Türkiye elects mayors for 5-year mandate

Türkiye elected 30 metropolitan municipality and 51 district mayors, neighborhood heads and provincial and district councils for a five-year, mandate following last year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has won 36 cities out of 81 so far, including 14 metropoles such as Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir, while the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 12 metropoles and 11 cities, according to the initial results of Türkiye's local polls.

With around 50 percent of votes counted late on March 31, the CHP garnered around 38 percent of votes, the highest since the 1989 local elections, surpassing the AKP for the first time which secured around 37 percent of votes.

The initial results indicate a big leap in the votes of the CHP, especially in regions where the AKP has been traditionally strong such as Bursa, Balıkesir, Denizli, Uşak, Kütahya, Kırıkkale and Afyonkarahisar.

In Istanbul with 16 million residents, CHP's Ekrem İmamoğlu won almost half of the votes against AKP's Murat Kurum and secured his second term.

The CHP also increased the number of districts it controls in Türkiye's city.

In Ankara, incumbent Mayor Mansur Yavaş of the CHP had a comfortable win against AKP's Turgut Altınok with around 58 percent of votes. The latter obtained 34 percent of the votes. The main opposition party increased the number of districts in the Turkish capital.

A stronghold of the CHP, İzmir has voted in favor of the main opposition candidate, Cemil Tugay against the AKP's Hamza Dağ. The former had 48 percent of the votes. The CHP continued its helm in the Mediterranean coastal towns of Antalya, Adana and Mersin.

The majority of voters in Eskişehir, Edirne,...