Mayor of Turkey’s Third-Largest City Joins Ruling Party

Drone photo shows supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, then leader of opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, during his presidential election campaign rally in lzmir, 30 April 2023. Photo: EPA/TOLGA BOZOGL Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay on Wednesday joined President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP, giving it the mayoralty of Turkey’s third-largest city, which it has never won in an election. Tugay was elected mayor as a candidate of the opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, in 2024. He received his AKP badge at the party’s parliamentary group meeting. “I welcome Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay, who joined us, the AKP family, today,” President Erdogan announced. “I want to emphasise that we will support him with all our means in his efforts to serve Izmir, the pearl of the Aegean, and our fellow citizens in Izmir.” Tugay said: “I love Izmir very much,” adding: “Very good things await Izmir” and calling Erdogan’s “the greatest leader”. Izmir, a major economic hub on Turkey’s Aegean coast, is home to some 4.5 million people and has been a stronghold of the opposition for decades. Tugay’s move follows a wider realignment within Turkey’s opposition. Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas left the CHP on September 23 following months of turmoil that split the party between the leadership, now restored to Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and the New Party, Turkey’s new main opposition party, established by the former CHP leader, Ozgur Ozel. Yavas has remained an independent, however. In the 2024 local elections, Tugay, running for the CHP, won 49 per cent of the vote, almost 12 per cent ahead of Erdogan’s AKP candidate, who received 37 per cent. The balance of power on the metropolitan council remains heavily in favour of the opposition. The New Party holds 93 seats, compared with 38 for the AKP, 33 for the CHP, 12 independents and seven for AKP-allied Nationalist Party members. New Party leader Ozel mocked Erdogan’s seeming victory in parliament on Wednesday. “You have never won Izmir at the ballot box, and you never will,” he said, addressing President Erdogan.