AKP plans to update bylaws ahead of congress

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has begun the process of updating its bylaws under the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, daily Hürriyet reported on Oct. 20.

A committee is expected to be established in the coming days to carry out the revisions, with possible adjustments to the party's founding values, sources within the AKP told the newspaper.

Erdoğan has directed party officials to address "issues that need to be changed and updated" in preparation for the AKP's eighth regular congress scheduled for next April.

"In addition to the changes we will make to the bylaws, we also need to make some changes within ourselves," the sources said.

"Some figure who have withdrawn from politics but still maintain ties to the party should no longer exist. We need to establish a unity of discourse."

The updates come as the AKP moves through the process leading up to the upcoming congress.

While district congresses are currently ongoing, the party aims to begin provincial congresses on Dec. 28.

The AKP has planned the process to span 90 days, with preparations expected to wrap up by the end of next March.

Party officials describe this as a period where the AKP will "grow, strengthen and consolidate its cadres."

The AKP held an extraordinary congress held in October 2023, during which Erdoğan was reelected as the party's leader.

It also saw a significant reshuffle in the AKP's central decision-making body, with 49 members losing their positions and 26 incumbents retaining theirs.

Notably absent from the new management list were figures such as Binali Yıldırım, Nurettin Canikli, Jülide Sarıeroğlu and Mehmet Ali Zengin.