Turkey's ruling party leads in local elections

ANKARA, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The early results showed the People's alliance, between ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and its ally the Nationalist Movement party (MHP), was leading in Turkey's local elections on Sunday, state broadcaster TRT said.

The People's alliance was ahead with 51.8 percent of the votes in local elections after 90 percent of ballots were counted, the report said.

Meanwhile, opposition Nation's alliance, between the main opposition Republican People's party (CHP) and the Good party, gained 37.6 percent of the votes.

The ruling party's candidate Binali Yildirim, the former speaker of parliament and former prime minister, was taking a quite narrow lead with 48.7 percent of votes in Istanbul, against his opposition rival with 48.6 percent.

In the capital Ankara, Mansur Yavas, the candidate from main opposition CHP, had a narrow but firm lead of 50.6 percent in Sunday's local elections against his AKP's rival.

In Turkey's third largest city Izmir, CHP has gained the majority of votes with 58 percent against the ruling party.

Around 57 million People were eligible to participate in the municipal elections, in which voters chose for mayors, city council members and neighborhood heads.

Voter turnout was more than 83 percent, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. Enditem