The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is likely to announce mayoral candidates for Turkey's commercial capital Istanbul next month, party officials have said.

Speaking at the opening of the local election workshop in Sarıyer, Istanbul, on Saturday, CHP Istanbul province head Canan Kaftancıoğlu underscored that the party will announce the names of the Istanbul candidates either at the beginning of November or mid-month. Kaftancıoğlu added that she would not become a candidate in the elections. After this announcement, the name of Muharrem İnce, the party's previous presidential candidate, has reportedly come to the fore for Istanbul's metropolitan mayor.

Kaftancıoğlu highlighted that in the workshop the units consisted of assessment and evaluation, political communication and media, and academics have been working for a long time to determine the candidates and to discuss the election campaign in detail.

For the election strategy in Istanbul, Kaftancıoğlu stressed that provinces and districts will be examined in detail. She added that in the 39 districts of Istanbul, the CHP's cadres for elections would consist of people who know the problems of the districts and can manage the districts in the most accurate way. Answering a question as to whether the current mayors will be re-nominated, Kaftancıoğlu said: "We will look at public satisfaction and performance measures for our current mayors. Mayors who persuade the people and receive the approval of the people will continue on their way. Mayors who cannot convince the people will not have a chance to convince me nor headquarters."