By Dilara Hamit and Beyza Binnur Donmez
The vote count in Türkiye’s local elections remains underway after the voting ended at 5.00 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Candidates from a total of 34 political parties competed in the elections, with over 206,000 polling stations set up across the country.
Voters in Türkiye's larger cities cast their votes for metropolitan municipality mayor, municipality mayor, city council members, as well as mukhtars and elder councils. Those cities include the capital Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir — the nation’s three largest cities by population — as well as Adana, Antalya, Aydin, Balikesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mersin, Mugla, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Sanliurfa, Tekirdag, Trabzon, and Van.
In a media appearance, Ahmet Yener, chairman of the Turkish Supreme Election Council, said 51.2% of the ballot boxes have been opened so far, as of 11.12 p.m. local time (2012GMT).
He said the voter turnout rate would be announced on Monday as the flow of data is still continuing.
The major competing parties are the governing Justice and Development (AK) Party, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Good (IYI) Party, and the Peoples' Democratic Party (DEM Party).
- Results so far
Incumbent Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is ahead in the metropolis Istanbul with 50.37% of the vote, while his competitor from AK Party, Murat Kurum, has 40.9% with 72.43% of ballots counted, according to unofficial and incomplete results.
In the capital Ankara, Mayor Mansur Yavas of the CHP is leading with 58.79% against AK Party's Turgut Altinok with 33.27%, with 48.78% of ballots accounted for.
Of voters in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, 48.25% have cast their ballots in favor of the CHP's Cemil Tugay, while AK Party's Hamza Dag has 37.06%, with 67.36% of ballots counted.
Muhittin Bocek, the CHP mayor of Antalya, has so far received 48.2% of votes in the Mediterranean city, where his closest competitor Hakan Tutuncu has 40.15%, with 54.71% of votes counted, while in the southern city of Adana, Zeydan Karalar, also from the CHP, has gotten 47.05%, with election officials having counted 42.27% of ballots, of which 37.65% were cast in favor of Mehmet Kocaispir of AK Party.
In the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, where 64.87% of ballots have been counted, Kasim Gulpinar of the opposition New Welfare Party (YRP) is ahead with 37.86%, while Abidin Beyazgul of AK Party has 34.04%, with 58.1% of ballots counted.
Hatay, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras, the cities most affected by the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, also voted for their mayors, who will be leading these cities in the reconstruction effort. Sitting CHP Mayor Lutfu Savas holds 44.14% of ballots cast in Hatay, slightly ahead of AK Party candidate Mehmet Onturk's 43.27%, with 63.72% of votes accounted for.
In Gaziantep, where 76.42% of votes have been counted, AK Party Mayor Fatma Sahin is leading with 37.63% of ballots, while the CHP's Muzaffer Erturk holds 29.2%, while in Kahramanmaras, incumbent Firat Gorgel of AK Party has 41.51% against the YRP's Muhammed Aydogar's 32.89%. In the latter province, 64.04% of ballots have been counted.
The CHP's Mustafa Bozbey is also leading in northwestern Bursa, where 65.78% of ballots have been counted as Alinur Aktas of AK Party has 38.73%.
In the Aegean city of Aydin, 50.66% of votes have so far gone to Ozlem Cercioglu of the CHP, while AK Party's Mustafa Savas has 36.2% of 49.55% of ballots counted.
In northwestern Balikesir, CHP candidate Ahmet Akin is leading with 50.27%, while Yucel Yilmaz of AK Party is currently behind with 40.93% of 72.47% of ballots counted.
Voting started in 32 provinces of Türkiye's eastern provinces at 7 a.m. local time and ended at 4 p.m.
In the remaining provinces, polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time and closed at 5.00 p.m. local time.
Other political parties that participated in the elections include the Left Party, Great Unity Party, Homeland Party, Motherland Party, Democratic Left Party, Welfare Party, Communist Party of Türkiye, Anatolian Union Party, Victory Party, Peoples' Liberation Party, Communist Movement of Türkiye, Independent Türkiye Party, Future Party, New Türkiye Party, Labor Party, Free Cause Party, Rights and Freedoms Party, Ocak Party, Justice Union Party, Democrat Party, Power Union Party, National Path Party, Justice Party, Bright Democracy Party, Türkiye Workers' Party, Democracy and Progress Party, Felicity Party, and Homeland Party.
The previous local elections were held in 2019.