Turkish president and leader of ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Tuesday announced 20 mayoral candidates for March 2019 local elections.

Candidates for eight metropolitan municipalities and 12 provincial municipalities were named at the party's parliamentary group meeting in the capital Ankara.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan nominated former Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci for Izmir mayorship in the upcoming local elections.

Mehmet Ozhaseki, the party's deputy chairman and former minister of environment and urbanization, will run for Ankara mayorship.

The candidates for Afyonkarahisar, Balikesir, Bingol, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Eskisehir, Hatay, Karaman, Konya, Mardin, Mus, Sakarya, Sivas, Tokat, Trabzon, Usak and Yozgat provinces were also announced.

The candidate for Istanbul was not revealed on Tuesday; however, Parliament Speaker Binali Yildirim is the top contender for the spot.

On Saturday, Erdogan announced the list of 40 mayoral candidates including 14 metropolitan municipalities and 26 provincial municipalities.

The local elections in Turkey are scheduled on March 31, 2019.

FULL LIST:

Afyon: Mehmet Zeybek

Ankara: Mehmet Özhaseki

Balıkesir: Yücel Yılmaz

Bingöl: Erdal Arıkan

Çanakkale: Ayhan Gider

Çankırı: Hüseyin Boz

Çorum: Halil İbrahim Aşgın

Eskişehir: Burhan Sakallı

Hatay: İbrahim Güler

İzmir: Nihat Zeybekçi

Karaman: Mahmut Sami Şahin

Konya: Uğur İbrahim Altay

Mardin: Mehmet Vecdi Kahraman

Muş: Feyad Asya

Sakarya: Ekrem Yüce

Sivas: Hilmi Bilgin

Tokat: Eyüp Eroğlu

Trabzon: Murat Zorluoğlu

Uşak: Mehmet Çakın

Yozgat: Celal Köse