Izmir Mayor Joins Erdogan's Ruling Party

Cemil Tugay, the mayor of Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city and a stronghold of secular opposition, joined the ruling Justice and Development Party led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

This move grants the ruling party the position of mayor in a city it had never won through the ballot box, according to Reuters.

Tugay, who was elected mayor in 2024 as a candidate for the Republican People's Party before resigning in June, formally joined the Justice and Development Party at a ceremony presided over by Erdogan in Ankara.

Tugay had won the March 2024 elections with 49 percent of the votes, compared to 37 percent for the Justice and Development Party candidate.

This step is an important symbolic gain for Erdogan's party in a city that has long remained a stronghold for secularists and members of the social democratic party.

The move comes amid a crackdown on municipalities run by the opposition, following the detention of dozens of mayors in corruption cases that the opposition claims are politically motivated.