A report prepared by Shafiq Al-Obaidi: Turkey is preparing to hold its local general elections on the 31st of this month, with the participation of 34 political parties in addition to independents to choose the mayors of the 81 Turkish states for the next five years. According to the committee supervising the local elections, ballot boxes will be distributed to 973 provinces and 390 towns with the participation of more than 61 million registered voters who are entitled to participate, as they are characterized by intense competition, especially in the major cities, including Istanbul, Ankara, Gaziantep, Malatya, and Izmir, where many candidates are competing, whether they are representing political parties or independents, to hold mayoral positions. The municipal elections come after the presidential election struggle, which was full of challenges and strong competition, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won with more than 52% of the voter votes. The ruling Justice and Development Party, led by Erdogan, also succeeded in strengthening its parliamentary position by winning 268 seats out of a total of 600 seats in Parliament. The upcoming local elections represent an important political battle in the political history of Turkey, involving strategic dimensions that go beyond the boundaries of local administration, as they pave the way for the presidential elections expected in 2028 and reflect the extent of voters' satisfaction with the political performance of the ruling party (Justice and Development), headed by Erdogan. Turkey witnessed political transformations during the 2019 local elections, as they were held in light of an economic crisis and under the influence of new electoral alliances, to serve as a real test for the ruling party, especially after the adoption of the presidential system in the previous year of the democratic struggle. Its results showed the victory of the "People's Alliance" formed by the Justice and Development Party with the National Movement Party, by a significant margin of 51 .74% of the voters' votes, compared to 37.64% for the opposition "Nation Alliance", which includes the Republican People's Party and the Good Party. Despite the positive results achieved by the People's Alliance in those elections, it lost its municipal candidates in the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul to the opposition Republican Party's candidates. These results were surprising given the former Justice and Development Party's control over these cities for a long period. As for the upcoming local elections, most Turkish political analysts expect the competition to be more fierce, with parties focusing on issues such as the economy, refugees, local governance, and social policies. According to expectations, the upcoming elections will represent a test for the main political parties and an indication of the direction that Turkey may take in the future. The ruling Justice and Development Party is seeking to regain the mayorship of Istanbul, which it lost during the 2019 elections, since the opposition has alwa ys said that whoever rules Istanbul for its economic, political and historical symbolism rules Turkey. The Justice Party has 24 neighborhoods there out of a total of 39, while the ruling Justice and Development Party seeks to the Republican people oppose renewing their period of control over it for a new five years. Therefore, Istanbul will witness a fierce battle in light of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's desire to regain it from the Republican People's Party, and the defeat of its current mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is seen as the greatest challenge to the authority of Erdogan himself, while successive opinion polls show Imamoglu's continued superiority over the ruling Justice and Development Party's candidate, Murat Kurum. With the escalation of the political conflict between the candidates, the focus between them became on important issues, foremost among which are the economy, high prices, security, and the services that the candidate can provide to the general public if he wins the position. Source : National Iraqi News Agency