Turkish opposition mayor joins Erdogan’s party amid crackdown

ANKARA (Reuters): A mayor from Turkey’s main opposition party joined President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party on Thursday amid a crackdown on the opposition in which 15 mayors have been detained.

Ozlem Cercioglu, mayor of the western city of Aydin since 2009 and previously a lawmaker for the Republican People’s Party (CHP), quit the CHP, citing disagreements with the party administration.

“Despite repeatedly seeking solutions to the problems we face within the CHP, we have unfortunately been unable to reach a resolution. I am no longer on the same path as the CHP,” she said in a post on X.

Later in the day, she joined the AK Party in a ceremony attended by Erdogan along with three of her district mayors, who had also quit the CHP.

Waves of investigations have been launched in recent months into opposition figures including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main political rival, on charges of corruption and links to terrorism.

The CHP denies the allegations and calls them an attempt to eliminate a democratic alternative, a charge the government rejects.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel told reporters, without providing evidence, that AKP officials had threatened Cercioglu with legal investigations into her municipality and arrest unless she joined the ruling party.

AKP deputy chair Hayati Yazici called Ozel’s allegation “completely untrue”.

“Anyone who violates the law or commits a crime would eventually be brought to justice,” he told private broadcaster TV 100.

Speaking at the ceremony, Cercioglu also rejected the claim, saying she was not afraid of any investigation.