zoning, making investments, budgeting, loaning and controlling the mayor's activities. The chair of the council is the mayor. Mayor is assisted by two vice-chairs and two council secretaries who are elected by the council. The 21 commissions of the council are; environment, legal, urban development, budget planning, education, culture, transportation, tariffs, health care, public relations, youth and sports, consumer protection, auditing, human rights, real estate, social services, EU and foreign affairs, tourism, disabled rights, earthquake and disasters and urban transformation. Each commission has 5 councilor members elected by the council. Municipal Council consists of 45 members. The candidates for the councilor positions are either nominated by National Parties or run independently. The councilors are elected by the d'Hondt method, where the whole municipality is one electoral district and there is 10% threshold for a party to gain seat at the council. As with mayor, councilors are elected for a 5-year term. Left-wing and right-wing parties have a slight balance at the council. Left leaning CHP leads the council with 18 members, conservative AKP and far-right Turkish nationalist MHP have 12 members and left-wing pro-Kurdish BDP has 3 members at the council. Neighborhoods Neighborhoods (Mahalle) are administered by the muhtar and the Neighborhood Seniors Council consisting of 4 members. Muhtar and the Senior Council are elected for 5 years at the local elections and are not affiliated with political parties. Neighborhoods are not an incorporation therefore do not hold government status. Muhtar, although being elected by the residents, acts merely as an administrator of the district governor. Muhtar can voice neighborhood issues to the municipal hall together with the Seniors Council. Seyhan has total of 99 neighborhoods, 69 of them in the urban area, 30 are outside the urban area. The neighborhoods outside the urban area are the former villages and the municipalities that annexed to the city of Adana as city borders are expanded in 2008. Neighborhoods in the urban area The urban neighborhoods of Seyhan are spread into 7 distinctive zones. The major separators of these zones are the D400 state road, railway line, Adana Metro, Şakirpaşa Airport and the little canal. Old Town: Referring to the city of Adana before the foundation of the Republic, this zone is bordered by D400 state road on the road, Seyhan river on the west, roughly Debboy and Obalar street at the south and the Adana Şakirpaşa Airport on the west. The