Mayor of Turkey's secular stronghold Izmir joins Erdogan's party
By Ece Toksabay and Huseyin HayatseverANKARA, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The mayor of Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city and a bastion of its secular opposition, joined President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) on Wednesday, amid a crackdown on the opposition in which dozens of mayors have been jailed.Cemil Tugay, elected mayor in 2024 as a candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) before quitting in June, formally joined the AKP at a ceremony in Ankara, handing Erdogan's party the mayoralty of a city it has never managed to win at the ballot box.
