DTP's women mayor of dissident Tunceli, Edibe Şahin is determined to focus on improving the lives of the city's people, especially fellow women and the children.

Professor Sancar criticizes the political and electoral system as failing to allow all segments of the society to express themselves. Nonetheless, she matriculates the regression in AKP's votes, as well as CHP's rise deferring new developments on the left.

An initiative by the Library of Women's Works in Istanbul gives way to a thesaurus on gender studies and related issues. "The thesaurus will enable a social accumulation of gender related knowledge."

According to Prof. Dr. Narlı, the decrease in votes for the AKP and the rise in support for other parties shows that voters are fed up with the AKP’s monopoly. She also criticised the lack of female representation in parties.

Following his death in a helicopter crash days before the elections, MP and BBP party chair Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu was buried yesterday.

According to writer Bora, the 5.6 point increase the MHP received in these local elections compared to 2004, is due to several factors: successful organisation, a party move to the centre, candidate profiles, and local reactions to Kurds.

Journalists Gökçer Tahincioğlu and Kemal Göktaş faced a prison sentence for reporting that police, secret service and the gendarmerie had been given permission to listen in to all phone conversations. They have been acquitted.

Assoc. Prof. Yeğen argues that neither Kurds nor Turks are happy with the AKP’s “embarrassed recognition” of the Kurdish question.

79 province capitals have male mayors. With the election of Çerçioğlu in Aydın and the election of a second woman, Şahin, in Tunceli, there are now two female province capital mayors. According to the provisional results, there are only 17 other female mayors at the district or town level.

Five Turkish-Armenian men and one woman have been voted into municipal councils in four district municipal councils in Istanbul.

Evaluating the election results, Türk from the DTP said that the “charity approach” of the AKP has not worked. The DTP has won in Diyarbakır, a city that Erdoğan wanted to win in, as well as in seven provincial and 51 district municipalities.

Local TV station reporter Akyol has been beaten by a group of alleged AKP members, as he was trying to cover the election results in Giresun. AKP lost the mayor in the city to main opposition CHP.

Province party chair Tekin has announced that the CHP is contesting the results in five districts of Istanbul as well as the town of Safranbolu.

Certain municipalities have greater symbolic value than others, and Prime Minister Erdoğan had told party members his list of targets, most of which have not been reached.

The police made use of the address-based registry of voters to find out where wanted persons would be voting. 590 people were taken into custody. Rights activist Yurtsever was wrongly detained.

As around 98 percent of the votes have been counted, AKP, CHP and MHP share around 78 percent of the votes. The pro-Kurdish DTP has gained.

More than half the votes were counted by 11 pm. At the province municipal council level, the AKP now stand at 39, the CHP at 21, the MHP at 17, the DTP and the SP at 6 percent.

By 9 pm on Sunday, 29 March, 23 percent of the poll boxes had been opened. At the province municipal council level, the AKP has so far received 41 percent, the CHP 19 percent, the MHP and DTP 7 percent each, and the SP 6 percent. As for mayoral candidates, in Istanbul and Ankara the AKP candidates Topbaş and Gökçek are leading. In Izmir, the CHP’s Kocaoğlu has received most votes so far. In Diyarbakır, the DTP’s Baydemir is leading.

The second Ergenekon indictment speaks about the murders of Kurdish intellectual Musa Anter and DEP MP Mehmet Sicar. It also mentions the disappearance of two HADEP politicians in 2001.

According to research carried out by the Positive Life Assocation, HIV positive people are not receiving adequate care by the health service and are misinformed. They also face discrimation in other areas of their lives.