Local government in Turkey

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Local government in Turkey refers to the governance and administration of Turkey's 81 provinces, their districts, neighborhoods, and villages. This governance is split into two: the civilian administration (Turkish: mülki idare) and the local administration (Turkish: mahalli idare). Turkey follows a more unitary system of local governance, where the directly elected officials in local government have less power compared to those appointed by the national government.[1]

Civilian administration is always split into two tiers, the province and the district. The head of the civilian administration in any given province is the provincial governor (Turkish: vali) and the head of the civilian administration in any given district is the district governor (Turkish: kaymakam). Divisions below district do not have their own civilian administrator, and those areas fall into the jurisdiction of the district they are in.[2]

The tiers of local administration, on the other hand, depend on if the given province has achieved "metropolitan municipality status". Provinces with this status have a much more central hierarchy, where each district municipality is directly responsible to, and overseen by, the metropolitan municipality. In provinces without this status, district municipalities enjoy relative freedom in administrating their jurisdiction, as the special provincial administrations are generally not tasked with providing services to areas already within municipal jurisdictions, but rather areas that aren't served by municipalities. In provinces without metropolitan municipalities, district/province borders do not have to be the same as the borders of the municipality for that district/province, as such, villages and other settlements away from a district/provincial center may not be in the jurisdiction of any municipality. These areas are given municipal services by the special provincial administration, though a municipality can also be established when the population exceeds 5000. This municipality is then known as a belde.[3][4][5]

Table showing the local administration authority responsible for each local division in provinces with and without a metropolitan municipality
Local divisions Province with a metropolitan municipality Province without a metropolitan municipality
Province Metropolitan municipality Special provincial administration
Districts / Provincial center Second-tier municipality Municipality
Belde division doesn't exist (absorbed into neighborhood) Municipality
Neighborhood Muhtarlık Muhtarlık
Village division doesn't exist (absorbed into neighborhood) Muhtarlık
  1. ^ Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasası, Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, 1982: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.5.2709.pdf
  2. ^ İl İdaresi Kanunu, Kanun No: 5442 (Law on the Governance of the Province, Law No: 5542), 1949: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.3.5442.pdf
  3. ^ Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kanunu, Kanun No: 5216 (Law on the Metropolitan Municipality, Law No: 5216), 2004: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/1.5.5216.pdf
  4. ^ Belediye Kanunu, Kanun No: 5393 (Law on the Municipality, Law No: 5393), 2005: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.5.5393.pdf
  5. ^ İl Özel İdaresi Kanunu, Kanun No: 5302 (Law on the Special Provincial Administration, Law No: 5302), 2005: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.5.5302.pdf