The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has met citizens in 527 districts and 43 provinces so far as part of its “Türkiye meetings,” where senior members are touring the country ahead of its major congress expected to reshuffle the party.
The AK Party has intensified its preparations for its eighth major ordinary congress since its inception 23 years ago and its first since 2021.
AK Party delegates will assemble for the major congress in May next year where the party elects its leader or leadership organs and determines its policy and agenda. During the congress process, the ruling party will refresh its cadres, most notably the Central Executive Committee and Central Decision Board (MKYK), which has 110 seats.
The AK Party members have met with dozens of opinion leaders, pensioners, youths, women, farmers, veterans and relatives of martyred soldiers since kicking off the process on Sept. 6. They also visited households and shopkeepers, vocational unions and representatives of agriculture and industry sectors.
The AK Party delegates have hosted 5,700 of the Türkiye meetings so far and are slated to meet citizens in Izmir, Sakarya, Sivas and Kilis provinces on Tuesday.
The meetings, which will conclude by the end of September, are meant to determine the AK Party’s road map with reports that will be shaped by the political landscape across provinces.
Party Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who pledged a change in the party after losses in the March 31 municipal elections, renewed the pledge at the party’s anniversary event on Aug. 14, saying they would act in line with the spirit of a new era. He urged those in the party “who felt tired” to give up their seats and said they always have a place for new people ready to serve the nation and embrace the values of the party.
The aim is to renew cadres with colleagues “befitting the profile of each province.”
Although it is casually labeled as “Islamist” or “conservative” by its critics, the AK Party became a staple of Turkish politics with its all-embracing politics when it was launched more than two decades ago.
Voters who endorsed left-wing or right-wing parties of the yesteryear and were disillusioned with the tumultuous era of unstable coalition governments carried the party to its first victory.
In the ensuing years, the party strengthened its ranks with new transfers, including prominent politicians who were once its opponents, including several from its main rival the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Its ties with disadvantaged communities as well as communities who were deprived of their rights by the past governments such as Kurds, cemented the party’s place in politics.
