Latest defection hands Erdogan’s AKP control of Turkey’s third-largest city

The ruling party’s takeover of Izmir’s mayoralty is the latest example of the unraveling of the opposition parties’ historic gains in Turkey’s 2024 local elections.

Ezgi Akin
Ezgi Akin
Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay (R) his wife Oznur Tugay and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledge the audience after the mayor announced joining the ruling Justice and Development Party during a meeting with AKP lawmakers in Ankara, on Oct. 7, 2026.
Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay (R) his wife Oznur Tugay and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledge the audience after the mayor announced joining the ruling Justice and Development Party during a meeting with AKP lawmakers in Ankara, on Oct. 7, 2026. — Adem ALTAN / AFP via Getty Images

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party on Wednesday gained control of the mayoralty of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city and a secular stronghold, after Mayor Cemil Tugay joined the ruling Justice and Development (AKP). The ruling party achieved the shift through a political switch rather than at the ballot box. 

Izmir's independent mayor, Tugay — who had served as an independent mayor since resigning from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in June — joined the AKP, becoming the latest of more than 80 opposition and independent mayors to switch to Erdogan’s party in a striking reversal of the opposition’s gains in the 2024 local elections.

Tugay joined the AKP on Wednesday at a ceremony at the party’s headquarters in Ankara.

Crossing the floor

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