Justice and Development Party (Turkey)

The AK Party was established by a wide range of politicians of various political parties and a number of new politicians in 2001. The core of the party was formed from the reformist faction of the Islamist Virtue Party, including people such as Abdullah Gül and Bülent Arınç, while a second founding group consisted of members of the social conservative Motherland Party who had been close to Turgut Özal, such as Cemil Çiçek and Abdülkadir Aksu.{{Cite web|title=Erdoğan AKP'nin genleriyle oynadı|url=http://haber.gazetevatan.com/0/122728/4/Yazarlar/73|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317052525/http://haber.gazetevatan.com/0/122728/4/Yazarlar/73|archive-date=17 March 2012|access-date=24 March 2011}} Historically the party was described as liberal conservative,{{Cite book|title=Turkey between Nationalism and Globalization|first=Riva|last=Kastoryano|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page=97}} conservative liberal,{{refn|{{cite book|title=Sexualities in World Politics|publisher=Routledge|page=126|first=Manuela|last=Picq|year=2015}}{{cite book|first=Ayse|last=Bugra|title=New Capitalism in Turkey: The Relationship between Politics, Religion and Business|year=2014|page=49|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing}}{{cite book|first=Birol|last=Yesilada|title=Islamization of Turkey under the AK Party Rule|page=63|publisher=Routledge|year=2013}}}} economically liberal,{{cite book|title=On the Road to EU Membership: The Economic Transformation of Turkey|publisher=Brussels University Press|year=2011|page=63|first=Selen Sarisoy|last=Guerin}}{{cite book|first=Ayse|last=Bugra|title=New Capitalism in Turkey: The Relationship between Politics, Religion and Business|year=2014|page=60|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing}} pro-European,{{Cite news |date=2022-05-13 |title=When democratic spin conceals a descent into dictatorship |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/ff757408-d955-433b-af8d-f58085998c1b |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/ff757408-d955-433b-af8d-f58085998c1b |archive-date=10 December 2022 |access-date=2022-05-13|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web |title=Are the fortunes of Turkey's AK Party on the wane? |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/global-extremes/are-the-fortunes-of-turkeys-akp-on-the-wane/ |access-date=2022-05-13 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}} and center-right.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13569770410001701233&ved=2ahUKEwi3h-up0-DxAhVzgf0HHfQtCmgQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1LCaXIU5XyicT_dv4DMXsW|doi = 10.1080/13569770410001701233|title = Center-right politics in Turkey after the November 2002 general election: Neo-liberalism with a Muslim face|year = 2004|last1 = Coşar|first1 = Simten|last2 = Özman|first2 = Aylin|journal = Contemporary Politics|volume = 10|pages = 57–74|s2cid = 143771719|url-access = subscription}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey/Rise-of-the-AKP-in-the-21st-century&ved=2ahUKEwj-5_r20-DxAhWOg_0HHRgYBrAQFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1Z_vxFoBjXeg-Ej4jw9FOb|title=Turkey | Location, Geography, People, Economy, Culture, & History|date=14 June 2023}}

Some members of the True Path Party, such as Hüseyin Çelik and Köksal Toptan, joined the AK Party. Some members, such as Kürşad Tüzmen or Ertuğrul Günay, had nationalist or center-left backgrounds respectively, while representatives of the nascent, more clearly anti-capitalist 'Muslim left' current were largely excluded.{{Cite web|title=Erdoğan AK Parti'nin genleriyle oynadı|url=http://haber.gazetevatan.com/0/122728/4/Yazarlar/73|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317052525/http://haber.gazetevatan.com/0/122728/4/Yazarlar/73|archive-date=17 March 2012|access-date=24 March 2011}} In addition, a large number of people joined a political party for the first time, such as Ali Babacan, Nimet Baş, Egemen Bağış and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

{{See also|Secularism in Turkey}}

Controversies over whether the party remains committed to secular principles enshrined in the Turkish constitution have dominated Turkish politics since 2002. Turkey's constitution established the country as a secular state and prohibits any political parties that promote Islamism or shariah law.

Since coming to power, the party has brought about tighter regulations on abortion and higher taxes on alcohol consumption, leading to allegations that it is covertly undermining Turkish secularism. Some activists, commentators, opponents and government officials have accused the party of Islamism. The Justice and Development Party has faced two "closure cases" (attempts to officially ban the party, usually for Islamist practices) in 2002 and 2008.

Just 10 days before the national elections of 2002, Turkey's chief prosecutor, Sabih Kanadoğlu, asked the Turkish constitutional court to close the Justice and Development Party, which was leading in the polls at that time. The chief prosecutor charged the Justice and Development Party with abusing the law and justice. He based his case on the fact that the party's leader had been banned from political life for reading an Islamist poem, and thus the party had no standing in elections. The European Commission had previously criticized Turkey for banning the party's leader from participating in elections.{{cite news|title=Turkey mulls banning leading party before elections|url=http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/turkey-mulls-banning-leading-party-elections/article-111091|date=23 October 2002|publisher=EurActiv|access-date=15 February 2011|archive-date=12 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512070624/http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/turkey-mulls-banning-leading-party-elections/article-111091|url-status=dead}}

File:Protect Your Republic Protest - 1 (2007-04-14).jpg took place in 2007 in support of the Kemalist reforms, particularly state secularism and democracy, against the perceived Islamization of Turkey under the ruling Justice and Development Party.]]

