Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Köksal will resign from the CHP to join the ruling AKP, several reports said.
Sinan Burhan, editor-in-chief of Millet News Agency, broke the news, stating, “I trust my sources. I am insistent. Burcu Köksal will join the AKP soon.”
CHP supporters gathered in front of the Afyonkarahisar Municipality to protest Köksal, 46, a prominent figure from the CHP’s nationalist wing. CHP Afyonkarahisar Provincial Chair Hasan Karadeniz told the crowd that neither local nor national leadership has been able to contact the mayor for 48 hours. “She has not answered her phones, has not returned calls, and has not responded to notes,” Karadeniz said.
The situation recalls the defection of Aydın Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu in August 2025. Çerçioğlu had also remained silent and ignored calls before officially joining the AKP during the party's 24th anniversary ceremony, where her badge was pinned by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
CHP Deputy Chair Gökan Zeybek was among the first CHP officials to speak on the potential move. “If she does such a thing, she cannot show her face in public,” Zeybek said. He referenced the political fallout faced by Çerçioğlu, claiming her poll numbers plummeted after her defection. “She will become unable to look people in the eye or walk the streets,” he added.
Zeybek also questioned the ideological shift, noting that Köksal served as a CHP Deputy Group Chair only two years ago. “If she is going to the AKP, we must remind her of the speeches she made in Parliament. What did she say about the AKP? What did she criticize?” Zeybek said.
CHP Group Deputy Chair Murat Emir confirmed that the party still has no active communication with Köksal as the crisis continues.
According to TGRT Haber, Köksal is expected to officially join the AKP during a meeting of provincial chairs on May 12.
The report said that Mesut Özaslan, the Mayor of Ankara’s Keçiören district who resigned from the CHP in February, will also join the ruling party. Erdoğan is expected to personally pin the party badges on both mayors.
