34 of the 63 municipalities won by Yeniden Refah went to AKP

The Yeniden Refah Party (YRP), which secured third-place status in the March 31, 2024 local elections with 6.2 percent of the vote, lost 34 of the 63 municipalities it had won to the AKP. According to the figures, the transfer process has proceeded quietly since election night.

The most severe blow came in Konya. All 6 municipalities won by the YRP across the province went to the AKP. In this city, where Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of the Milli Görüş movement, once served as a member of parliament, not even a single municipality remains in the hands of his son Fatih Erbakan.

The total number of municipal mayors who joined the AKP from other parties and as independent candidates following the local elections has reached 83. In the latest wave, Foça Municipal Mayor Saniye Bora Fıçı, Kayseri Akkışla Municipal Mayor Mustafa Dursun, and Felahiye Municipal Mayor Şeref Güleser left the CHP; and Muş Sungu Township Municipal Mayor Burhan Sayılgan left the YRP — all joining the AKP.

The YRP had broken away from the tradition of the Saadat Party, which operated alongside the AKP in 2019, and entered the 2023 elections under its own banner. Losing more than half of the municipalities it won within two years effectively eliminates the party's autonomous weight within the opposition bloc.