The party again faced a closure trial in 2008 brought about by the lifting of a long-standing university ban on headscarves.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/30/turkey.nato1|title=Turkey's governing party avoids being shut down for anti-secularism |author=Robert Tait|newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=7 June 2015|date=30 July 2008}} At an international press conference in Spain, Erdoğan answered a question of a journalist by saying, "What if the headscarf is a symbol? Even if it were a political symbol, does that give [one the] right to ban it? Could you bring prohibitions to symbols?" These statements led to a joint proposal of the Justice and Development Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party for changing the constitution and the law to lift a ban on women wearing headscarves at state universities.

Soon afterwards, Turkey's chief prosecutor, Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, asked the Constitutional Court of Turkey to close down the party on charges of violating the separation of religion and state in Turkey.{{cite news |url=http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-634073 |title=From landmark success to closure: AK Party's journey |work=Turkish Daily News |access-date=11 August 2008 |date=22 July 2008 |first=Izgi |last=Gungor }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{cite news|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=136476|access-date=16 November 2008|title=Closure case against ruling party creates shockwaves|date=15 March 2008|work=Today's Zaman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421214216/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=136476|archive-date=21 April 2008}}
{{cite news|url=http://i.milliyet.com.tr/akpsavunma/default.aspx?ver=59|access-date=4 September 2008|title=Full text of testimony|work=Milliyet|language=tr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512171455/http://i.milliyet.com.tr/akpsavunma/default.aspx?ver=59|archive-date=12 May 2011|url-status=dead}} The closure request failed by only one vote, as only six of the 11 judges ruled in favor, with seven required; however, 10 out of 11 judges agreed that the Justice and Development Party had become "a center for anti-secular activities", leading to a loss of 50% of the state funding for the party.Today's Zaman, 19 August 2013, [http://todayszaman.com/news-323934-ak-party-to-ask-for-retrial-by-constitutional-court.html AK Party to ask for retrial by Constitutional Court] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820065944/http://todayszaman.com/news-323934-ak-party-to-ask-for-retrial-by-constitutional-court.html |date=20 August 2013 }}

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The party has won pluralities in the seven most recent legislative elections, those of 2002, 2007, 2011, June 2015, November 2015, 2018 and 2023. The party held a majority of seats for 13 years, but lost it in June 2015, only to regain it in the snap election of November 2015 but then lose it again in 2018. Its past electoral success has been mirrored in the three local elections held since the party's establishment, coming first in 2004, 2009 and 2014 respectively. However, the party lost most of Turkey's biggest cities including Istanbul and Ankara in 2019 local elections, which has been attributed to the Turkish economic crisis, accusations of authoritarianism, as well as alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis.

The AK Party won a sweeping victory in the 2002 elections, which saw every party previously represented in the Grand National Assembly ejected from the chamber. In the process, it won a two-thirds majority of seats, becoming the first Turkish party in 11 years to win an outright majority. Erdoğan, as the leader of the biggest party in parliament, would have been normally given the task to form a cabinet.

However, according to the Turkish Constitution Article 109 the prime ministers had to be also a representative of the Turkish Parliament. Erdoğan, who was banned from holding any political office after a 1994 incident in which he read a poem deemed pro-Islamist by judges, was therefore not. As a result, Gül became prime minister.

It survived the crisis over the 2003 invasion of Iraq despite a massive back bench rebellion where over a hundred AK Party MPs joined those of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in parliament to prevent the government from allowing the United States to launch a Northern offensive in Iraq from Turkish territory. Later, Erdoğan's ban was lifted with the help of the CHP and Erdoğan became prime minister by being elected to the parliament after a by-election in Siirt.

The AK Party has undertaken structural reforms, and during its rule Turkey has seen rapid growth and an end to its three decade long period of high inflation rates. Inflation had fallen to 8.8% by 2004.

Influential business publications such as The Economist consider the AK Party's government the most successful in Turkey in decades.{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9116747 |access-date=22 July 2008 |title=The battle for Turkey's soul (Democracy v secularism in Turkey) |date=3 May 2007 |newspaper=The Economist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812111802/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2007/05/03/the-battle-for-turkeys-soul|archive-date=12 August 2018}}

In the local elections of 2004, the AK Party won 42% of the votes, making inroads against the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) on the South and West Coasts, and against the Social Democratic People's Party, which is supported by some Kurds in the South-East of Turkey.

In January 2005, the AK Party was admitted as an observer member in the European People's Party (EPP). However, it left the EPP to join the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR) in 2013.

File:Seçmenin gelir düzeyine göre oy dağılımı.PNG

On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest the possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6554851.stm Secular rally targets Turkish PM]," BBC News, 14 April 2007. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had decided to nominate Abdullah Gül as the AK Party candidate in the presidential election."[http://english.people.com.cn/200704/24/eng20070424_369332.html Turkey's ruling party announces FM Gul as presidential candidate]," Xinhua, 24 April 2007. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million reported at an 29 April rally in Istanbul,{{cite news|url=http://www.afp.fr/english/news/stories/070429134050.kd2e8gv7.html|title=More than one million rally in Turkey for secularism, democracy|publisher=Agence France-Presse|access-date=29 April 2007}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2910950920070429|title=One million Turks rally against government|work=Reuters|access-date=30 April 2007 |date=29 April 2007}} tens of thousands reported at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale,{{cite web|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/05/04/guncel/axgun01.html |title=Saylan: Manisa mitingi önemli|work=Milliyet|language=tr|access-date=4 May 2007}} and one million in İzmir on 13 May.{{cite web|url=http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Turks_protest_ahead_of_early_elections.html?siteSect=143&sid=7813908&cKey=1179061645000|title=Turks protest ahead of early elections|work=Swissinfo|access-date=13 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930222218/http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Turks_protest_ahead_of_early_elections.html?siteSect=143&sid=7813908&cKey=1179061645000 |archive-date=30 September 2007}}

Early parliamentary elections were called after the failure of the parties in parliament to agree on the next Turkish president. The opposition parties boycotted the parliamentary vote and deadlocked the election process. At the same time, Erdoğan claimed the failure to elect a president was a failure of the Turkish political system and proposed to modify the constitution.

