Turkey’s ruling party unveils 40 mayoral candidates
ISTANBUL
Turkish President and leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has announced 40 mayoral candidates that will compete in the upcoming local elections on Nov. 24.
“God willing, we will come out of the 15th challenge of our democracy and development journey also victorious,” Erdoğan said at the meeting held at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul.
“The momentum Turkey has gathered is important but the future targets are more important. We want to make our country one of the largest 10 economies by 2023,” he added.
He also thanked leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli, for putting support behind AKP’s candidates in the three largest provinces of Turkey.
“We also reaffirm our commitment to the People’s Alliance which is one of the most important mainstays of the survival struggle,” he said.
After his speech Erdoğan invited the mayoral candidates of 40 provinces to the stage one by one. 14 metropolitan municipality and 26 provincial municipality mayoral candidates were unveiled, according to a statement from the party.
The statement added that the candidates for Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir will be announced at a later date.
The local elections in 81 provinces and hundreds of districts in Turkey are scheduled to be held on March 31, 2019.
