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Local elections (formal: Local authority general elections, Turkish: ''Mahalli İdareler Genel Seçimi'' or simply ''Yerel Seçimleri)'' were held in Turkey on 30 March 2014, with some repeated on 1 June 2014. Metropolitan and district mayors as well as their municipal council members in cities, and muhtars and "elderly councils" in rural areas (and also in mahalles within urban areas) were elected. In light of the controversy around the elections, it was viewed as a referendum on the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.〔 About 50 million people were eligible to vote. A local government re-organisation took place before the election, lowering the total number of elected officials from 38,592 to 23,132. Almost 1,500 ''beldes'' (small municipal towns) had their municipalities abolished, meaning that a significantly fewer number of mayors were elected compared to the 2009 local elections. Most provinces no longer elect any provincial councillors. The number of metropolitan municipalities, however, rose from 16 to 30. The elections were marred by allegations of electoral fraud and violence, with both opposition and ruling party candidates alike refusing to recognise a wide variety of results. Significant cases of fraud in Ankara and Yalova were referred to the Supreme Electoral Council of Turkey for reviewal. Allegations of misconduct included the untimely power cuts in several areas while the votes were being counted (claimed to be caused by cats entering transformers), intimidation by government forces such as the European Union Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and the Anatolian Agency in electorally strategic districts, the theft and burning of votes cast for opposition candidates and the recording of opposition votes as invalid or blank.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rekor geçersiz oy )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=AKP'nin oy desteği ne yüzde 45, ne yüzde 43; yüzde 36! )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Seçimler hileli! İşte CHP oylarının çalındığının belgeleri )〕 The elections had been controversial due to allegations of government corruption, voter bribery and the lack of up-to-date voter records beforehand.〔http://www.enerjihaber.com/komur_talebi_patladi-3-haber-2091.html〕 Regardless, the governing Justice and Development Party (''AK Parti'' or AKP) declared victory in the early hours of 31 March, gaining 42.89% of the vote, 818 municipalities and 11,309 councillors. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) came second with 26.34%, 232 municipalities and 4,320 councillors, announcing that it would be filing complaints against alleged electoral manipulation. By 4 April 2014, numerous municipalities changed mayors following recounts.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Yalova mayoralty changes hands after CHP’s demand for vote recount – POLITICS )〕 Gradual post-election revelations of alleged widespread irregularities in several cities sparked pro-democracy protests after provisional results were announced, while the Electoral Council declared results in some areas null and void.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Turkish police use water cannon against protest rally )〕 A repeat of the elections in these areas took place on 1 June. These most notably occurred in Yalova and Ağrı, in which the ruling AK Party had lost by a small margin to the CHP and BDP respectively on March 30. In a first of a series of trials relating to electoral fraud claims, a returning officer was sentenced to five years in prison in June 2015 after being found guilty of transferring CHP votes to the AKP. ==Background== Turkish local elections are held every five years in order to elect mayors to 30 metropolitan municipalities, 1,008 district municipalities and 2,187 town municipalities. In addition, an excess of 53,450 neighbourhood leaders (muhtars) are elected, though most are non-partisan and do not have any declared political allegiance. Elderly and municipal council compositions were also elected through a separate ballot. The previous elections were held on 29 March 2009 and were won by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AK Party with 38.8% of the vote.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=SEÇİM SONUÇLARI – 2009 Yerel Seçim Sonuçları )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Turkish local elections, 2014」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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