The resignation of Ankara’s eccentric mayor capped weeks of speculation and more city leaders are thought to be on their way out, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now suggesting the purge could spread to municipalities controlled by the main opposition party.
Ankara’s Melih Gokcek is one of six mayors from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) forced out by Erdogan since September as the president seeks to combat what he calls “fatigue” within the party. Previously, the government forcibly removed almost all of the 102 mayors belonging to the pro-Kurdish opposition, appointing unelected administrators in their stead.