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A mayor who once declared she would return to the Republican People’s Party (CHP) “through the chimney” even if expelled from the party is now crossing over to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Koksal announced she will leave Türkiye’s main opposition CHP and join the ruling AK Party, in one of the most politically symbolic defections from the opposition camp since the 2024 local elections.
Koksal confirmed she would officially join the AK Party during Tuesday’s Expanded Provincial Chairpersons Meeting, rejecting claims that she faced political pressure or legal threats.
“Yes, I made a decision. I am joining the AK Party on Tuesday. There is no threat or pressure behind this decision,” Koksal said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster TV100.
The mayor said she recently held a lengthy meeting with Erdogan, during which the president assured her of political backing.
“The president told me: ‘As a party, we stand behind you. Do not let criticism affect you. Continue your services. We will support you in every way,’” she said.
Koksal also launched unusually sharp criticism against CHP leader Ozgur Ozel and the current party leadership, claiming she had been systematically marginalized inside the party after supporting former CHP chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu during the internal leadership race.
“He never forgot that I voted for Kilicdaroglu,” Koksal said, alleging that party circles wanted to “get rid” of her politically.
Koksal accused CHP officials of isolating her during the 2024 local election campaign and claimed she became the target of coordinated attacks by pro-party social media accounts after disagreements with former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
“This CHP is not our CHP anymore. I can no longer defend theft and corruption. In the past, anyone committing wrongdoing would be expelled from the party. Now everything is being legitimized,” she said.
The Afyonkarahisar mayor also said she told Erdogan during their meeting that the CHP she once belonged to no longer existed.
“I was always against you while I was in CHP, but that CHP no longer exists,” she recalled telling the president.
Koksal announced that Dinar Mayor Veysel Topcu would also resign from CHP and join the AK Party alongside her. She further claimed that seven municipal council members would resign as well, potentially shifting the balance of power in Afyonkarahisar’s municipal council in favor of the AK Party.
The rupture between Koksal and CHP leadership also turned deeply personal in recent days.
CHP Chairman Ozel publicly revealed details of a private conversation with Koksal, saying he had urged her not to leave the party amid controversy surrounding her husband.
“I told her: ‘If necessary, divorce your husband, but do not do this to your party,’” Ozel said in televised remarks, arguing that CHP would continue supporting her politically.
Koksal later responded furiously, accusing Ozel of making her life “hell” and crossing a personal line.
“My husband did not commit theft, corruption, or cheat on me in a hotel,” she said, while also claiming Ozel had sent messages telling her she would eventually “beg for forgiveness.”
Koksal, a lawyer by profession, emerged as one of CHP’s prominent nationalist-oriented politicians during the leadership of Kilicdaroglu.
She previously served as deputy parliamentary group chairwoman and became nationally known after being nominated for Afyonkarahisar mayor by Kilicdaroglu.
Her relations with the new CHP leadership reportedly deteriorated after Ozel replaced Kilicdaroglu as party chairman following the CHP congress in late 2023.
Koksal also drew national attention shortly before the March 2024 local elections after saying that Afyonkarahisar Municipality’s doors would be open to all political parties “except DEM Party,” referring to the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
The remarks triggered backlash within CHP ranks.
Imamoglu responded at the time by saying: “Either she will find herself another job or another party.”
Although Ozel later described the remarks as a “slip of the tongue,” Koksal doubled down on her comments publicly, exposing growing ideological fractures inside the opposition party.
Ironically, Koksal had once been among the harshest critics of former CHP lawmaker Mehmet Ali Celebi after he defected to the AK Party.
She also previously dismissed speculation about her own possible defection by saying, “I was born CHP. Even if they throw me out through the door, I would come back through the chimney.”
Koksal’s move comes amid a broader wave of municipal defections benefiting Erdogan’s ruling party after the March 31, 2024, local elections.
More than 70 mayors from various opposition parties have reportedly joined the AK Party in recent months, with more than 10 of them coming from CHP backgrounds, according to Turkish media reports.
Since the local elections, at least seven CHP-elected mayors had already joined the AK Party before Koksal’s announcement, including:
With Koksal’s participation, the number of CHP-origin mayors switching to the AK Party is expected to rise further.
Another name closely watched in Ankara political circles is Mesut Ozarslan, the mayor of Ankara’s Kecioren district, who recently resigned from CHP amid mounting speculation he could also join the ruling party.
Ozarslan’s case carries symbolic importance because Kecioren, long considered a conservative stronghold aligned with the AK Party and nationalist movement, was among the opposition’s most notable gains in the 2024 local elections.
Turkish media reports have increasingly linked Ozarslan’s name with a possible transfer alongside Koksal. However, some Ankara political circles have claimed the ruling party has been reluctant to formally open its doors to him.
Inside CHP circles, the defections are widely interpreted as part of what party members describe as the government’s “multi-dimensional pressure strategy” against opposition municipalities.
According to Turkish media reports, some CHP officials argue the AK Party aims to deepen internal fractures within the opposition and reinforce a public perception that CHP is consumed by infighting and incapable of governing.
Others inside the opposition, however, say the departures cannot be explained solely by government pressure, arguing the CHP leadership’s failure to accommodate different ideological factions has accelerated the split.
AK Party circles, meanwhile, reportedly view the transfers as politically valuable even if they do not immediately translate into votes.
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According to ruling party insiders, the defections reinforce the perception that Erdogan’s party remains Türkiye’s main political center of gravity despite being in power for more than two decades.
Party strategists also see the transfers as symbolically damaging for the opposition’s morale, particularly when prominent figures long associated with CHP choose to align with the ruling bloc.
The defections have also unfolded amid mounting legal pressure on opposition-run municipalities following the March 2024 local elections.
Imamoglu, widely seen as one of President Erdogan’s main political rivals, was suspended from office after his arrest in 2025, while multiple CHP district mayors in Istanbul and other municipalities across Türkiye have faced investigations, detentions or suspensions in corruption-related probes.
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