Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calling on AK Party members to be more inclusive during the speech made at the membership ceremony at party headquarters, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Women's Branch plans to "reach out to various groups" to understand the reason for the "inability to convey the party's message."
According to HaberTürk's daily's report, the AK Party Women's Branch head Selva Çam mentioned the steps to be taken in the upcoming period as she also noted that there are changes to be made to the party's Women's Branch administration to reach a wider audience.
Çam indicated that members from civil society groups will be invited to join the Women's Branch's organizations.
As the restructuring of the party is expected ahead of the 2019 municipal and presidential elections, President Erdoğan signaled a more inclusive strategy as he spoke both at AK Party headquarters and also prior to leaving for Russia last week. Erdoğan drew attention to the importance of the AK Party Women's Branch, saying: "All necessary initiatives will be taken to reach the youth and to reach the hearts of all women."
Shortly after Erdoğan's call, Çam laid out the steps to be taken in the upcoming period. "Since the establishment of our party, our president has been giving the Women's Branch great importance. By saying ‘women are the subject of politics' he has made us [women] feel like the subject of politics. … Prior to April 16 we reached out to 31 million voters as the Women's Branch alone. We held gatherings, door-to-door visits and meetings," she said.In regards to the upcoming period, Çam added, "We will include those members of civil society groups as well as other figures relevant to the demographic structure of the region within our Women's Branch's administration to reach out to a wider audience." She also noted that since Ramadan is drawing near at the end of May, there would be door-to-door visits during iftar [fast-breaking]. Underlining that there are to be large gatherings in the upcoming period, including people from all groups, Çam said that iftar tents on the streets would be set up.
