Turkey:AK Party Istanbul candidate votes in local polls

Binali Yildirim, mayoral candidate of Turkey's ruling party for Istanbul, says elections are 'festivals' of democracy

By Berk Ozkan and Hanife Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - Binali Yildirim, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s mayoral candidate for Istanbul, cast his ballot in Turkey’s local elections in Istanbul on Sunday.

The elections are "festivals" of democracy, Yildirim told reporters after casting his ballot.

"We see that there is great interest for the ballot boxes," Yildirim said.

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).

Kaynak:

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