Izmir Metropolitan Mayor Cemil Tugay’s decision to join the AKP caused a major stir, bitter disappointment, and protests.
After all, Izmir has long been regarded as a stronghold of left-wing politics. In fact, the city can be analyzed as “a city with center-right leanings that consistently votes for left-wing social democrats because of its opposition to the AKP.” That’s the truth of the matter.. The predominance of a secular way of life has steered Izmir’s voters toward the left. So far, so ordinary. What is extraordinary is the surprise at Tugay’s switch to the AKP. It was hardly new: In practice and in mindset, Tugay had already made the switch months ago. The uproar will continue for some time. Poor candidate choices will be debated, as will the feelings of Izmirians. But in this article, we will look at a dimension somewhat overshadowed by the switch itself.
THE WIFE QUESTION
Cemil Tugay had long been linked to the ruling party. He never directly dismissed such political whispers. He always sidestepped the questions. Only once, early this year, did he deny reports that he would join the AKP. And in doing so, he involved his mother and wife.
He casually said that, should he make such a move, “his mother would disown him, and his wife would divorce him.”
But his wife, Öznur Tugay, was by his side at the ceremony in Ankara at which he was welcomed into the ruling party. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan even invited her on stage, where she stood as her husband received his party badge. She also sang along with him to the songs played at the ceremony.
In a speech that could have been delivered by an AKP veteran, Cemil Tugay praised Erdoğan to the skies. But some who looked closely at the photographs and footage noticed a certain subdued air about Öznur Tugay. Yes, she was singing along and applauding, but she did not seem to be smiling. Who knows? Perhaps that was just the impression. Ultimately, they had come to the ceremony and wore the party emblem without a divorce. The issue here lies with Cemil Tugay himself, who drew Öznur Tugay into the debate by saying, “She would divorce me.” Incidentally, the mother he said would “disown him” was absent from the ceremony. Whether she did or did not, we do not know.
TUGAY’S FUTURE
He and his wife passed the test of the joining ceremony, but Cemil Tugay now faces the question of how he will get along with Izmirians over the remaining two and a half years of his term. Most of those who voted for him have already divorced him on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. After completing his term, it is also said that the AKP will not nominate Tugay for another. There is even talk of a woman being nominated in his place. Shall we call it Cemil Tugay’s fate? The woman question.
