03.08.2026 12:02
The mayors of Tuzla and Çekmeköy, along with the Deputy Mayor of Şile, have switched to the AK Party. President Erdoğan personally pinned the badges on the mayors.
Hot hours are underway in Istanbul politics. Tuzla Mayor Eren Ali Bingöl, Çekmeköy Mayor Orhan Çerkez, and Şile Deputy Mayor Sacit Terzi, all from the CHP, resigned from their party and joined the AK Party. The badges for the three names were personally pinned by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the AK Party Istanbul Provincial Advisory Council Meeting.
STRIKING MESSAGE FROM ERDOĞAN In his speech before the badge ceremony, Erdoğan said, "Moral superiority and psychological superiority are here, under this roof. Today, on your behalf, I say 'welcome, you have brought joy' to our mayors and council members who have joined the great AK Party family. I want to emphasize that we will always be by their side in their efforts to serve their districts."
"THE AK PARTY IS A BOOK OF TURKEY" Saying in his speech, "Look, we are not only the largest political movement in terms of membership numbers but also in terms of social representation," Erdoğan stated, "We look at all 86 million with the same perspective, embracing each citizen with the same affection without any discrimination. That is why we say, pay attention to this expression, the AK Party is a book of Turkey. That is why we say there is a page for everyone here, a place for everyone's story. When we founded the AK Party 25 years ago, we built our politics on these fundamental principles. For 25 years, we have been pursuing politics in line with these principles."
BINGÖL HAD CRITICIZED IBB Tuzla Mayor Eren Ali Bingöl, who was elected from the CHP in the 2024 local elections, had criticized the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) on his social media account, saying, "As I have been trying to tell you for some time, 50,000 Tuzla residents are at risk of having their homes demolished. For two years, we have made great efforts to prevent this issue from reaching this point, but unfortunately, we have made no progress in solving the problem."
Çekmeköy Mayor Orhan Çerkez Tuzla Mayor Eren Ali Bingöl Şile Deputy Mayor Sacit Terzi