Voters headed to the polls on Sunday to elect the country’s 18 new mayors, 220 municipal council members and 240 mukhtars.
With election turnout standing at 68.85 per cent, there were no changes in mayors of the capital Lefkoşa, Güzelyurt, İskele and Lefke.
There was a change of guard in the major municpalities of Girne, Gazimağusa and Gönyeli with Süleyman Uluçay, Murat Şengül and Hüseyin Amcaoğlu emerging as winners.
Voting ended at 6pm on Sunday with voter turnout remaining just below 70 per cent.
Turnout in Lefkoşa was 68.35 per cent, 72.42 per cent in Mağusa, 58.80 per cent in Girne, 67.80 per cent in Güzelyurt, 69.45 per cent in İskele and 76.26 per cent in Lefke.
According to the official results, current Lefkoşa Mayor Mehmet Harmancı, supported by the Social Democratic Party (TDP) was re-elected for a third consecutive term.
The current mayor of İskele supported by the National Unity Party (UBP) Hasan Sadıkoğlu was also re-elected for a third term.
Lefke’s Aziz Kaya from the Republican Turkish Party was re-elected for a second term.
The UBP’s mayor in Güzelyurt Mahmut Özçınar was re-elected for a seventh consecutive term. He has been mayor of the city since 1998.
Despite achieving disappointing results in Lefkoşa, the CTP emerged victorious in Girne and Gazimağusa, winning the race in both cities.
While Murat Şenkul defeated independent candidate Nidai Göngördü in Girne, Süleyman Uluçay won the election race in Gazimağusa.
The UBP achieved a decisive victory in Gönyeli just outside Lefkoşa, with Hüseyin Amcaoğlu defeating the CTP’s long-standing mayor Ahmet Benli.
Independent candidate Bülent Bebek was elected as Beyarmudu’s new mayor, and the UBP’s candidate Hamit Bakırcı became Erenköy Karpaz municipality’s new mayor.
The CTP’s Ceyhun Kırok won the election in Esentepe while Fırat Ataser was elected as the new mayor of the Lapta-Alsancak-Çamlıbel Municipality.
There will be no change in Değirmenlik-Akıncılar as the current CTP-endorsed mayor Ali Karavezirler was re-elected for another term. The mayor of the new Mesarya Municipality which covers several rural villages was the CTP’s Ahmet Latif.
In Tatlısu, the DP’s only mayoral candidate in the local elections Hayri Orçan retained his position while in Geçitkale-Serdarlı we saw the UBP’s Halil Kasım winning.
The only female mayor to be elected in the elections was the UBP’s Fatma Çimen Tuğlu in Mehmetçik-Büyükkonuk.
The TRNC’s 26 municipalities were reduced to 18 earlier this year as part of a reform package that saw smaller and financially struggling municipalities merge with larger local administrations.