(31 Mar 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY: NO ACCESS TURKEY

EDITORIAL ADVISORY: Turkish authorities have imposed reporting restrictions related to Sunday's municipal elections. This applies from 1500 GMT on Saturday, March 30, through 1800 GMT on Sunday, March 31. The restrictions mean that ALL CONTENT RELATED TO THE ELECTIONS ARE NO ACCESS TURKEY until 1800 GMT Sunday, March 31, on all platforms and all media.

ASSOCIATED PRESS - NO ACCESS TURKEY
Istanbul - 31 March 2024
1. Various of first voters in Istanbul polling station receiving their ballot papers
2. Close of election officials with papers
3. Pan right from election officials to voters casting ballots
4. Various of voters casting ballots
STORYLINE:
Voting centres opened in Istanbul on Sunday morning as the country holds its local elections that will decide who gets to control Istanbul and other key cities.

The vote is also a barometer of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s popularity as he seeks to win back control of key urban areas he lost to the opposition five years ago.

The main battlegrounds are the country's economic hub of Istanbul and the capital of Ankara, both of which Erdogan lost in 2019, shattering his aura of invincibility.

The 70-year-old Turkish president has set his sights on wresting back Istanbul, a city of 16 million people, where he was born and raised, and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.

A strong showing for Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, would likely harden his resolve to usher in a new constitution — one that would reflect his conservative values and allow him to rule beyond 2028, when his current term ends, analysts say.

For the opposition — divided and demoralized after a defeat in last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections — keeping Istanbul and Ankara would be a major boost and help remobilize supporters.

Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, are eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighbourhood administrations.

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