Turkey's local election in numbers: AKP lost 195 municipalities, CHP doubled its presence

In Turkey's local elections, 34 political parties participated. There were 61 million 441 thousand 882 registered voters in 207,848 ballot boxes.

48 million 153 thousand 788 voters cast their votes. 45 million 961 thousand 211 votes were valid, while 2 million 192 thousand 577 votes were considered invalid. The voter turnout rate was over 78%.

According to unofficial results, CHP received 37.74% of the votes nationwide, becoming the leading party in an election for the first time in 37 years. It also more than doubled the number or municipalities it run from 208 to 420.

AKP, with 35.49% of the votes, came second, Yeniden Refah Party third with 6.19%, DEM Party fourth with 5.68%, MHP fifth with 4.98%, and İYİ Party sixth with 3.77%. The combined vote share of other parties was 5.90%. Here are the vote counts:

- CHP: 17,345,876
- AKP: 16,313,661
- Yeniden Refah Party: 2,845,553
- DEM Party: 2,609,802
- MHP: 2,290,643
- İYİ Party: 1,734,406

In terms of municipal mayorships nationwide, CHP won 35, AKP 24, DEM Party 10, MHP 8, Yeniden Refah Party 2, BBP 1, and İYİ Party 1. Out of the 30 metropolitan municipalities, CHP won 14, AKP 12, DEM Party 3, and Yeniden Refah Party 1. The main opposition CHP's candidates surpassed 50% voting rate in 15 provinces. 

When it comes to district municipalities, out of 973 centers, AKP won 356, CHP 337, MHP 122, DEM Party 65, Yeniden Refah Party 39, İYİ Party 24, BBP 14, and Demokrat Parti 2. Parties demonstrating success in winning a municipality in one district include Saadet Partisi, DEVA, TİP, Sol Parti, and DSP.

Women will govern 11 provinces

Additionally, CHP candidates won in 11 of the 81 provinces. CHP produced 6 women mayors: Candan Yüceer in Tekirdağ, Filiz Gencan Akın in Edirne, Burcu Köksal in Afyon, Ayşe Ünlüce in Eskişehir, Melek Mızrak Subaşı in Bilecik, and Özlem Çerçioğlu in Aydın.

In DEM Party, Ayşe Serra Bucak Küçük became the mayor of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, while Safiye Alağaş in Siirt, Gülüstan Sönük in Batman, and Hazal Aras in Ağrı were elected mayors.

Fatma Şahin, AKP's candidate for Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, led in the race in that city.

Compared to 2019, AKP lost 3 metropolitan municipalities, 12 provinces, and 180 district municipalities. MHP, a coalition partner, lost 1 metropolitan municipality, 2 provinces, and 23 district municipalities.

CHP, on the other hand, gained 3 metropolitan municipalities, 11 provinces, and 144 district municipalities. İYİ Party won 1 province and 5 district municipalities.

Members of parliament vying for municipal mayoralties included 7 from İYİ Party, 5 from CHP and Saadet Partisi, 4 from AKP, 1 from DEVA Partisi, DEM Party, and Türkiye İşçi Partisi, and 2 from HÜDA PAR, totaling 26. Of the 5 CHP candidates, 4 were elected mayors.

Burcu Köksal in Afyon, Abdurrahman Tutdere in Adıyaman, Hasan Baltacı in Kastamonu, and Ahmet Önal in Kırıkkale were elected mayors, while Veli Ağbaba lost in Malatya. With the newly elected MPs assuming office, CHP's seat count in the Parliament will decrease from 129 to 125.

AKP's candidates Murat Kurum, Mustafa Savaş, İdris Nebi Hatipoğlu, and Ceyda Bölünmez, as well as İYİ Party's Ayyüce Türkeş Taş, Ümit Özlale, Yüksel Selçuk Türkoğlu, Buğra Kavuncu, Turhan Çömez, Metin Ergun, and Yasin Öztürk were not successful.

Birol Aydın, Mahmut Arıkan, Sema Silkin Ün, Necmettin Çalışkan, and Selçuk Özdağ from Saadet Partisi, Meral Danış-Beştaş from DEM Parti, İdris Şahin from DEVA Partisi, Erkan Baş from Türkiye İşçi Partisi (TİP), and Serkan Ramanlı and Faruk Dinç from HÜDA PAR were among the other unsuccessful candidates for municipal mayor. (HA/VK)