Mayor of Turkish opposition stronghold defects to Erdogan’s party
The move gives Erdogan’s party a symbolic win in a city it has never won, while opposition parties still control most council seats.
- On Wednesday, Mayor Cemil Tugay joined President Tayyip Erdogan's AKP at a ceremony in Ankara, handing the ruling party a symbolic prize in Turkey's third-largest city, a historic bastion of secular opposition.
- Tugay won the March 2024 election with 49% of the vote as a Republican People candidate, but quit the party in June following a court ruling and served as an independent for three months.
- New Party leader Özgür Özel alleged on Tuesday that Tugay faced "threats, blackmail and pressure," while Tugay reversed his earlier vow that joining the AKP was "not even a one-in-a-million chance."
- Despite the defection, the AKP does not control Izmir's city council; the New Party remains the largest group with 91 members, while independents hold 11 seats.
- This switch makes Tugay the first right-wing mayor of Turkey's third-largest city in 27 years, ending a streak where the ruling party failed to win Izmir in three consecutive elections.
104 Articles
104 Articles
The mayor of the important city of Izmir, formerly an opposition stronghold, has switched to the ruling AKP party. This is a major symbolic...
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Protests in major Turkish city after mayor defects to Erdogan party
IZMIR, Turkiye: More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Turkish opposition stronghold Izmir on Wednesday, angered by the defection of the city’s mayor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP. The move was a huge symbolic victory for the Turkish leader, who has long wanted to control the secular resort city of 4.5 million people on Turkiye’s Aegean coast which has been held by the opposition for nearly 30 years. Mayor Cemil Tugay’s decision…
In a carefully choreographed scene at the headquarters of the AKP party, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan placed the insignia of the formation on Cemil Tugay's lapel,...
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