İzmir Mayor Cemil Tugay joins AK Party as Erdoğan pins his badge

Tugay, who left the CHP in June, formally joined the ruling party at a meeting where he sat next to President Erdoğan.

The Turkiye Times Editorial DeskOctober 07, 2026, 11:45 AMUpdated: October 07, 2026, 12:43 PM

İzmir Mayor Cemil Tugay joins AK Party as Erdoğan pins his badge

İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay arrived at the headquarters of the ruling AK Party in Ankara on Wednesday, telling reporters, “I love İzmir very much, may it be for the best.” He sat next to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the party meeting, where he formally joined the AK Party and Erdoğan pinned the party badge on him.

“To İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay, who has joined us: welcome to the AK Party family,” Erdoğan said in his speech at the party’s 2026-2027 lawmakers’ meeting, as Tugay stood to greet the audience.

Tugay at the entrance of AK Party headquarters

Tugay in the courtyard of the party headquarters

Tugay was elected in 2024 on the main opposition CHP ticket with 49.97% of the vote and resigned from the CHP on June 18, continuing as an independent. His move puts İzmir, governed by left-wing parties for about 27 years, under an AK Party mayor for the first time.

Speaking after receiving his badge, Tugay said he had come to understand that “the best politics is service” and that he had served everyone without discrimination during his seven and a half years as a mayor. “The AK Party is the protector of the unprotected,” he said, describing the phrase as Erdoğan’s words.

Cemil Tugay and President Erdoğan at the meeting