Number of Istanbul deputies increases due to population rise

The Turkish High Election Board (YSK) has fine-tuned the number of lawmakers to be elected from each province at the June 7 polls in accordance with updated population data, increasing the number of Istanbul deputies to be elected by Istanbul residents.

Turkey's population reached 77.7 million by the end of last year, according to figures provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜ?K) late last month.

The election board uses the TÜ?K population data to determine the number of deputies from each province, totaling 550 in each case.

According to figures published by the Official Gazette on Feb. 6, Istanbul will send 88 deputies to parliament, an increase of three from the current figure.  This surpasses the total number of deputies elected in 34 small provinces.

Istanbul, with a population at 14.4 million, is divided into three electoral regions, with one of them being the Anatolian side of the city.

The number of Ankara deputies increased by one, to 31. 

Izmir, the country's second largest city, will send 26 deputies to parliament, with no changes.

Bayburt, one of the country's smallest provinces with a population 80,607, will have two representatives again after just one in the 2011 elections.

The number of deputies from Elaz??, Kütahya, Manisa, Mu? and Ordu dropped.