ISTANBUL (AP) — The mayor of Turkey’s third-largest city, Izmir, defected to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ’s ruling party on Wednesday, giving it the mayoralty of the opposition stronghold for the first time.
Izmir had been led by the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, for more than two decades until Mayor Cemil Tugay joined Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, at a ceremony at its headquarters in Ankara.
In a brief speech after Erdogan pinned a party badge on his lapel, Tugay described the AKP as the “voice of the voiceless” and pledged to revitalize and rebuild Izmir as the western port city’s first AKP mayor.
Tugay, who won the 2024 election with 49% of votes, resigned from the CHP in June after the party was hit by a legal case that removed its leadership.
The court’s decision in May saw droves of CHP members leave, with many joining the New Party established by deposed CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, which surpassed the CHP as the largest opposition party. Tugay, however, remained as an independent and denied plans to join the AKP.
Izmir’s municipal assembly remains under the control of a New Party majority.
Police set up barriers in Izmir’s main square Wednesday after the opposition called for people to protest Tugay’s defection. They later blocked protesters, many calling for Tugay's resignation, from marching along a main street, the pro-opposition Halk TV news channel reported.
“The people of Izmir don't want Cemil Tugay,” said the New Party's provincial head, Cagatay Guc, who was leading the protest. “We want him to resign.”
Since 2024, when the CHP strengthened its grip on many major cities, including the capital Ankara and Istanbul, municipalities held by the party have been targeted by waves of criminal investigations that have seen hundreds of CHP members jailed.
The most prominent case involves Ekrem Imamoglu, the metropolitan mayor of Istanbul and the opposition’s favored challenger to Erdogan in the next presidential election. He has been behind bars since March last year.
Imamoglu faces several legal cases, with the main one alleging corruption within the Istanbul municipality. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 2,300 years in total.
While critics claim the court cases are politically motivated and aimed at weakening the opposition, the government insists the country’s judiciary is independent and free from political influence.
FILE - Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech during a campaign rally ahead of nationwide municipality elections, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
CAIRO (AP) — Saudi officials say 3 people killed in attacks at airports as Iran-backed Houthi rebels claim new attacks on kingdom.
THIS IS AN APNewsAlert. Check back for updates. AP's earlier story is below.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed new attacks on airports and military facilities in neighboring Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the kingdom is pulled deeper into the latest front in the Iran war, which also threatens a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
As the Saudi capital is targeted again, new cage-like fences have been erected this week around fuel tanks and other equipment of the Saudi state-run Aramco oil company near the Riyadh airport. The kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, has seen oil and military assets targeted in recent days.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said on social media that the rebels launched ballistic missiles and drones against King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said they intercepted a ballistic missile north of Riyadh. Flights were briefly disrupted, according to Flightradar24.
Now Saudi Arabia and allied Yemeni forces have launched a major ground and air offensive aimed at retaking territory that the rebels seized a month ago along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast and on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Those positions gave the Houthis better surveillance as they pursue a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping. On Monday, officials said forces of the Saudi-led coalition recaptured several key areas around the strait, through which about 12% of global trade transits.
“The Houthis believe that they can maximize Saudi economic costs and compel Saudi Arabia to surrender to Houthi demands by striking civilian infrastructure, such as oil facilities and airports,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in an analysis.
The Houthi spokesperson said they also targeted Abha airport in Saudi Arabia, a frequent target of rebel drones and missiles. The rebels also claimed to hit an air base in the city of Khamis Mushait and two military bases in Najran and Asir. All are in the southwest, near the Yemeni border.
Inside Yemen, fighting has centered in and around the crucial town of Dhubab, some 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) south of the port city of Mokha that the rebels seized last month, according to both the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government.
Two Houthi officials said Wednesday that the rebels had regained control of key areas of Yemen’s southwestern coast, including Dhubab and the nearby village of Al-Jadid, as well as the Bab el-Mandeb strait, after intensified fighting with Saudi-backed coalition forces.
A government official denied the claims, which The Associated Press could not independently verify.
The Houthis also claimed that Saudi forces had targeted “civilian assets” over the past 24 hours in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as Taiz, Jawf and other active fronts, including Saada and Marib.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said, without providing evidence, that fighter jets used in the attacks had taken off from Khamis Mushait and Taif in Saudi Arabia, while missiles had been launched from Najran and Jizan. The rebels have repeatedly claimed attacks on those Saudi cities in recent weeks.
Al-Malki has vowed “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are “eliminated.” The coalition has said 100 fighter jets were providing support. Another aim is to liberate Sanaa, Yemen’s rebel-controlled capital.
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi criticized Saudi Arabia over support for Yemen’s government forces in the latest escalation with the Houthis, which has shattered a truce reached four years ago.
Rebels are ready to support Palestinians in every way they can in case of “any new round of escalation” with Israel, al-Houthi said in a speech Wednesday expressing solidarity with Gaza on the third anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The offensive began after the rebels seized Turbah town on a main road linking the provincial capital of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, with Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government. Officials have said U.S. support has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning.
The escalation has revived Yemen’s civil war after a four-year ceasefire. Almost 1,000 people have been killed in the latest fighting, with over 200,000 displaced, according to the United Nations. Cholera and malnutrition cases are increasing, access to trauma care is more difficult and some hospitals have shortages of surgical and other supplies, the World Health Organization said this week.
The Houthis also said they launched a missile strike early Wednesday against Aden. Explosions were heard by an AP journalist around 2 a.m.
The rebels hit a military camp close to the city's airport with ballistic missiles, Saree said. Security authorities in Aden said the Houthis targeted the airport with two missiles, with no casualties. The airport is close to the seat of government.
One missile hit close to the runway just before the scheduled landing of a flight from Cairo, the Human Rights Ministry said. Flight 603, operated by Yemen’s flagship airline, landed safely in Aden at 3:30 a.m., according to the flight tracking platform FlightAware.
The ministry said the missile hit as other passengers were waiting to board their flight to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.
Houthi supporters chant slogans during an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Houthi supporters attend an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
A Houthi supporter carries a rifle while attending an armed tribal rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Displaced Yemeni women wait to receive aid supplies at the Al-Salam camp in Dar Saad district, Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
An aerial view shows the Al-Salam camp, which shelters displaced Yemenis, in Dar Saad district, Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A displaced Yemeni reads a newspaper at the Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran on the western outskirts of Aden, Yemen, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