The AK Party achieved a significant victory in the rescheduled 22 July 2007 elections with 46.6% of the vote, translating into control of 341 of the 550 available parliamentary seats. Although the AK Party received significantly more votes in 2007 than in 2002, the number of parliamentary seats they controlled decreased due to the rules of the Turkish electoral system. However, they retained a comfortable ruling majority.

Nationally, the elections of 2007 saw a major advance for the AK Party, with the party outpolling the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party in traditional Kurdish strongholds such as Van and Mardin, as well as outpolling the secular-left CHP in traditionally secular areas such as Antalya and Artvin. Overall, the AK Party secured a plurality of votes in 68 of Turkey's 81 provinces, with its strongest vote of 71% coming from Bingöl. Its weakest vote, a mere 12%, came from Tunceli, the only Turkish province where the Alevi form a majority.{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/turkish/indepth/story/2007/07/070719_election_results_en.shtml |title=Turkey: 22 July 2007 – Election Results |publisher=BBC Turkish |date=23 July 2007 |access-date=22 July 2008}} Abdullah Gül was elected as the President in late August with 339 votes in the third round – the first at which a simple majority is required – after deadlock in the first two rounds, in which a two-thirds majority was needed.

{{Main article|2007 Turkish constitutional referendum}}

File:Ak parti miting.jpg

After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AK Party proposed a constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by President Sezer. Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The court did not find any problems in the package and 69% of the voters supported the constitutional changes.

The reforms consisted of:

• electing the president by popular vote instead of by parliament;
• reducing the presidential term from seven years to five;
• allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term;
• holding general elections every four years instead of five;
• reducing the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions from 367 to 184.

The 2009 Turkish local elections took place in March 2009, during the Great Recession. After the success of the AK Party in the 2007 general elections, the party saw a decline in the 2009 Turkish local elections. In these elections the AK Party received 39% of the vote, 3% less than in the local elections of 2004. Still, the AK Party remained the dominating party in Turkey. The second party CHP received 23% of the vote and the third party MHP received 16% of the vote. The AK Party won in Turkey's largest cities: Ankara and Istanbul.{{cite news |url=http://secim2009.ntvmsnbc.com/default.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329100431/http://secim2009.ntvmsnbc.com/default.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2009 |access-date=29 March 2009 |title=Turkish local elections, 2009 |date=29 March 2009 |publisher=NTV-MSNBC |department=International / Europe }}

{{Main article|2010 Turkish constitutional referendum}}

Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AK Party during the 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu).{{cite news |url=http://arsiv.ntvmsnbc.com/news/475685.asp |title=AK Parti'nin Anayasa hedefi 15 madde |publisher=NTVMSNBC |date=17 February 2009 |access-date=17 February 2009}} The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to instantly become law, but secured 336 votes in the 550 seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum.

The reform package included a number of issues: such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman's office, the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract, positive exceptions for female citizens, the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military, the right of civil servants to go on strike, a privacy law, and the structure of the Constitutional Court. The referendum was agreed by a majority of 58%.

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In the presidential election of 2014, the AK Party's long time leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected president. In the party's first extraordinary congress, former foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was unanimously elected unopposed as party leader and took over as prime minister on 28 August 2014. Davutoğlu stepped down as prime minister on 4 May 2016 following policy disagreements with President Erdoğan. Presidential aide Cemil Ertem said to Turkish TV that the country and its economy would stabilize further "when a prime minister more closely aligned with President Erdoğan takes office".{{cite news|title=Turkey PM Ahmet Davutoğlu to quit amid reports of Erdoğan rift|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36213401|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 May 2016|work=BBC News|date=5 May 2016}}

In the general election held on 7 June, the AK Party gained 40.87% of the vote and 258 seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi, TBMM). Though it still remains the biggest party in Turkey, the AK Party lost its status as the majority party and the power to form a single-party government. Until then it had held this majority without interruption for 13 years since it had come to power in 2002. In this election, the AK Party was pushing to gain 330 seats in the Grand National Assembly so that it could put a series of constitutional changes to a referendum, one of them was to switch Turkey from the current parliamentary government to an American-style executive presidency government.

This pursuit met with a series of oppositions and criticism from the opposition parties and their supporters, fearing the measure would give more unchecked power to the current President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has drawn fierce criticisms both from home and abroad for his active role in the election, abandoning the traditional presidential role of maintaining a more neutral and impartial position in elections by his predecessors in the office. The result of the Kurdish issues-centered Peoples' Democratic Party, HDP, breaking through the 10% threshold to achieve 13.12% out of the total votes cast and gaining 80 seats in the Grand National Assembly in the election, which caused the AK Party to lose its parliamentary majority.

