[3] These were the three most populous cities in Turkey, namely; Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir.
In 1986, four new metropolitan municipalities were established: Adana,[4] Bursa,[5] Gaziantep[6] and Konya.
[7] Two years later the total number was increased to eight with the addition of Kayseri.
[8] In 1993, seven new metropolitan municipalities were established: Antalya, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Mersin, Kocaeli and Samsun.
However, in 2004, the concept of metropolitan municipality was redefined in Istanbul and Kocaeli, where thenceforth metropolitan municipality borders would overlap with provincial borders.