Erdoğan believes new gov’t will prioritize system change

“My legal ties with my party might have been cut on Aug. 27, 2014, when I was elected as the president. But my bonds of love with my party have never been cut and will never been cut,” Erdoğan said in a written message he sent to the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) extraordinary convention. 

His message went beyond a routine congratulatory one as he directly expressed his demands from the next government. “I believe this weird rule that obliged the president to cut ties with the political cadres will be soon removed in this new era as part of efforts to renew the constitution and governance system,” he said. Erdoğan also thanked outgoing AKP chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu while wishing success to the new leader and party management.

Thousands of AKP members and ministers stood in the hall as Erdoğan’s message was read out by Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, who chaired the convention.


‘AKP has just one leader: Erdoğan’
 
In his introductory remarks, Bozdağ stated that the AKP regards Erdoğan as the one and only leader of the ruling party. 

“[The AKP] will continue to be the party of Tayyip as long as our people continue to say ‘The AK Party is the party of Tayyip.’ It’s not possible to think the AK Party is different from our president or our president is different from the AK Party. The AK Party has just one leader, our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” he said. 

The congress hall was full of massive posters of Erdoğan, with videos showing footage of Erdoğan during his time as prime minister and president.