At the 4th award ceremony for the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in Türkiye, held in Ankara on 10 February 2026, 16 municipalities* were awarded the label. Speaking at the ceremony, Congress Vice-President Cecilia Dalman Eek (Sweden, SOC/G/PD) praised the crucial role of the Turkish Union of Municipalities (TBB) in promoting good democratic governance in Türkiye. "Thanks to the outreach of TBB and the engagement of Argüden Governance Academy, ELoGE is offering a framework to improve governance and strengthen democracy from the bottom up," she said.
TBB Secretary General, Suat Yildiz, acknowledged that ELoGE enables municipalities to question practice in a transparent manner, strengthen local good governance, and enhance trust of citizens. As the Council of Europe works towards building a New Democratic Pact for Europe, increasing numbers of municipalities of Türkiye are seeking to engage citizens and measure municipal performance against European standards.
ELoGE is a benchmarking process based on the 12 Principles of good democratic governance; it is awarded to municipalities which can demonstrate that they have achieved a high level of performance against those standards.
