The mayor of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city and a stronghold for secular opposition, has joined President Erdogan's ruling AK Party. Mayor Cemil Tugay switched allegiance in June but formally joined the party on October 7th during a ceremony in Ankara. This move is significant as it marks the first time the AKP will control Izmir’s mayorship without winning an election there since its founding in 2001. The shift comes amid a broader crackdown on opposition mayors, with dozens being jailed across Turkey on corruption charges that critics claim are politically motivated.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
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Story summary
On October 7, Cemil Tugay, the mayor of Izmir — Turkey's third-largest city and a stronghold of secular opposition — formally joined President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Tugay was initially elected in March 2024 as a candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP) but quit his position in June. The move is significant for Erdogan’s party, which has never won Izmir in municipal elections despite dominating national politics for over two decades. Critics argue that this shift comes amid an unprecedented crackdown on opposition municipalities where dozens of mayors have been jailed on corruption charges seen as politically motivated. Tugay's decision underscores the growing influence and pressure exerted by Erdogan’s government on Turkey’s secular opposition strongholds.
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Leaning: leans left for article 62551 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-07
Mayor of Turkey's secular stronghold Izmir joins Erdogan's party
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Mayor → join → party
The mayor of Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city and a bastion of its secular opposition, joined President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) on Wednesday, amid a crackdown on the opposition in which dozens of mayors have been jailed.
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dozens → join → mayors
Cemil Tugay, elected mayor in 2024 as a candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) before quitting in June, formally joined the AKP at a ceremony in Ankara, handing Erdogan's party the mayoralty of a city it has never managed to win at the ballot box.
"
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it → elect → box
I have no doubt that, with harmony between the local administration and central government, we will achieve great things," Tugay said.
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Tugay → have → things
The move is a significant symbolic gain for Erdogan's party in the western coastal city, long regarded as the heartland of Turkey's secular, social democratic opposition.
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move → regard → opposition
The religiously and socially conservative AKP, founded by Erdogan in 2001, has never won the Izmir metropolitan municipality despite dominating national politics for more than two decades.
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AKP → found → decades
Tugay won the March 2024 election with 49% of the vote, against 37% for the AKP candidate.
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Tugay → win → candidate
The CHP also won 28 of Izmir's 30 district municipalities.
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CHP → win → municipalities
MANY MAYORS ARE IN JAIL AWAITING TRIAL
Erdogan's AKP suffered a major electoral blow in the March 2024 mayoral elections but since then Turkish authorities have launched an unprecedented crackdown on opposition municipalities that saw many mayors targeted with corruption charges that critics say are unfounded.
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critics → await → charges
Dozens of mayors, including Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is seen as Erdogan's main rival, are in jail pending trial.
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who → include → trial
Tunc Soyer, who was the Izmir mayor before Tugay, is also among those jailed as part of a corruption probe.
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who → jail → probe
The opposition has rejected the corruption accusations and says the investigations are politically motivated.
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investigations → reject → accusations
The government says the judiciary is independent.
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judiciary → say → ?
Tugay resigned from the CHP in June after a court ruling that annulled the CHP 2023 congress and stripped Ozgur Ozel of his title as CHP chairman.
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that → resign → chairman
However, he did not join the New Party founded by Ozel and 90 opposition MPs in protest over the court ruling and continued as an independent mayor.
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he → join → mayor
Ozel accused the AKP on Tuesday of using blackmail and the threat of imprisonment to pressure Tugay into defecting.
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Ozel → accuse → Tugay
"Those who refuse to bow to this pressure ... and do not betray their friends or their party will remain our brothers until the day we die.
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we → refuse → day
Those who sell out and leave are genuine traitors," Ozel told his party's parliamentary group.
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Ozel → sell → group
Erdogan rejected such accusations at Wednesday's ceremony.
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Erdogan → reject → ceremony
"Those who want to serve their cities in peace see the AK Party as the safest address," Erdogan said.
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Erdogan → want → address
"This is the reason for the growing support for the AK Party.
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This → grow → Party
Tugay is the second mayor of a large city to defect to the AKP from the CHP, after Ozlem Cercioglu, mayor of Aydin, another western coastal city.
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Tugay → defect → Aydin
Dozens of district mayors elected from opposition parties in 2024 have also joined the AKP since then.
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Dozens → elect → AKP
The Aporia
