Agenda

İzmir switches to the AK Party

İzmir has switched to the AK Party. President Erdoğan pinned the party badge on İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay. At the ceremony, Erdoğan welcomed Tugay to the AK Party family, promised support in every area and wished İzmir well as it embraced the party’s people-centred approach to municipal government.

İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay, who had continued in office as an independent after resigning from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), formally joined the AK Party at a ceremony. President and AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally pinned Tugay’s party badge on him. With this significant switch, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality returned to a centre-right administration after 27 years. “THEY SEE THE AK PARTY AS THE SAFEST PLACE” Speaking at the ceremony, President Erdoğan signalled that new members would continue to join the party. Without naming names, he criticised the leadership style of opposition parties and said mayors were turning to the AK Party to deliver services: “Those who are tired of pressure from party overlords who will not even offer a greeting without a bribe, those who do not want to be subjected to obscene abuse in the middle of the night, and those trying to serve their cities in peace and harmony see the AK Party as the safest place. Those who want to serve their voters rather than, in their own words, insatiable cannibals are once again seeking a solution here. Slandering people with whom they walked side by side until yesterday simply because they refused to accept weak leadership, and then going on to insult them indecently, is not merely disrespectful but plainly immoral.” “FOR US, MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IS ABOUT SERVICE, NOT PERSONAL GAIN” Highlighting the AK Party’s long record and vision in local government, Erdoğan referred to the experience they had gained since 1994. Saying no political movement could compete with their approach to municipal government, he continued: “The AK Party is a party that has written the book on municipal government in Türkiye. We are a movement that, starting locally 32 years ago in 1994 and embracing the wider public, built the national and global on a successful record of municipal government. For others, municipal government may be a source of unearned income, personal advantage or a means of enriching friends and relatives. But for us, it is solely a way to serve the nation, a position of service.” CONGRATULATIONS FOR TUGAY AND A PROMISE OF PEOPLE-CENTRED MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT FOR İZMİR At the end of his speech, President Erdoğan welcomed İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay to the AK Party family and announced that the government would fully support investments in the city. He concluded his remarks on Tugay’s joining the party with these words: “I want to emphasise that we will support him with all our resources in his efforts to serve İzmir, the pearl of the Aegean, and our brothers and sisters in İzmir. May İzmir’s introduction to people-centred municipal government bring good fortune.”