir issued a ban on the right-wing National Conservatism Conference to be held in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, citing "ensuring of public security" and saying that the "extreme-right is not welcome" in Brussels. Kir's decision was criticized by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, and the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo.

Third term (2025–) In 2025, he was sworn in again as mayor following a successful 2024 re-election.

Honours