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In the 2019 local elections, the ruling party AK Party lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 15 years, as well as five of Turkey's six largest cities. The loss has been widely attributed to AK Party's mismanagement of the Turkish economic crisis, rising authoritarianism as well as alleged government inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/23/europe/turkey-istanbul-mayor-election-intl/index.html|title=Istanbul election rerun won by opposition, in blow to Erdogan|author=Isil Sariyuce and Ivana Kottasová|website=CNN|date=23 June 2019|access-date=20 August 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/world/europe/istanbul-mayor-election-erdogan.html|title=Turkey's President Suffers Stinging Defeat in Istanbul Election Redo|last=Gall|first=Carlotta|date=23 June 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=20 August 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Soon after the elections, the Turkish government ordered a re-election in Istanbul. The decision led to a downfall on AK Party's popularity and it lost the elections again in June with an even greater margin.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48739256|title=Turkey's ruling party loses Istanbul election|work=BBC News|date=23 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/23/europe/turkey-istanbul-mayor-election-intl/index.html|title=Istanbul election rerun set to be won by opposition, in blow to Erdogan|author=Isil Sariyuce and Ivana Kottasová|website=CNN|date=23 June 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-setback-for-erdogan-opposition-candidate-wins-istanbul-mayor-seat-11561309654|title=In Setback for Erdogan, Opposition Candidate Wins Istanbul Mayor Seat|last=Gauthier-Villars|first=David|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=23 June 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2019/dunya/son-dakika-financial-timestan-sok-istanbul-secimi-yorumu-5194106/|title=Son dakika… Financial Times'tan şok İstanbul seçimi yorumu|website=www.sozcu.com.tr|date=27 June 2019 }}

The result was seen as a huge blow to Erdoğan, who had once said that if his party 'lost Istanbul, we would lose Turkey.'{{Cite web|url=https://tele1.com.tr/erdogan-istanbulda-teklersek-turkiyede-tokezleriz-44258/|title=Erdoğan: 'İstanbul'da teklersek, Türkiye'de tökezleriz'|date=2 April 2019|website=Tele1}} The opposition's landslide was characterized as the 'beginning of the end' for Erdoğan,{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48744733|title=Can Erdogan bounce back from big Turkey defeat?|last=Lowen|first=Mark|date=24 June 2019|access-date=6 August 2019|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/editorial/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-erdogan-1.878567|title=The beginning of the end for Erdogan?|website=The National|date=24 June 2019|language=en|access-date=6 August 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/06/24/could-imamoglu-victory-in-istanbul-be-beginning-of-the-end-for-erdogan|title=Could Imamoglu victory in Istanbul be 'beginning of the end' for Erdogan?|date=24 June 2019|website=euronews|language=en|access-date=6 August 2019}} with international commentators calling the re-run a huge government miscalculation that can lead to a potential İmamoğlu candidacy in the next scheduled presidential election. It is suspected that the scale of the government's defeat could provoke a cabinet reshuffle and early general elections, currently scheduled for June 2023.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/24/turkeys-erdogan-suffers-election-blow-but-vote-sparks-hope-for-change.html|title=Turkey's Erdogan suffers election blow, sparking hope for change|first=Holly|last=Ellyatt|date=24 June 2019|website=CNBC}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/world/europe/istanbul-mayor-election-erdogan.html|title=Turkey's President Suffers Stinging Defeat in Istanbul Election Redo|last=Gall|first=Carlotta|date=23 June 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=6 August 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

In the 2023 Turkish parliamentary election the Justice and Development Party stood no female candidates in 30 provinces.{{cite news |last1= Michaelson |first1= Ruth |last2= Narlı |first2= Deniz |date= 12 May 2023 |title= ‘We’re against LGBT’: Erdoğan targets gay and trans people ahead of critical Turkish election |url= https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/12/lgbt-recep-tayyip-erdogan-targets-gay-trans-rights-critical-turkish-election |work= The Guardian |access-date= 14 April 2025}}

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Although the party is described as an Islamist party in some media, party officials reject those claims.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Justice and Development Party|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1018363/Justice-and-Development-Party|publisher=Britannica.com|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=21 July 2014|quote=Unlike its predecessors, the AK Party didn't centre its image around an Islamic identity; indeed, its leaders underscored that it was not an Islamist party and emphasized that its focus was democratization, not the politicization of religion.}} According to former minister Hüseyin Çelik, "In the Western press, when the AK Party administration – the ruling party of the Turkish Republic – is being named, most of the time 'Islamic,' 'Islamist,' 'mildly Islamist,' 'Islamic-oriented,' 'Islamic-based' or 'with an Islamic agenda,' and similar language is being used. These characterizations do not reflect the truth, and they sadden us." Çelik added, "The AK Party is a conservative democratic party. The AK Party's conservatism is limited to moral and social issues."{{cite web|date=28 March 2010|title=AK Party explains charter changes, slams foreign descriptions|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=akp-explains-charter-changes-slams-foreign-descriptions-2010-03-28|access-date=21 July 2014|work=Hürriyet Daily News|location=Istanbul|quote="In the Western press, when the AK Party administration, the ruling party of the Turkish Republic, is being named, unfortunately most of the time Islamic agenda,' and similar language is being used. These characterizations do not reflect the truth, and they sadden us," Çelik said. "Yes, the AK Party is a conservative democratic party. The AK Party's conservatism is limited to moral and social issues."}} Also in a separate speech made in 2005, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, "We are not an Islamic party, and we also refuse labels such as Muslim-democrat." Erdogan went on to say that the AK Party's agenda is limited to "conservative democracy".{{cite report |last=Taşpınar|first=Ömer|date=24 April 2012|title=Turkey: The New Model?|url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/04/24-turkey-new-model-taspinar|website=Brookings Institution}}

