World Bulletin / News Desk

While Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party enjoyed victories in much of Turkey including the capital Ankara and the hotly contended city of Istanbul, the main opposition party CHP held on to their stronghold on the western coastal regions, with a clear win in Izmir. Meanwhile, pro-Kurdish BDP noted victories in the mainly Kurdish south-eastern regions including the city of Diyarbakir. The Turkish right-wing MHP also saw success in the southern coastal provinces of Mersin, Adana and Osmaniye.

TRUSTWORTHY ELECTIONS

Turkey's elections authority said on Sunday the election results of local elections across the country results would be problem-free.

"Results published by political parties may be different than those broadcast on television," Sadi Guven, head of the electoral authority YSK said late Sunday. "We have yet to announce the official results. I do not think that there will be a problem with the polls results," he added.

LATEST RESULTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Unofficial results from Sunday's local elections in Turkey, as of 09:05 (06:05 GMT, March 31). 

AK PARTY CELEBRATES ISTANBUL VICTORY

Istanbul's incumbent mayor, Kadir Topbas, won a third term with 48 percent of the vote.

AK Party member Topbas beat CHP rival Mustafa Sarigul into second place; Sarigul won 39.5 percent, according to unofficial results.

Topbas was elected mayor of Turkey's largest city in 2009 with over three million votes. Topbas also served one term as mayor of Istanbul's Beyoglu district in 1999.

As Turkey's most populated city which is believed to host one in five people in the country, Istanbul is considered to be the most important seat as it is a melting pot of communities from every city across the nation.

LATEST RESULTS IN MAJOR CITIES