Mayor of Turkish opposition stronghold defects to Erdogan’s party
The mayor of Turkey's third-largest city, Izmir, switched allegiance to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party on Wednesday, marking the opposition stronghold's first mayoralty under the party's banner. Holding the position since 2024, Izmir's Mayor Cemil Tugay joined the Justice and Development Party (AKP) at a ceremony in Ankara, adorned with the AKP badge pinned to his lapel.
In a short speech, Tugay hailed the AKP as the "voice of the voiceless" and vowed to rejuvenate and reconstruct Izmir as its inaugural AKP mayor.
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