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.
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.
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.
Civilian administration
Civilian administration is one of the two pillars of local government in Turkey. Every province is headed by a provincial governor, who is the ultimate civilian authority in the province. Similarly, districts are headed by a district governor, who is the ultimate civilian authority in a district. However, district governors are subordinate to the provincial governor of the province their district is in. The governor is the highest administrator for local departments/divisions of ministries, general directorates, or presidencies. These governors are appointed by the president and do not require confirmation from the national assembly. The position also has no term limit, though governors generally do not last longer than the government, as the incoming government will appoint new governors closer to their political beliefs.
With their title as the head of all local divisions and departments of ministries and their dependent directorates, governors act as the head of the police force, have the power to inspect all government facilities excluding military installations or other areas operated by the Turkish Armed Forces and judicial institutions, can issue orders to government employees working in the aforementioned local divisions or departments, order a curfew or lockdown when deemed necessary, ban all or certain vehicles from traffic as a precaution against adverse weather, order an investigation into a crime, and can undertake other actions when deemed necessary to maintain order and safety. Governors of both tiers also have the sometimes controversial power to ban all demonstrations for up to 15 days or to declare any given demonstration illegal. Governors may exercise these rights and authorities province-wide if they're the provincial governor, or within their district, if they're a district governor.
Governors also have the authority to inspect all tiers of local administration and to give directives to mayors and other officials involved in local administration asking for a resolution to certain problems. In addition to this, any decision taken by any level of local administration is deemed invalid unless a copy of the said decision is sent to the provincial governor's office within 7 days. The governor cannot veto these decisions, but a copy must be sent nevertheless for the decision to be valid.