The participation in the local elections on 29 March was high, with 80 percent of eligible voters going to the poll stations.

In 81 provinces, candidates competed for 81 province capital mayoral office, as well as for 2,946 district and town mayoral positions.

The percentage of women in local government was 0.56 prior to the elections. In these elections, the parties fielded the following number of female candidates:

• Justice and Development Party (AKP): 18
• National Movement Party (MHP): 39
•  Republican People’s Party (CHP): 46
• Democratic Society Party (DTP): 41
• Democratic Left Party (DSP): 62
• Motherland Party (ANAP): 26
• Democratic Party (DP): 43
• Felicity Party (SP): 39
• Rights and Freedoms Party (HAKPAR): 1
• Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP): 1
• Labour Party (EMEP): 3
• Turkish Communist Party (TKP): 37
• Great Union Party (BBP): 6
• Independent Candidates: 3
• Common Platform: 5

The election results have shown that only two women have become mayors of province capitals: Özlem Çerçioğlu for the CHP in Aydın, western Turkey, and Edibe Şahin for the DTP in Tunceli, southeastern Turkey.

Çerçioğlu, a former CHP MP for Aydın province, was born in Nazilli, Aydın in 1968. She graduated from Selçuk University and has worked in PR in the private sector. She is married and has two children.

Şahin was born in Nazımiye, Dersim, in 1960. She is experienced in social work, having focused on mother tongue education for women, children and young people in cities. She has also worked as a psychology counsellor, specialising in the area of art rehabilitation.

The previous mayor for Tunceli for the last five years was been a woman, Songül Erol Abdil, also for the DTP.

Based on the preliminary election results, bianet has made a list of the female candidates who have won mayoral positions in these elections. The locations are listed as province/district:

DTP(12): 

Diyarbakır/Lice: Fikriye Aytin

Diyarbakır/Bağlar: Yüksel Baran

Diyarbakır/Bismil: Cemile Eminoğlu

Diyarbakır/Eğil: Petek Çapanoğlu

Diyarbakır/Çermik: Suna Ünsal Aydın

Mardin/Nusaybin:Ayşe Gökhan

Hakkari/Yüksekova: Ruken Yetişkin

Şanlıurfa/Viranşehir: Leyla Güven

Ağrı/Doğubeyazıt: Canan Can Korkmaz

Şırnak/Uludere: Şükran Sincar

Muş/Varto: Gülşen Değer

Van/Bostaniçi: Nezahat Ergüneş

AKP (2):

Eskişehir/Mahmudiye:Ayşe Güney

Giresun/Doğankent: Nazmiye Kabadayı

CHP (1):

Aydın/İncirliova: Fadime Orbay

No female candidate of the MHP has won. In Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, the three largest cities in Turkey, all the Greater Municipal and district mayoral offices have been won by men.

In the previous local elections in 2004, 18 women were elected as mayors out of 3,215 municipalities. Only one was mayor in a province capital (Tunceli), five in districts, and 12 in towns (belde). (EZÖ/AG)