Turkey’s ruling AKP to hold regular congress in August

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Fresh from its June 24 election victory, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will hold its sixth regular grand congress on August 18, a party spokesperson said on June 29.

“It was agreed to hold the congress on Saturday, Aug. 18,” Mahir Ünal told reporters during a meeting of the AKP's highest decision-making body, the Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK), in the capital Ankara.

The AKP normally holds its grand congresses once every three years. The last was in September 2015.

In May 2017, the AKP held an extraordinary congress following the historic approval of a raft of constitutional changes that April.

At the congress, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was reelected the party’s head.

Last Sunday, Erdoğan won an absolute majority in the presidential election with 52.5 percent of the vote, besting his closest rival Muharrem İnce, who got 30.6 percent, according to unofficial results.

In the parliamentary polls, the People's Alliance including the AKP won 53.6 percent of the vote, while the Nation Alliance including the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) got 33.9 percent.