2014 Ankara mayoral election his fourth term as Mayor of Ankara, while Yavaş was also expected to win strong support from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The strategic importance of Ankara as Turkey's capital city caused concerns over whether the vote would proceed fairly, with both Gökçek and Yavaş criticising each other for planning irregularities before the vote. The counting process in Ankara was widely seen as the most fraudulent in the country, with accusations of vote theft and burning, the intentional miscalculation of results from ballot boxes and even an armed intervention by unidentified gunmen in a vote counting centre within the pro-CHP
Ankara city center of Ankara belonged to the Hattic civilization which existed during the Bronze Age and was gradually absorbed c. 2000–1700 BC by the Indo-European Hittites. The city grew significantly in size and importance under the Phrygians starting around 1000 BC, and experienced a large expansion following the mass migration from Gordion, (the capital of Phrygia), after an earthquake which severely damaged that city around that time. In Phrygian tradition, King Midas was venerated as the founder of Ancyra, but Pausanias mentions that the city was actually far older, which accords with present archaeological knowledge. Phrygian rule was succeeded first