The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) were in a neck-and-neck race in the March 31 local elections on Sunday, according to preliminary results.
The CHP was leading the elections across Türkiye, with over 37.1% of the votes, followed by the AK Party at 36.2%, with over 72% of the votes counted.
The main opposition won 15 metropolitan municipalities, 21 municipalities and 337 district municipalities.
The AK Party won 11 metropolitan municipalities, 12 municipalities and 358 district municipalities in Sunday's elections.
Incumbent Ekrem Imamoğlu of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was ahead in the metropolis of Istanbul with 50.37% of the vote, while his competitor from AK Party, Murat Kurum, had 40.9% with 72.43% of ballots counted, according to unofficial and incomplete results.
In the capital Ankara, Mayor Mansur Yavaş of the CHP is leading with 58.79% against AK Party's Turgut Altınok with 33.27%, with 48.78% of ballots accounted for.
Of voters in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, 48.25% have cast their ballots in favor of the CHP's Cemil Tugay, while AK Party's Hamza Dağ has 37.06%, with 67.36% of ballots counted.
Muhittin Böcek, the CHP mayor of Antalya, has so far received 48.2% of votes in the Mediterranean city, where his closest competitor Hakan Tütüncü has 40.15%, with 54.71% of votes counted, while in the southern city of Adana, Zeydan Karalar, also from the CHP, has gotten 47.05%, with election officials having counted 42.27% of ballots, of which 37.65% were cast in favor of Mehmet Kocaispir of AK Party.
In the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, where 64.87% of ballots have been counted, Kasım Gülpınar of the opposition New Welfare Party (YRP) is ahead with 37.86%, while Abidin Beyazgül of AK Party has 34.04%, with 58.1% of ballots counted.
Hatay, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş, the cities most affected by the Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, also voted for their mayors, who will be leading these cities in the reconstruction effort. Sitting CHP Mayor Lütfü Savaş holds 44.14% of ballots cast in Hatay, slightly ahead of AK Party candidate Mehmet Öntürk's 43.27%, with 63.72% of votes accounted for.
In Gaziantep, where 76.42% of votes have been counted, AK Party Mayor Fatma Şahin is leading with 37.63% of ballots, while the CHP's Muzaffer Ertürk holds 29.2%, while in Kahramanmaraş, incumbent Fırat Görgel of AK Party has 41.51% against the YRP's Muhammed Aydoğar's 32.89%. In the latter province, 64.04% of ballots have been counted.
The CHP's Mustafa Bozbey is also leading in northwestern Bursa, where 65.78% of ballots have been counted as Alinur Aktaş of AK Party has 38.73%.
In the Aegean city of Aydin, 50.66% of votes have so far gone to Özlem Cercioğlu of the CHP, while AK Party's Mustafa Savaş has 36.2% of 49.55% of ballots counted.
In northwestern Balikesir, CHP candidate Ahmet Akın is leading with 50.27%, while Yücel Yılmaz of AK Party is currently behind with 40.93% of 72.47% of ballots counted.
Voting started in 32 provinces of Türkiye's eastern provinces at 7 a.m. local time and ended at 4 p.m.
In the remaining provinces, polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time and closed at 5.00 p.m. local time.
The political parties that participated in the elections include the Left Party, Great Unity Party, Homeland Party, Motherland Party, Democratic Left Party, New Welfare Party, Communist Party of Türkiye, Anatolian Union Party, Victory Party, Peoples' Liberation Party, Communist Movement of Türkiye, Independent Türkiye Party, Future Party, New Türkiye Party, Labor Party, Free Cause Party, Rights and Freedoms Party, Ocak Party, Justice Union Party, Democrat Party, Power Union Party, National Path Party, Justice Party, Bright Democracy Party, Türkiye Workers' Party, Democracy and Progress Party, Felicity Party, and Homeland Party.
The previous local elections were held in 2019.
The major competing parties are the governing AK Party, CHP, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Good Party (IP), and the Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Democratic Party (DEM Party).