On the 23rd anniversary of the establishment of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), senior party figures engaged in self-criticism, accusing the AKP of abandoning its guiding principles promoting the improvement of democracy and the welfare of the people and turning into a party pursuing oppressive policies.
The AKP was founded by Erdoğan and a group of conservative politicians on August 14, 2001. Erdoğan and some of the other co-founders were members of the Islamist Virtue Party (FP), which was closed down by the Constitutional Court in June 2001 for being a “focal point of anti-secular activities.”
Erdoğan and his allies moderated their Islamist rhetoric after setting up the party, viewed with suspicion by Turkey’s secular establishment, to project a broader conservative image more appealing to the Turkish public as well as to secular segments of the population.
The AKP received 34 percent of the vote nationwide in the 2002 parliamentary elections, and Erdoğan became prime minister in 2003 after a political ban was lifted in parliament.
The party, which promised to expand freedoms, improve the welfare of the people, implement the necessary reforms required for Turkey’s EU membership bid and fight against corruption, poverty and bans, mostly acted in line with its goals in its first decade in power and was appreciated by people from various ideological and political backgrounds.
However, things began to change over time, and Erdoğan and his party are now accused of having established one-man rule, especially after Turkey’s transition to a presidential system of governance in 2017, which granted Erdoğan vast powers and decreased parliament’s authority.
Erdoğan and the AKP are today held responsible for widespread corruption accompanied by economic deterioration with inflation over 60 percent, unemployment of more than 9 percent, a constantly rising cost of living and an oppressive environment where the slightest criticism of the government can be used as a pretext to send people to jail.
Former AKP lawmaker Orhan Miroğlu said on X on Wednesday that the AKP is going through “weird times” these days, as it has deviated from its guiding principles and that those AKP members who care about Turkey and not their personal interests are in a difficult situation.
Miroğlu said it is high time for the AKP to examine its change for the worse over the years and see that Turkey is need of its guiding principles more than ever, adding that the opposition parties are far from seeing this need.
According to Miroğlu, the exclusionary nationalism gradually adopted by the AKP does not benefit the party but rather helps radical nationalism and thus needs to be abandoned.
The AKP, which was at odds with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in the past, established a political alliance with the party in 2018 that continues today and has adopted a harsh, nationalist discourse, disappointing people from different ethnicities and views.
Yasin Aktay, a former advisor to Erdoğan, said in his column in the pro-government Yeni Şafak daily on Wednesday that the AKP is at a significant crossroads and will decide whether it will be able to diagnose its weaknesses and take the necessary steps to heal them.
“Will this party, which carried out revolutionary-like reforms in all areas in the country, show the necessary determination and the skill to take the country to the future in line with its own principles?” Aktay asked, adding that there are many problems in healthcare, education and the bureaucracy that need urgent action.
Another former AKP lawmaker, Mehmet Metiner, accused some in the party ranks of turning the AKP from the “party of the people” to the “party of the state,” in the process dragging the party down to political failure by cutting off its bonds with the nation.
For the first time since its establishment, the AKP suffered its worst defeat in the March 31 local elections, garnering only 35.4 percent of the nationwide vote, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) emerged as the leading party for the first time in 47 years, securing 37.7 percent.
According to Metiner, the AKP should immediately end the domination of a “bureaucracy-like” mentality and part ways with politicians who behave like “political oligarchs” seeing themselves as the owners of the state.
“The AKP should reposition itself as the party of the people,” Metiner said.
Bülent Arınç, one of the co-founders of the AKP who served in senior government positions but is not currently involved in politics, acknowledged in a message on X that the party is experiencing some problems today and has been unsuccessful in various areas as shown in the results of the local elections.
Arınç said although he sees pessimism among the people about the AKP’s return to its former performance and successful days, he believes that it is only the AKP that can overcome its problems and change for the better.
“I don’t have any concerns about this. Change will take place, wounds will be healed and the parts suffering from gangrene will be amputated. The AKP’s sacred march will continue, and its journey will not remain unfinished,” said Arınç as he called on all AKP supporters to set aside their differences and work together to make this change possible.
Meanwhile, President Erdoğan, who spoke at an event on Wednesday marking the AKP’s anniversary at the party’s Congress Center in Ankara, called on party members who feel exhausted to take a break from work rather than doing a lethargic job.
He described his party’s 23-year-long existence a “success story” and offered thanks to his party’s members, supporters and political ally, MHP, for their support.
Erdoğan said he believes the AKP will remain in power for many years to come.