The revision and reshuffle period within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has begun and is expected to continue until the 2019 elections, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım are expected to meet following their visit to Brussels to finalize the new Cabinet members.
President Erdoğan signaled the changes within both the AK Party and the government ahead of his visit to Brussels for the NATO Summit earlier this week when addressing the media at the airport prior to departure. "We will determine our Central Executive Board (MYK) members with the assessments made following the return from my visit [from Brussels]… we will closely monitor our roadmap for the ministries as well," Erdoğan stated.
Erdoğan, ahead of his NATO Summit visit, told media members that a roadmap toward 2019 is to be made once he has returned from Brussels. "Once the MYK is determined, I will request a roadmap that will last for sixth months and continue on until the end of the year from my ministers, laying out the steps to be taken toward the future. This roadmap will not last for six months, it will be a roadmap that will continue until 2019 and each minister and ministry will share their goals and plans for the future with their coworkers. With the teams I will gather at both the Presidency and the AK Party, the roadmap of the ministries will be closely followed… We will discuss these matters with vice chairman Binali (Yıldırım)," Erdoğan added. While the changes to the AK Party administration are set for next week, the meeting between Erdoğan and Yıldırım is also expected next week in an effort to determine the new cabinet.
The president's return to the post of chairman is set to reshape the party organization and the cabinet as the party's new Central Executive Committee and Central Decision Board (MKYK) has excluded 19 former members of the board. AK Party municipalities as well as provincial organization are to experience similar revisions since the party's administrative bodies have prepared a comprehensive assessment report that was presented to President Erdoğan. The elimination process within these organizations is set to begin with district administrations in June and will continue until mid-2018. Also, through the recent amendments made to the bylaws of the AK Party, last Sunday at the extraordinary congress, Prime Minister Yıldırım has become the party's second-in-command by becoming vice chairman and was later elected as parliamentary group chairman during a closed parliamentary group meeting of the AK Party on Wednesday.