Voting for local elections has started in Turkey.
According to a foreign news agency, local elections are being held across Turkey today, but Istanbul’s local elections are of particular importance.
A tight contest is expected between Turkish President Erdogan’s AK Party candidate Murat Korum and Istanbul Mayor Akram Imamoglu.
Analysts say that the election is a test of the popularity of the Turkish president and the opposition parties, in which President Erdogan will try to win back the cities he lost in the 2019 local elections.
In the 2019 local elections, the main opposition party, the CHP, won the elections in Istanbul and Ankara, ending the 20-year rule of the AK Party based in these cities. Turkish President Erdogan himself also started his political journey in 1994 as the mayor of Istanbul.
Voting in the eastern provinces of Turkey will continue from 7 am to 4 pm, while the voting time in the rest of the provinces will be from 8 am to 5 pm. Preliminary election results are expected by 10 pm.