A total of 1,405 delegates has selected the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communications Binali Yıldırım as the new chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) during the second extraordinary congress being held in Ankara’s Arena sports center on Sunday.
Yıldırım replaced Ahmet Davutoğlu — who was AK Party’s chairman since Aug. 28, 2014 — as the new leader of AK Party. President Erdoğan is expected to appointed Yıldırım as the prime minister later on Sunday.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced the extraordinary congress on May 5 and stated that he would not run for the party leadership.
AK Party spokesman Ömer Çelik held a press meeting around 1 p.m. on Thursday and announced that Yıldırım was named as the party’s only chairman candidate.
During its 14 years of rule, AK Party held five ordinary congresses and only one extraordinary congress. 6,000 invitations have been printed for the congress and extensive security measures have been taken around the arena with nearly 5,000 police officers assigned for the event.