ANKARA
The ruling Justice and Development Party put in a strong showing in Sunday's local elections in Turkey, claiming eight of the country's 14 key metropolitan municipalities, although official results have yet to be announced.
With more than 97 percent of votes counted, the ruling AK Party polled 45.56 percent, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) 27.9 1 percent and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 15.16 percent.
The AK Party is therefore set to increase its votes in the first ballots - despite last year's anti-government protests in the summer, anti-corruption probes in December and a wave of leaked illegal recordings in February - some of which allegedly captured Prime Minister Erdogan in conversations which implied corruption.
The figures show a rise of seven percentage points for Erdogan's party in comparison to the last local polls in 2009.
CHP also increased its votes by four points, whereas MHP polled around its previous share in 2009.
- The 'big three'
With the counting of votes nearing its end, the status-quo prevails in the country's three largest cities - Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
In the highly-anticipated race in Istanbul, the incumbent mayor and AK Party nominee Kadir Topbas has clinched 45.20 percent of votes, leaving prominent CHP candidate Mustafa Sarigul more than five points behind, on 39.99 percent.
But both parties increased their votes, as Topbas won 40.5 percent in 2009 and the CHP's then-candidate and current chairman, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, polled 33.02 percent.
With more than 99 percent of votes having been counted in Ankara, the current AK Party mayor Melih Gokcek is poised to retain control of the Turkish capital after polling 44.74 percent of the votes, closely followed by the CHP's nationalist-rooted Mansur Yavas, at 43.81 percent.
- 'Substantial margin'
The race in Ankara became increasingly tense after 60 percent of the votes were counted.
Gokcek had been leading with a substantial margin in the early hours of vote counting, but as the ballots began to arrive from the upper-class district of Cankaya, CHP's Yavas gradually closed the gap and was eventually breathing down Gokcek's neck.
Yavas was the MHP's candidate at the last local polls in 2009, and won 25 percent of the votes.
Representing the CHP this time around, he carried the party's votes in Ankara to 43.81 percent from its 2009 showing of 31.11 percent.
Gokcek also increased his party's votes by five points.
Considered a traditional CHP stronghold, the western coastal city of Izmir again chose incumbent mayor Aziz Kocaoglu as municipal leader.
With more than 98 percent of votes counted, Kocaoglu led with 49.51 percent, followed by AK Party candidate and former transport minister Binali Yildirim at 35.92 percent.
- Southeastern significance
In the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) led the polls, with 97 percent of ballots counted.
BDP candidate Gultan Kisanak - also the party's deputy chair - displayed a strong showing by clinching 54.68 percent, leading AK Party's Mehmet Galip Ensarioglu on 35 percent.
In Van - another substantially Kurdish-populated city - BDP again managed to poll more than half of the votes.
Bekir Kaya was leading at 52.13 percent, followed by AK Party's Osman Nuri Gulacar, with 41.74 percent.
- Key metropolitan municipalities
In Adana: MHP's Huseyin Sozlu was leading on 33.5 percent, closely trailed by AK Party's candidate Abdullah Torun, at two percentage points behind.
2009's local elections also witnessed a hot race in Adana, when MHP polled 29.7 percent, the AK Party 29.5 percent and CHP 26.2 percent.
Antalya: the AK Party managed to snatch the municipal office in one of Turkey's most popular tourist destinations, Antalya, back from CHP's Mustafa Akaydin.
AK Party's deputy chairman Menderes Turel won 36.4, with 95.49 percent of votes counted. Akaydin followed on 34.74 percent.
In Bursa, there was no surprise in the northwestern city, with AK Party's incumbent Recep Altepe leading on 49.48 percent.
With more than 99 percent of ballots counted, the CHP's Necati Sahin followed Altepe on 28.67 percent.
In the eastern city of Erzurum, AK Party's Mehmet Sekmen was first at 58.82 percent, with 96.32 percent counted.
MHP candidate followed with 29.3 percent.
- Huge margin
In another center-left stronghold, Eskisehir, incumbent mayor Yilmaz Buyukersen was again voted in as mayor, but this time under the CHP.
Buyukersen had entered the 2009 elections as a member of the Democratic Left Party.
With more than 99 percent of ballots tallied, Buyukersen was leading on 45.26 percent, followed by AK Party's Harun Karacan, on 39.04 percent.
In Hatay, a multi-cultural city on the Syrian border, CHP candidate Lutfu Savas was outrunning AK Party candidate and former justice minister Sadullah Ergin, with more than 97 percent of votes counted.
Savas was on 41.25 percent and Ergin 40.35 percent.
In Kayseri, AK Party candidate and incumbent mayor Mehmet Ozhaseki was leading on 58.97 percent, followed by the MHP's Mustafa Ozsoy, on 26.98 percent.
In traditionally conservative Konya, the AK Party's Tahir Akyurek led with a huge margin, followed by the MHP's Mehmet Emin Altunel.
Akyurek was on 64.35 percent and Altunel 18.39 percent.
In the Black Sea coastal city of Trabzon, the AK Party's Orhan Fevzi was at 59.33 percent and the CHP's Volkan Canalioglu 24.93 percent.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
