Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was re-elected leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey at the 8th congress held by the party on Sunday in Ankara, in which the current Turkish president promised a profound renewal of the party that he himself founded in 2001, and which has elected a new central executive (MYK) after the event in the Turkish capital.
According to various media and news agencies in Turkey, Erdoğan was re-elected at the congress with the support of 1,574 party delegates. ‘From now on we will carry a greater burden. The people expect solutions from the AK Parti. Given the sad state of the opposition, they are looking to us, to the People’s Alliance, as the solution,’ said the Turkish president. ‘We will not stop. We will continue to work resolutely without losing our passion for serving the people,’ Erdoğan emphasised in his speech, in which he expressed his gratitude for the support received.
‘I expect even more efforts from the women’s branch, which is the locomotive force behind the organisation of our party and has enabled us to reach every home in our country. I also ask our young people, who are the guarantee of our future, to bring all the dynamism of their generation to our party… Our policies are dynamic, our staff may change, but our principles are constant,’ declared Erdoğan, who at this congress faced the challenge of renewing and launching a party in a slump after the historic defeat suffered in the municipal elections a year ago.
Tens of thousands of people travelled to the Turkish capital on Sunday to attend a congress that has been marked by the word ‘renewal’, held under the slogan ‘With white in the name, with light in the future’, in reference to the acronym AK (Adalet ve Kalkınma, ‘Justice and Development’ in Turkish), which in turn represents the word ‘white’ in Turkish. Erdoğan himself emphasised during the congress that the AKP has been a party in constant ‘renewal, change, development and elevation’.
Turkish president announces new reforms
In Ankara, Erdoğan also announced the reform plans that the AK Parti will promote under his mandate and which will lead Turkey into a ‘new era’, focusing on economic development, food security and social policies. ‘We have drawn up a programme of reforms for the Century of Turkey. Thanks to our extensive plan, we will increase the growth potential and efficiency of our country,’ he stressed.
These plans include measures to increase public revenue, improve fiscal equity and implement a social housing programme that has been a constant demand for years so that the most disadvantaged classes can access housing, as well as measures to reduce the price of housing rents.
Other points highlighted by the Turkish president were a reform of the university education system. He also emphasised the importance of tackling the ‘alarming’ decline in the birth rate with programmes and incentives for families and children: ‘We are going to increase our population growth rate and strengthen our demographic structure,’ said the veteran Turkish politician, who also focused part of his speech on the need to draft a new ‘civil constitution’, free from the influence of past military interventions.
During the congress held in Ankara, Erdoğan also welcomed three opposition MPs who have joined the ranks of the AK Parti: Ünal Karaman and Mehmet Salim Ensarioğlu, both deputies who left the İYİ Party, and Serap Yazıcı Özbudun, former deputy of the Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) of former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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