Binali Yıldırım, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s mayoral candidate for Istanbul, cast his ballot in Turkey’s local elections in Istanbul on Sunday.
“GREAT INTEREST FOR THE BALLOT BOXES”
The elections are “festivals” of democracy, Yıldırım told reporters after casting his ballot. “We see that there is great interest for the ballot boxes,” Yıldırım said.
AK Party candidate Binali Yıldırım votes in local polls WATCH
Sunday’s polls mark the first local elections in Turkey under the new presidential government system, adopted in an April 2017 referendum.
Voting started at 7 a.m. local time (0400GMT) and will continue through 4 p.m. local time (1300GMT) in 32 out of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
In other provinces, polling stations have opened at 8 a.m. local time (0050GMT) and will close at 5 p.m. local time (1400GMT).
