President Erdogan announces 26 mayoral candidates as former minister runs for Istanbul

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Turkish president and leader of the Justice and Development (AK) Party on Sunday announced 26 mayoral candidates for the country's upcoming local elections, with former minister and parliament member Murat Kurum chosen for the Istanbul race.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the candidacy of Kurum, who is currently a member of the Turkish parliament from Istanbul and previously served as the environment and urbanization minister.

Other mayoral candidates for 11 metropolitan municipalities and 14 provincial municipalities were also announced at a meeting of AK Party executives and supporters in Istanbul's Halic Congress Center.

Other candidates are: for the city of Artvin - Mehmet Kocatepe, Aydin - Mustafa Savas, Balikesir - Yucel Yilmaz, Bingol - Erdal Arikan, Bitlis - Nesrullah Tanglay, Bursa - Alinur Aktas, Canakkale - Julide Iskenderoglu, Cankiri - Huseyin Filiz, Denizli - Osman Zolan, Duzce - Faruk Ozlu, Edirne - Belgin Iba, Elazig - Sahin Serifogullari, Erzurum - Mehmet Sekmen, Eskisehir - Nebi Hatipoglu, Giresun - Aytekin Senlikoglu, Isparta - Sukru Basdegirmen, Mugla - Aydin Ayaydin, Kastamonu - Tahsin Babas, Kocaeli - Tahir Buyukakin, Rize - Rahmi Metin, Samsun - Halit Dogan, Sinop - Yakup Ucuncuoglu, Tokat - Eyup Eroglu, Ordu - Mehmet Hilmi Guler and Yalova - Mustafa Tutuk.

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) announced on Tuesday the 36 political parties eligible to run in the March 31 local elections.

It said the voter rolls will be finalized on Jan. 17, while the ballot positions for each party will be determined by a random drawing on Jan. 27.

Political parties must submit their candidacy lists by Jan. 31. Local election boards will begin printing ballots on Feb. 16.

The final candidate lists will be released on March 3. Election campaigning will be ended from March 21 until the poll day.

On March 31, voters will choose mayors, district mayors, and local officials (mukhtars) in villages and neighborhoods across Türkiye.