Legislative changes to elections in the occupied territories

On September 10, 2026, the local parliament in the occupied territories passed a legislative amendment to hold parliamentary and local elections simultaneously on December 6, 2026. The proposal was spearheaded by the National Unity Party (UBP) and received support from the Democratic Party (DP) and members of the Rebirth Party (YDP), including Erhan Arikli. This follows the recent political turbulence surrounding the collapse of the Filo Jet project and Arikli's removal from the position of Minister of Transport.

The legislative package also introduced a significant change to the electoral system by abolishing the mixed voting (horizontal voting) system, which had been in place for decades. Voters will no longer be able to select candidates from different political parties on a single ballot, though they may still vote for multiple candidates within the same party. Prime Minister Unal Ustel defended the move, noting that 41% of mixed votes in the 2022 elections were declared invalid, suggesting that the reform aims to address administrative inefficiencies. The opposition has criticized the timing of the change, though the administration maintains that the proposal was initially introduced in 2023 and subjected to long-term consultations.