On the other hand, according to at least one observer (Mustafa Akyol), under the AK Party government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, starting in 2007, "hundreds of secularist officers and their civilian allies" were jailed, and by 2012 the "old secularist guard" in positions of authority was replaced by members/supporters of the AK Party and the Islamic Gülen movement.{{cite news|last1=Akyol|first1=Mustafa|title=Who Was Behind the Coup Attempt in Turkey?|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/opinion/who-was-behind-the-coup-attempt-in-turkey.html?_r=0|access-date=23 July 2016|agency=New York Times|date=July 22, 2016}} On 25 April 2016, the Turkish Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman told a conference of Islamic scholars and writers in Istanbul that "secularism would not have a place in a new constitution”, as Turkey is “a Muslim country and so we should have a religious constitution". (One of the duties of Parliament Speaker is to pen a new draft constitution for Turkey).{{cite news |title=Secularism must be removed from constitution, Turkey's Parliament Speaker says |url=https://www.milliyet.com.tr/en/vadim-the-suicide-bomber-2271599 |access-date=31 January 2021 |agency=Milliyet |date=27 April 2016}} As of 2023, some sources define the party as being "rooted in political Islam" and an "Islamist-rooted party".{{cite news |last= Kirby |first= Paul |date= 28 April 2023 |title= Turkish elections: Simple guide to Erdogan's toughest election battle |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65239092 |work= BBC News |access-date= 12 May 2023 |quote= His AK Party is rooted in political Islam, but he has forged an alliance with the ultra-nationalist MHP.}}{{cite news |last= Kirby |first= Paul |date= 11 May 2023 |title= Turkey elections: Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu offer stark choices for presidency |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65483654 |work= BBC News |access-date= 12 May 2023 |quote= The president accuses his opponents of being "pro-LGBT", while his Islamist-rooted party positions itself as on the side of the family.}}

In recent years, the ideology of the party has shifted more towards Turkish nationalism,{{cite web|date=13 December 2018|title=Erdogan The Nationalist Vs Erdogan The Islamist|url=https://www.hoover.org/research/erdogan-nationalist-vs-erdogan-islamist|work=Hoover Institution}}{{Cite news|date=18 June 2019|title=Turkey's Hour of Nationalism: The Deeper Sources of Political Realignment|work=The American Interest|url=https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/06/18/turkeys-hour-of-nationalism-the-deeper-sources-of-political-realignment/}} causing liberals such as Ali Babacan and some conservatives such as Ahmet Davutoğlu and Abdullah Gül to leave the party.{{cite web|date=5 December 2019|title=Turkish Conservatives' Loyalty to Erdoğan and Views on Potential Successors|url=https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/news/2019/12/05/478087/turkish-conservatives-loyalty-erdogan-views-potential-successors/|work=Center for American Progress}} Several writers have also labelled the party as being right-wing populist since 2007.

The party's foreign policy has also been widely described as Neo-Ottomanist,{{cite web|last=Taşpınar|first=Ömer|date=September 2008|title=Turkey's Middle East Policies: Between Neo-Ottomanism and Kemalism|url=http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=22209|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311124952/http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=22209|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2009|access-date=5 June 2010|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace}} an ideology that promotes renewed Turkish political engagement in the former territories of its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire. However, the party's leadership has also rejected this label.{{cite news|date=25 November 2009|title=I am not a neo-Ottoman, Davutoğlu says|newspaper=Today's Zaman|location=Turkey|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-193944-i-am-not-a-neo-ottoman-davutoglu-says.html|url-status=dead|access-date=9 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025025036/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-193944-i-am-not-a-neo-ottoman-davutoglu-says.html|archive-date=25 October 2013}} The party's relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood has drawn allegations of Islamism.

The AK Party favors a strong centralized leadership, having long advocated for a presidential system of government and significantly reduced the number of elected local government positions in 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/presidential-system-tops-akps-election-campaign.aspx?pageID=238&nID=77644&NewsCatID=338|title=Presidential system tops AK Party's election campaign |last1=Babacan |first1=Nuray |work=Hurriet Daily News |date=30 January 2015 |access-date=7 June 2015}}

The party was an observer in the centre-right European People's Party between 2005 and 2013 and a member of the Soft Euroscepticism Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) from 2013{{cite web|url=http://www.euractiv.com/uk-europe/erdogan-akp-party-joins-cameron-news-531645|title=Erdoğan's AK Party joins Cameron's conservative political family|website=EURACTIV.com|date=13 November 2013}} to 2018.

In 2021, Erdoğan withdrew Turkey from the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on violence against women and has attacked groups that defend women.{{cite news |last= Eski |first= Beril |date= 20 March 2021 |title= Protests as Turkey pulls out of treaty to protect women |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/20/turkey-pulls-out-of-international-accord-designed-to-protect-women |work= The Guardian |access-date= 14 April 2025}}

In May 2023, Erdoğan said at a rally in Istanbul, "AK Party and other parties in our alliance would never be pro-LGBT, because family is sacred to us. We will bury those pro-LGBT in the ballot box".{{cite news |date= 8 May 2023 |title= Erdogan calls opposition 'pro-LGBT' at election rally |url= https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/erdogan-calls-opposition-pro-lgbt-election-rally-2023-05-07/ |work= Reuters |access-date= 14 April 2025}}

File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Congress Bonn (836).jpg among other leaders at the European People's Party Congress in 2009]]

In 2005, the party was granted observer membership in the European People's Party (EPP).

