Protests in major Turkish city after mayor defects to Erdogan party
More than 1,000 protesters gathered in Turkish opposition stronghold Izmir on Wednesday, angered by the defection of the city's mayor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP.
The move was a huge symbolic victory for the Turkish leader, who has long wanted to control the secular resort city of 4.5 million people on Turkey's Aegean coast which has been held by the opposition for nearly 30 years.
Mayor Cemil Tugay's decision to join the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) was announced by Erdogan at a meeting in Ankara where he personally welcomed the mayor in a party-like atmosphere broadcast live on TV.
The scene sparked anger in Izmir, Turkey's third city, where police barricaded the city's main squares ahead of an evening protest, an AFP correspondent said.
As night fell, a crowd waving Turkish flags gathered by the barriers around Cumhuriyet Square, chanting "Tugay, resign!". They were watched by riot police and at least four water cannon trucks.
Some demonstrators carried a makeshift coffin emblazoned with the words: "Politically dead" referring to Tugay's political career.
"This is a bad day for Izmir ... Taking votes from the people then breaking away like this is irresponsible," said 60-year-old Melihat Aggul Ozdogan.
"The vote I cast was wasted," she told AFP.
"We don't want a government we did not choose. When we elected Tugay, we voted for a party," added another protester Yasemin Koseer, 51.
"We do not want AKP to impose its rule on Izmir. People across the country have had enough of the government."
Addressing the crowds, Catatay Guc, head of the Izmir branch of the main opposition Yeni party, challenged Tugay.
"You have been dismissed, Cemil Tugay, you are not the mayor. You sit there with the votes of the nation, but today this nation has removed you from that position," he said.
"Today you are a big zero in the eyes of the nation."
- 'Disregarding the people's will' -
Taking the mayorship of Izmir, which has been governed by opposition social democrats since 1999, is a major coup for Erdogan.
But it does not mean the AKP now controls the city's opposition dominated municipal council.
Around a dozen cultural figures resigned in protest, among them the artistic director of Izmir's theatres, nine from the municipal theatre advisory board and a poet who runs the Izmir International Literature Festival, BirGun newspaper said.
The defection comes as Turkey's opposition battles an increasing crackdown, with a barrage of arrests and lawsuits targeting mayors and elected officials widely seen as political.
It began about six months after the Republican People's Party (CHP) -- at the time the main opposition force -- won a resounding victory in the March 2024 local elections, trouncing the AKP.
Since then, six of the party's provincial mayors have been arrested, including Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, and 29 of its district mayors, 13 of them in Istanbul, independent news website Diken said.
And at least 17 opposition mayors have switched to the AKP, Medyascope reported on September 30.
- 'Switching out of fear' -
Political analyst Berk Esen said Tugay's defection was part of the "AKP's strategy to reverse its major defeat in the 2024 local elections through force and repression".
Opposition mayors were not changing ranks because they had changed ideology, many were doing it "out of fear", Esen said.
"We've had tens of opposition mayors arrested, many others threatened. Some are facing the threat of prosecution, so against the backdrop of increasing judicial repression, going back nearly two years, some opposition mayors have decided to change ranks.
"And Cemil Tugay is a clear example of that," the analyst added.
Tugay became mayor in April 2024 but in June this year resigned from CHP after its leadership was replaced in a controversial court ruling.
Forced out of the party he led, Ozgur Ozel left and set up Yeni Parti, effectively replacing the CHP as Turkey's main opposition.
But Tugay did not follow Ozel, saying he would remain independent and sparking rumours he planned to defect.
Within Izmir's 184-member city council, Yeni Parti has 91 seats, followed by the AKP with 38 and CHP with 35. Tugay's defection increases AKP to 39 seats.
F.Peeters--RTC
