Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay joins Erdoğan’s party after resigning from the CHP

Cemil Tugay, mayor of the city of Izmir, has joined the AK Party, the party of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a move announced on Wednesday at the party’s headquarters in Ankara. Erdoğan personally presented him with the party badge. The decision symbolically shifts the political balance in Izmir, a stronghold of the Turkish opposition and a city administered by the left or center-left since 1999.

Tugay was elected in 2024 on the CHP ticket, winning 48.97% of the vote, compared with 37.06% for the AK Party candidate. In June, he left the CHP after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was reinstated as party leader and remained independent for three months.

The move is surprising, as the mayor had previously said that the chances of joining the AK Party were “not even one in a million.” CHP leader Özgür Özel claims that Tugay was subjected to threats, blackmail and pressure.

His move does not, however, change control of the local council. The CHP holds 91 seats, the AK Party 39, and independents 11. Tugay becomes the first mayor associated with the right to lead Izmir after 27 years of left-wing administration.