In November 2013, the party left the EPP to join the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (now European Conservatives and Reformists Party) instead.{{cite web|date=13 November 2013|title=Erdoğan's AKP party joins Cameron's conservative political family|url=http://www.euractiv.com/uk-europe/erdogan-akp-party-joins-cameron-news-531645|access-date=14 January 2015|work=EurActiv}} This move was attributed to the AK Party's disappointment to not to be granted full membership in the EPP, while it was admitted as a full member of the AECR.{{cite web|last=Lagendijk|first=Joost|author-link=Joost Lagendijk|date=12 November 2013|title=AK Party looking for new European friends|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/joost-lagendijk/akp-looking-for-new-european-friends_331272.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211120343/http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/joost-lagendijk/akp-looking-for-new-european-friends_331272.html|archive-date=11 February 2015|access-date=14 January 2015|work=Today's Zaman}} It drew criticism in both national and European discourses, as the driving force of Turkey's aspirations to become a member of the European Union decided to join a largely Soft Euroscepticism alliance, abandoning the more influential pro-European EPP, feeding suspicions that AK Party wants to join a watered down, not a closely integrated EU.{{cite web|last=Yinanç|first=Barçin|date=19 November 2013|title=By abandoning conservatives AK Party helps anti-Turkey bloc in EU|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/by-abandoning-conservatives-akp-helps-anti-turkey-bloc-in-eu.aspx?pageID=449&nID=58139&NewsCatID=412|access-date=14 January 2015|work=Hürriyet Daily News}} The AK Party withdrew from AECR in 2018. The AK Party has been seen to be soft Eurosceptic.{{refn|{{cite journal|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/ap.2013.2|title=Rising euroscepticism in Turkish politics: The cases of the AK Party and the CHP|date=February 2013|doi=10.1057/ap.2013.2|last1=Baris Gulmez|first1=Seckin|journal=Acta Politica|volume=48|issue=3|pages=326–344|s2cid=189929924|url-access=subscription}}{{cite journal|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/epfad/issue/54109/684764|title=Rethinking Euroscepticism in Turkey: Government, Opposition and Public Opinion|date=April 2020|doi=10.30784/epfad.684764|last1=Gülmez|first1=Seçkin Barış|journal=Ekonomi, Politika & Finans Araştırmaları Dergisi|volume=5|issue=1|pages=1–22|doi-access=free}}}}

From 2002 to 2011 the party passed series of reforms to increase accessibility to healthcare and housing, distribute food subsidies, increased funding for students, improved infrastructure in poorer districts, and improved rights for religious and ethnic minorities. AK Party is also widely accredited for overcoming the 2001 Turkish economic crisis by following International Monetary Fund guidelines, as well as successfully weathering the 2008 financial crisis. From 2002 to 2011, the Turkish economy grew on average by 7.5 percent annually, thanks to lower inflation and interest rates. The government under AK Party also backed extensive privatization programs. In fact, 88% of the privatizations in Turkey were carried out under AK Party rule.{{cite web|date=2018-06-07|title=Sattırmayan Erdoğan ve gerçekler: Türkiye'deki özelleştirmelerin yüzde 88'i AK Parti döneminde yapıldı|url=https://sendika.org/2018/06/sattirmayan-erdogan-ve-gercekler-turkiyedeki-ozellestirmelerin-yuzde-88i-akp-doneminde-yapildi-496395|work=Sendika.org|accessdate=2024-01-02}} The average income in Turkey rose from $2,800 U.S. in 2001 to around $10,000 U.S. in 2011, higher than income in some of the new EU member states. Other reforms included increasing civilian representation over military in areas of national security, education and media, and grant broadcasting and increased cultural rights to Kurds. On Cyprus, AK Party supported unification of Cyprus, something deeply opposed by the Turkish military. Other AK Party reforms included lifting bans on religious and conservative dress, such as headscarves, in universities and public institutions. AK Party also ended discrimination against students from religious high schools, who previously had to meet additional criteria in areas of education and upon entry to universities. AK Party is also accredited for bringing the Turkish military under civilian rule, a paradigm shift for a country that had experienced constant military meddling for almost a century.

More recently, nationwide protests broke out against the alleged authoritarianism of the AK Party in 2013, with the party's perceived heavy-handed response receiving western condemnation and stalling the party's once championed EU accession negotiations.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23044600|title=EU delays Turkey membership talks after German pressure|work=BBC News|access-date=7 June 2015|date=25 June 2013}} In addition to its alleged attempts to promote Islamism, the party is accused by some of restricting some civil liberties and internet use in Turkey, having temporarily blocked access to Twitter and YouTube in March 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/21/turkey-blocks-twitter-prime-minister|title=Turkey blocks use of Twitter after prime minister attacks social media site|author=Kevin Rawlinson|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=7 June 2015|date=21 March 2014}} Especially after the government corruption scandal involving several AKP ministers in 2013, the party has been increasingly accused of crony capitalism.{{cite web|url=http://politiikasta.fi/artikkeli/mass-murder-soma-mine-crony-capitalism-and-fetish-growth-turkey|title=Mass Murder in Soma Mine: Crony Capitalism and Fetish of Growth in Turkey|publisher=politiikasta.fi|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-date=1 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601000223/http://politiikasta.fi/artikkeli/mass-murder-soma-mine-crony-capitalism-and-fetish-growth-turkey|url-status=dead}} The AK Party favors a strong centralized leadership, having long advocated for a presidential system of government and significantly reduced the number of elected local government positions in 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/presidential-system-tops-akps-election-campaign.aspx?pageID=238&nID=77644&NewsCatID=338|title=Presidential system tops AK Party's election campaign |work=Hurriet Daily News|date=30 January 2015 |access-date=7 June 2015}}

