The Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (UMT) has been accredited by the Council of Europe to promote and award the European Label of Governance Excellence (ELoGE) in Türkiye. The accreditation for the new period covers UMT and Argüden Governance Academy.
The ELoGE Accreditation Platform, within the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, approved the accreditations for the new period at its meeting on 26 August 2026. The decision was made public by the Council of Europe on 28 August 2026. UMT and Argüden Governance Academy will continue their work to promote ELoGE in Türkiye during the new period.
Developed by the Council of Europe, ELoGE is based on the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance. The process enables municipalities to assess their current governance performance against common principles and indicators and identify areas for improvement. Municipalities demonstrating a high level of performance against the established standards earn the right to use the label for one year.
Four national cycles have been completed since ELoGE was introduced in Türkiye in 2022. The right to use the label was granted to 2 municipalities in 2022, 6 in 2023, 13 in 2024 and 16 in the latest cycle. These include municipalities that have renewed their right to use the label in more than one cycle.
The 2025 ELoGE process was carried out by the National Platform, coordinated by Argüden Governance Academy as the body authorised by the Council of Europe, hosted by UMT and formed with the participation of the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) and Özyeğin University. Following the assessments, a total of 16 municipalities—6 metropolitan and 10 district municipalities—earned the right to use the ELoGE label.
To date, ELoGE has been awarded a total of 489 times to approximately 400 different local authorities across 21 Council of Europe member states and Kosovo.