Mahmut Tekdemir

Mahmut Tekdemir — Biography

Mahmut Tekdemir was born on 20 January 1988 in the Çermik district of Diyarbakır and plays as a defensive midfielder. He began in the youth setup of Eroğluspor and then moved to Damlaspor's academy.

In 2004 he joined the youth system of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor. He made his first official appearance in a Turkish Cup match against Kartalspor on 30 August 2006 and, from the 2009-10 season, became a regular. The club, now İstanbul Başakşehir, won the TFF First League in 2013-14 to return to the Süper Lig, and Tekdemir took on the captaincy during this period. He then won the Süper Lig title in 2019-20. With 494 appearances for Başakşehir, he holds the club's all-time appearance record. Internationally he played for Turkey at under-17 and under-21 level and was called up to the A2 national team.

After roughly twenty years at Başakşehir, he left in May 2024. In August 2024 he transferred to Ankaragücü, where he also served as captain and renewed his contract in the summer of 2025. A football academy bearing his name was opened in Başakşehir.