Türkiye made its choice locally

Turkey went to the polls to elect local administrators who will serve for 5 years. More than 61 million voters cast their votes at approximately 207 thousand ballot boxes. Turkey went to the polls today to elect local administrators who will serve for 5 years. More than 61 million voters cast their votes at approximately 207 thousand ballot boxes in the March 31, 2024 Local Administration General Elections. In the elections in which mayors of 81 provinces, 973 districts and 390 towns and 50,336 muhtars will be determined, elections for provincial general council membership and municipal council membership were also held. While the Supreme Election Board (YSK) started voting in 32 provinces in the east at 07:00; Voting in Adıyaman, Ağrı, Artvin, Bingöl, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Hakkari, Kars, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Muş, Ordu, Rize, Siirt, Sivas, Trabzon, Tunceli, Şanlıurfa, Van, Bayburt, Batman, Şırnak, Ardahan, Iğdır, Kilis and in the penal institutions located in these provinces was completed at 16:00. Voting in all places outside of these provinces was completed at 17:00. Statement from the Supreme Election Council (YSK) President Ahmet Yener announced that the voting was completed and the counting had begun in 32 provinces as of 16:00. Yener made a statement to the press members in front of the YSK. Yener, who said, “As of 16:00, voting was completed in 32 provinces and vote counting has begun. As of 17:00, voting in the remaining provinces will be completed,” added that they will provide general information about all vote counting at 17:00. Stating that the Board will convene once the voting is completed and decide at what time the broadcast bans will be lifted, Yener requested that no statements be made regarding the election results before the broadcast bans are lifted. Yener wished the results to be beneficial to all citizens. “Elections completed without any problems” In his statement at 17:00, YSK President Yener said, “The voting process was completed without any problems except for some isolated incidents. Ballot box result information has started to be entered into SECSIS. I hope the results will be beneficial to our country and political parties. The Board will convene shortly and evaluate the broadcast ban issue.” In the metropolitan mayoral race in Istanbul, 33,228 ballot boxes were set up for 11,314,516 voters. In the election race, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and CHP Candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, AK Party and People's Alliance candidate Murat Kurum and İYİ Party candidate Buğra Kavuncu, and DEM Party candidate Meral Danış Beştaş stood out in the election race. Statement from İmamoğlu After the ballot boxes were closed, İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu said, "The ballot boxes closed as of 17:00. No negative situation has been experienced in Istanbul so far. Now, the process of meticulously following the counting process by officials and citizens has begun. I invite all our citizens to follow the process carefully. We will protect all our votes without complacency." Statement from Murat Kurum AK Party’s IMM mayoral candidate Murat Kurum also said, "The ballot boxes are now closed, Istanbulites have fulfilled their democratic responsibilities. I would like to thank each and every one of those who went to the ballot boxes and protected our Istanbul. Now it is time to protect the ballot boxes together. The ballot box is honor, every vote is a trust. Let’s be careful against any manipulation that may arise during the vote counting process. The process will not end after the votes are counted and the minutes are signed. No matter what happens until the last moment, we will not leave the ballot boxes." Ballot box results in Istanbul Ballot boxes opened in Istanbul at 17:00. The first results have started to come in from Istanbul, which has 39 districts. Here are those results... Ballot boxes opened: 84.9 percent Ekrem İmamoğlu - 50.68 percent Murat Kurum - 40.52 percent IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is following the election results at the CHP Provincial Directorate, made a second statement as the vote count continued. Appearing before the cameras with CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, İmamoğlu stated that they have 96 percent of the results and that they are ahead by a margin of over 1 million. He said that they have not suffered losses in the 14 municipalities in question and that they are about to win 11 more. Mansur Yavaş was re-elected as the Mayor of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality according to the unconfirmed results. Yavaş said, "We do not see these election results as a victory. There is no enemy against us. We are all honorable members of this homeland, this city." According to the unofficial results of the March 31 Local Elections in İzmir, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay from the CHP won. Addressing the crowd gathered in Alsancak Square, Tugay said, "Today is a new day for İzmir. We will be on the streets as of tomorrow. We will be there to solve the problem wherever it is." CHP's Muhittin Böcek became the first name to be elected mayor for two consecutive terms after Antalya became a metropolitan municipality. According to unofficial figures, Zeydan Karalar was re-elected as the Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor. Karalar said: “We will make Adana the pearl, pioneer and leader of the region again.” According to the results that have not yet been finalized, CHP’s candidate Ahmet Akın won the March 31 Local Elections in Balıkesir. Erdoğan: March 31 is not an end for us but actually a turning point Addressing the citizens at the AK Party Headquarters, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “March 31 is not an end for us but actually a turning point... We will definitely take the necessary steps by weighing the messages given by the nation at the ballot box in the most accurate and objective way on our scales of reason and conscience.” Özgür Özel: We broke the 25 percent glass ceiling CHP leader Özgür Özel said in a statement at the Headquarters, “The CHP has now broken the invisible 25 percent ceiling above its head as we promised, it has shattered it.” Özel said, “Today, the voters decided to establish a new politics in Turkey. They decided to change the 22-year-old picture of Turkey and to open the door to a new political climate in our country.” Özel said, “According to the data we have and the data supported by all sources, we have regained Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Aydın, Eskişehir, Mersin, Muğla, Tekirdağ, İzmir and İstanbul. We have won the metropolitan municipalities of Balıkesir, Bursa, Manisa and Denizli and we have made very important we have achieved successes. After 1989, we have won Adıyaman for the first time; Afyonkarahisar, like Manisa, for the first time in the history of the Republic; since 1977, we have won Amasya, Bartın, Giresun, Kastamonu; for the first time in the history of the Republic, Kırıkkale, Kilis, Kütahya, Uşak and Zonguldak. We have won Ardahan, Artvin, Bilecik, Bolu, Burdur, Çanakkale, Edirne, Kırşehir, Sinop and Yalova. A neck and neck race continues in Kırklareli, Hatay and Çorum; we are following it closely. We will assign deputies to these provinces in case the counting is delayed." Özel also said that they achieved very important successes in the central districts of the Black Sea region by winning the Ordu central district Altınordu, Trabzon Ortahisar and Samsun Atakum Municipality. Özel drew attention to the fact that while they maintained all 14 municipalities in Istanbul under the CHP, they added 12 municipalities to this list so far.