Critics have accused the AK Party of having a 'hidden agenda' despite their public endorsement of secularism and the party maintains informal relations and support for the Muslim Brotherhood.{{multiref|{{cite web|url=http://www.nouvelle-europe.eu/en/turkey-akp-s-hidden-agenda-or-different-vision-secularism|title=Turkey: AK Party's Hidden Agenda or a Different Vision of Secularism?|work=Nouvelle Europe|access-date=7 June 2015|date=7 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150628055448/http://www.nouvelle-europe.eu/en/turkey-akp-s-hidden-agenda-or-different-vision-secularism|archive-date=2015-06-28}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.reflectionsturkey.com/?p=436|title=The "Hidden" That Never Was|date=28 May 2012 |publisher=Reflections Turkey|access-date=7 June 2015}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.de/support-for-muslim-brotherhood-isolates-turkey/a-17037906|title=Support for Muslim Brotherhood isolates Turkey|work=Die Weld|access-date=7 June 2015}}|{{cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/04/24-turkey-new-model-taspinar|title=Islamist Politics in Turkey: The New Model?|author=Ömer Taşpınar|date=1 April 2012|publisher=The Brookings Institution|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816032456/http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/04/24-turkey-new-model-taspinar|archive-date=2015-08-16}}}} Both the party's domestic and foreign policy has been perceived to be Pan-Islamist or Neo-Ottoman, advocating a revival of Ottoman culture often at the expense of secular republican principles,{{Cite journal|last=Öztürk|first=Ahmet Erdi|date=1 October 2016|title=Turkey's Diyanet under AK Party rule: from protector to imposer of state ideology?|journal=Southeast European and Black Sea Studies|volume=16|issue=4|pages=619–635|doi=10.1080/14683857.2016.1233663|s2cid=151448076|issn=1468-3857|url=http://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/5402/1/Turkeys-Diyanet-under-AKP-rule-from-protector-to-imposer-of-state-ideology.pdf}} while increasing regional presence in former Ottoman territories.{{cite web|url=http://arsiv.taraf.com.tr/haber-davutoglu-neo-osmanlici-degil-pan-islamist-162144/|title=Düşünmek Taraf Olmaktır|publisher=taraf.com.tr|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-date=26 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626165210/http://arsiv.taraf.com.tr/haber-davutoglu-neo-osmanlici-degil-pan-islamist-162144/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/siyaset/185737/AKP_li_vekil__Osmanli_nin_90_yillik_reklam_arasi_sona_erdi.html|title=AK Partili vekil: Osmanlı'nın 90 yıllık reklam arası sona erdi|date=15 January 2015|work=Cumhuriyet Gazetesi|access-date=7 June 2015}}
{{cite web|url=http://www.islamianaliz.com/haber/iste-akpnin-yeni-secim-sarkisi-tam-bir-osmanli-torunu-reisle-girdi-kol-kola-davutoglu-ahmet-hoca-video/13121/|title=İslami Analiz|access-date=26 July 2016|archive-date=1 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901021947/http://www.islamianaliz.com/haber/iste-akpnin-yeni-secim-sarkisi-tam-bir-osmanli-torunu-reisle-girdi-kol-kola-davutoglu-ahmet-hoca-video/13121/|url-status=dead}}

The AK Party has been criticized for supporting a wide-scale purge of thousands of academics after the failed coup attempt in 2016. Primary, lower secondary and secondary school students were forced to spend the first day of school after the failed coup d'état watching videos about the ‘triumph of democracy’ over the plotters, and listening to speeches equating the civilian counter-coup that aborted the takeover with historic Ottoman victories going back 1000 years. Campaigns have been organised to release higher education personnel and to drop charges against them for peaceful exercise of academic freedom.{{Cite web | url=http://www.globalrights.info/2017/06/turkeys-war-against-the-academics/ | title=Turkey's War Against the Academics| date=30 June 2017}}

Imprisonment of political activists continues, while the chair of Amnesty Turkey has been jailed for standing up to the AK Party on trumped up "terrorism charges". These charges have drawn condemnation from many western countries, including from the US State Department, the EU, as well as from international and domestic human rights organisations.{{Cite web | url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/free-taner-and-idil?from=issue | title=Taner Kılıç released on bail}}

