Ayşe Ünlüce was born in Eskişehir in 1970. She completed her primary, secondary and high school education in Eskişehir and earned her law degree from the Faculty of Law at Dokuz Eylül University in İzmir.
She began her professional career as a judge at a High Criminal Court under the Ministry of Justice. After leaving the judiciary, Ünlüce practised as a lawyer and subsequently worked at the Legal Affairs Department of Türk Telekom A.Ş. and the Office of Legal Counsel at Eskişehir Osmangazi University.
Between 2002 and 2006, Ünlüce served as a member of the Executive Board of the Eskişehir Bar Association and as Chair of its Women’s Rights Commission. During the same period, she was elected to the Executive Board of the Women’s Rights Commission of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TÜBAKKOM) and served as its Central Anatolia Regional Representative. In 2005, she served as the founding Chair of the Environmental Commission of the Eskişehir Bar Association.
From 2012 onwards, she served three terms as a delegate to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. During this period, she participated as a speaker and moderator in numerous conferences and panels on women’s rights and family law.
From 2003 to 2016, Ünlüce was actively involved in the Eskişehir Women's Platform, comprising the chairs and representatives of twenty-four civil society organisations working to promote women's solidarity in Eskişehir.
From 2006 onwards, as part of the City Council process under the Local Agenda 21 initiative, she was elected to the Executive Board of the Women's Council and served as Vice-Chair. During this period, she played a leading role in establishing the Metropolitan Municipality's Women's Counselling and Solidarity Centre, a significant achievement for Eskişehir, and provided voluntary legal counselling at the centre for many years. She also contributed to legal literacy training in schools, neighbourhood councils and community centres, and continued her civil society work for many years as a member of the City Council Executive Board.
In 2016, Ünlüce was appointed First Legal Counsel of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality and, in April 2018, was appointed Secretary General of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality.
During her tenure at the Metropolitan Municipality, she actively followed a number of legal cases concerning projects that posed serious environmental threats to the city, most notably the proposed coal-fired thermal power plant in the Alpu Plain, which threatened Eskişehir’s air, water and soil, and played an active role in securing outcomes in favour of the city.
She implemented projects in cooperation with civil society, particularly rural development and educational initiatives aimed at strengthening the social and cultural lives of women, young people and children in rural areas.
Ünlüce retired from her position as Secretary General of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality in December 2023. On 10 January 2024, she was nominated by the Party Assembly of the Republican People's Party (CHP) as its candidate for Mayor of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality. She was elected Mayor of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality on 31 March 2024 with 51.03% of the vote.
On 21 August 2026, she announced her resignation from the Republican People's Party and her decision to join YENİ Parti; her membership ceremony was held on 24 August 2026.
Following the local elections, Ayşe Ünlüce was elected as one of the 14 members of the Executive Committee of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB). She also represents Türkiye as Head of the National Delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
Ayşe Ünlüce is the mother of two sons.
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
