Cemil Tugay

Cemil Tugay (born 13 June 1967) is a Turkish medical surgeon and politician who served as the 26th Mayor of Izmir City since April 2024. A former member of the social democratic Republican People's Party since 2010 until 2026, when elected he succeeded Tunç Soyer from the same political background.

Biography Tugay was born in 1967 and studied at Ege University Faculty of Medicine from 1983 to 1989. Later, he went to work as a general practitioner.

In 2015, Tugay became involved in politics, working on electoral issues for the Karşıyaka District Executive Board.

In 2019, Tugay was nominated as a mayoral candidate for İzmir's Karşıyaka district.

In late 2023, Tugay was suggested as the candidate for mayor of Izmir, over the current incumbent. The announcement of his candidacy led to debate within the party, due to concerns about his relationship with certain companies close to the government. On 1 April 2024, Tugay was elected as mayor.

In June 2025, 23,000 Izmir municipal workers halted work for a week-long strike over contract negotiations with the city. In response, Tugay announced the city would enact forced layoffs.

On June 18th he resigned from his party (CHP) citing the disagreements with the government friendly head of the party which was installed recently.