Adana Province

The central government in Ankara has the majority of the power in the administration of the province through Adana Governorship. The governorship oversees the functioning of provincial and regional directorates of the ministries and other governmental agencies. Provincial directorates cover Adana Province only, whereas Regional directorates cover Çukurova and in some cases additional provinces. Provincial and regional directorates of the Central Government include, but are not limited to;

• Provincial Directorates: Education, Healthcare, Tourism and Culture, Youth and Sports, Environment and Forestry, Social Services, Agriculture, Industry and Trade, Police Services, Defense, Population and Citizenship, Employment Agency, Social Security Institution.
• Regional Directorates: Turkish State Railways, Statistics Institute, Foundations, Meteorology.

The Grand National Assembly (TBMM) is the only law-making authority in Turkey and Adana Province is represented in it with 14 members. The last TBMM elections were held on June 7th, 2015 and in the Adana Province, the conservative AKP took 5 seats, social-democratic Kemalist CHP took 4 seats, nationalist MHP took 3 seats and Democratic socialist HDP took 2 seats.

Adana Province Special Administration (Turkish: Adana İl Özel İdaresi) is a semi-democratic provincial governing body that has three organs; Provincial Parliament, Governor and the Encümen. Provincial Parliament members are elected democratically, the governor is appointed by the Central Government and 4 out of 8 members of the Encümen are appointed by the governor.

Province Special Administration is not a jurisdiction and has minor executive power in the administration of the province running with a budget of 55 million TL for 2010. The major executive duties of Special Administration are; building and maintenance of schools, residences and daycares, building and maintenance of other governmental buildings, roads, promoting arts and culture, protection and conservation of nature, social services and regional planning.[2]

Adana Provincial Parliament (Turkish: Adana İl Genel Meclisi) is the decision making organ of the Province Special Administration. It is formed of 61 members who represent the 15 districts. Members of the Parliament are nominated by the district branches of the National Parties during the Local Elections and are elected by the d'Hondt method. Each district is an electoral district and there is a 10% threshold for a party to gain seat at the district. There is no threshold at the provincial level.[3] Parliament is administered by the president, two vice-presidents, and two secretary generals who are elected from the members. Current chair of the parliament is Abdullah Torun.

Current Composition of the Parliament

The last election for the Provincial Parliament was held on March 29, 2009. Voting turnout was a high of %84.1 and 5 parties gained seat at the parliament. The results of the election were[4]

After the election DP member moved to MHP raising the seats of MHP to 24. Currently, DP does not hold a seat at the parliament.

Provincial Governor (Turkish: Vali) is the chief executive of the Adana Province. Besides chairing the Turkish: Encümen, the Governor also acts as the chief of the Provincial Directorates of the Central Government. The governor is appointed by the advice of the National Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Cabinet with the approval of the President of the Republic. İlhan Atış has been governor of the province since 2007.[5]

District Governors (Turkish: Kaymakam) are the chief executives of their districts. Districts are merely an administrative divisions of the province and the District Governors work under the Provincial Governor.

Encümen is the executive committee of the Adana Province Special Administration, consisting of 11 members. The governor is the chair of the Encümen. 5 members are chosen by the Provincial Parliament among their members annually and 5 members are the departmental directors of the APSA appointed by the governor annually.[6]

There are total of 37 municipalities in the Adana Province. City of Adana has a two-tier municipality structure where the metropolitan municipality forms the upper tier and the 5 district municipalities, Seyhan, Yüreğir, Çukurova, Sarıçam and Karaisalı form the lower-tier. Municipal councillors of the metropolitan municipality are chosen from the district municipal councillors by the respective municipal councils. 10 district municipalities and 21 township (Turkish: Belde) municipalities are the other municipalities of the province.

The municipalities have three organs; municipal council, mayor and the encümen, the executive committee. Municipal councillors and the mayors are elected at the local elections. Encümen is formed by members half chosen from the council and the other half appointed by the mayor.

Mahala (Turkish: Mahalle) is the smallest administrative unit within a municipality, administered by the Muhtar and the Neighborhood Seniors Council (Turkish: Mahalle İhtiyar Heyeti) consisting of 4 members. Mahala administration is not an incorporation therefore does not hold government status. Although elected by the neighborhood residents, Muhtars are not granted any power nor budget, thus merely act as an administrator of the district Governor. Muhtar also voices the neighborhood issues to the municipal governments together with the Seniors Council. The Muhtar and the council members are elected by plurality at the local elections. Neighborhood administrators are not affiliated with political parties.

Villages are settlements that have a population less than 2000. In the Adana Province there are total of 469 villages, which are scattered through all the districts except Seyhan. Villages are administered by the muhtar and the Village Seniors Council. The council can have four, five or six members depending on the population of the village. Unlike the neighborhood Muhtars, village Muhtars are granted special powers and the village administration is considered to be a governmental body.

• Adana Archeological Museum in the city of Adana
• Adana Ethnography Museum
• Adana Atatürk Museum
• Misis Mosaic Museum

Kurtkulağı Kervansarayı

Yilankale (Snake Castle)

Süleyman's Tower

St Paul Church (Bebekli Kilise)

• Toprakkale (Misis)
• Dumlu Castle (Ceyhan)
• Yilankale (Snake Castle)
• Historical neighborhood of Tepebağ (Adana)
• Ramazanoğlu Hall (Adana)
• Kurtkulağı Caravanserai in Ceyhan
• Hayriye Hanım Hall in Reşatbey neighborhood of Adana
• Çarşı Hamam (Adana)
• Büyük Saat Clock Tower and the Bedesten (bazaar) in the city of Adana
• Taşköprü: 4th century Roman Bridge in the city of Adana
• Kozan Castle and Monastery
• Ulucamii in the city of Adana
• Hasan Ağa Masjid (Adana)
• Yağ Camii in the city of Adana
• Saint Paul Church (Bebekli Kilise) in the city of Adana
• Süleyman's Tower (Yumurtalık)