Mustafa Sarıgül

Polling for Türkiye's local elections concludes, and the counting process begins, with over 61 million voters eligible to vote in the country's 81 provinces.

Voting in the 32 eastern provinces started at 7 a.m. local time and ended at 4 p.m. Polls in the remaining provinces opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 5 p.m.

The Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) has finalized the order of political parties on the ballot papers for March 31's local elections.

The announcement follows the withdrawal of one party and the rebranding of another.

A team of election watchdogs led by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) chair will conduct inspections of cities affected by last year's devastating earthquake in preparation for the mayoral polls scheduled for March 31, local media reported yesterday.

Supreme Election Council (YSK) head Ahmet Yener has declared that 36 political parties have been granted approval to participate in the upcoming local elections scheduled for March 31.

Several famous personalities, including a football player and a former Miss Türkiye, will serve in the 28th term of the Turkish parliament.

Former footballer and manager Ünal Karaman, who also worked as a caretaker manager for the Türkiye's national football team in 2004, entered the new parliament from the İYİ (Good) Party list in the Central Anatolian Province of Konya.

Mustafa Sarıgül, former mayor of the Şişli district of Istanbul from the ranks of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has resigned from the CHP and said he would run independently for the same constituency in the upcoming local polls.