Village of 1,100 in Düzce heads to referendum

A village with a population of 1,100, located 5 kilometers from the center of Düzce, has taken action to benefit from municipal services such as natural gas, infrastructure, and transportation.

THE PUBLIC CAST THEIR VOTES

Reaching a consensus on transitioning to neighborhood status, Village Headman İbrahim Tokgöz, the council members, the council of elders, and the village residents applied to the Supreme Election Council (YSK) for a referendum.

Following the approval of the YSK, citizens arrived at the village hall starting in the morning hours to cast their votes for the referendum.

"WE WANTED THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE TO BE REFLECTED AT THE BALLOT BOX"

Council member Hikmet Kılıç stated to an AA reporter that they made this decision upon the request of the village residents, saying, "Citizens had requests regarding natural gas, infrastructure, and municipal buses. For this, the village needed to become a neighborhood and enter the adjacent area. We applied to the YSK to hold a referendum by obtaining the consent of the village residents. We wanted the will of the people to be reflected at the ballot box. We hope the results will be beneficial."

Following the conclusion of voting at 17:00, the count showed that, according to unofficial results, 74.5 percent of the village residents who went to the polls voted "yes" to transition to neighborhood status.

In the village, which has 602 registered voters, 287 of the 385 citizens who went to the polls voted "yes," 97 voted "no," and 1 vote was counted as invalid.