Izmir mayor Cemil Tugay joins ruling AKP after vowing he would never switch sides in boost for Turkish president

The mayor of Izmir, Turkey’s third city and an opposition stronghold, has defected to the ruling AKP in a move hailed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president.

Turkey’s opposition is battling an increasingly intense crackdown, with a barrage of what observers say are politically motivated arrests and lawsuits targeting its mayors and elected officials.