Türkiye's AK Party announces mayoral candidates as local elections approach

The Turkish president and leader of the Justice and Development (AK) Party has announced 48 more mayoral candidates for the country's local elections in March.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan named on Thursday Turgut Altinok and Hamza Dag as the ruling AK Party's mayoral candidates in Ankara and Izmir, respectively.

Other mayoral candidates for 17 metropolitan and 31 provincial municipalities were also announced at a meeting of the AK Party in the capital Ankara in early January.

Erdogan already named Murat Kurum, who is currently a member of the Turkish parliament and previously served as the environment and urbanisation minister, for the Istanbul race.

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) announced the 36 political parties eligible to run in the March 31 local elections.

It said the voter rolls will be finalised on January 17, while the ballot positions for each party will be determined by a random drawing on January 27.

Political parties must submit their candidacy lists by January 31. Local election boards will begin printing ballots on February 16.

The final candidate lists will be released on March 3. Election campaigning will end from March 21 until the poll day.

On March 31, voters will choose mayors, district mayors, and local officials (mukhtars) in villages and neighborhoods across Türkiye.