The party has also been criticized by Turkish and international LGBT rights groups including KAOS GL for homophobic statements made by some AK Party politicians and for what they argue has become a repressive climate for LGBT rights in Turkey under the AK Party. In 2002 before his election, Erdoğan said that "homosexuals must be legally protected within the framework of their rights and freedoms."{{cite news |title=LGBT Initiative from Prime Minister Erdogan! |url=https://www.kaosgl.org/en/single-news/lgbt-initiative-from-prime-minister-erdogan |access-date=21 May 2020 |work=KAOS GL |date=28 May 2012 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Lepeska |first1=David |title=Turkish officials bash gays to counter rising LGBT support |url=https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-lgbti/turkish-officials-bash-gays-counter-rising-lgbt-support |access-date=21 May 2020 |work=Ahval |date=30 April 2020 |language=en |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218120206/https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-lgbti/turkish-officials-bash-gays-counter-rising-lgbt-support |url-status=dead }} In 2011, AK Party Minister for Families and Social Policy Fatma Şahin said the AK Party government would be willing to work with LGBT rights groups to advance laws protecting Turkey's gay community.{{cite web |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/news-257544-lgbt-gains-recognition-from-government-for-first-time.html |title=LGBT gains recognition from government for first time |access-date=22 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521205138/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-257544-lgbt-gains-recognition-from-government-for-first-time.html |archive-date=21 May 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} However, commentators have argued the AK Party has taken an increasingly hardline stance on LGBT issues since coming to power, which has been characterized variously as part of a general trend towards authoritarianism under the AK Party or as motivated by Islamic and militant nationalist sentiments within the party.{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-turkey-gay-rights-istanbul-8009c04d425f67a1c802b6332410aba8 |title=Turkey: Anti-LGBTIQA+ display reflects nation's political shift |website=Associated Press |date=23 September 2022 |access-date=2023-02-02}} In 2012, the AK Party voted against a proposal by the BDP to include legalization of same-sex marriage in the redrafted Turkish constitution and in 2013 blocked a research motion in the parliament of Turkey on having a parliamentary debate regarding LGBT rights. During the latter debate, AK Party MP Türkan Dağoğlu stated "Homosexuality is an abnormality. Same-sex marriages may not be allowed. It would cause social deterioration"; this prompted criticism from some opposition politicians.{{cite web|url=http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25446001|title=Tension in Parliament over LGBT Rights|publisher=Ntvmsnbc|date= 29 May 2013|access-date=29 May 2013|language=tr}} In 2017, Erdogan stated that the principle of LGBT rights was "against the values of our nation" and in 2020 endorsed controversial anti-gay statements made by Muslim scholar Ali Erbaş which had received condemnation from some Turkish lawyers and human rights groups.{{cite news |title='It's just the start': LGBT community in Turkey fears government crackdown |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/23/its-just-the-start-lgbt-community-in-turkey-fears-government-crackdown |work=The Guardian |date=23 November 2017}} In 2021, AK Party vice chairman and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu declared LGBT people to be "perverts." Turkish constitutional law experts Sule Ozsoy Boyunsuz and Serkan Koybasi have described public statements on gay people made by AK Party politicians as both constituting as hate speech and contradicting the principle of Turkey's policy of secularism. Political scientist Mine Eder has argued that Turkey has experienced a backslide on acceptance and government anti-discrimination support for homosexuals under Erdogan.{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-turkey-gay-rights-istanbul-8009c04d425f67a1c802b6332410aba8 |title=Turkey: Anti-LGBTQ display reflects nation's political shift |website=Associated Press |date=23 September 2022 |access-date=2023-02-02}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ankara-calls-student-protesters-lgbt-perverts-amid-artwork-controversy/a-56448760 |title=Ankara calls student protesters 'LGBT perverts' |website=Deutsche Welle |access-date=2023-02-02}}

{{main|2013 corruption scandal in Turkey}}

The 2013 corruption scandal was a criminal investigation that involved several key people in the Turkish government. All of the 52 people detained on 17 December were connected in various ways with the ruling Justice and Development Party. Prosecutors accused 14 people{{snd}} including Suleyman Aslan, the director of state-owned Halkbank, Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, and several family members of cabinet ministers{{snd}} of bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering and gold smuggling.[https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/06/why-turkeys-mother-of-all-corruption-scandals-refuses-to-go-away/ Why Turkey’s Mother of All Corruption Scandals Refuses to Go Away] – ForeignPolicy.com

At the heart of the scandal was an alleged "gas for gold" scheme with Iran involving Aslan, who had US$4.5 million in cash stored in shoeboxes in his home, and Zarrab, who was involved in about US$9.6 billion of gold trading in 2012. Both men were arrested.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/recap-of-corruption-scandal-in-turkey-2013-12 |title=Recap Of Corruption Scandal In Turkey |publisher=Business Insider |access-date=2015-12-29}} The scheme started after Turkish government officials found a loophole in the U.S. sanctions against Iran that allowed them to access Iranian oil and gas. The Turks exported some US$13 billion of gold to Iran directly, or through the UAE, between March 2012 and July 2013. In return, the Turks received Iranian natural gas and oil. The transactions were carried out through the Turkish state-owned bank, Halkbank. In January 2013, the Obama administration decided to close this loophole but instead of immediately charging Halkbank, the U.S. government allowed its gold trading activities to continue until July 2013, because Turkey was an important ally regarding the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War, and the U.S. had been working on a nuclear deal with Iran.

Then-Prime Minister Erdogan (now President of Turkey) was on a tour of Pakistan when the scandal broke, which analysts believe changed the response of the AK Party, or influenced those with the tapes to leak them at a time when Erdoğan was visiting an ally (Pakistan).{{cite news |author=Özgür Altuncu |title=Başbakan Erdoğan Pakistan'da havai fişeklerle karşılandı |language=tr |trans-title=Prime Minister Erdoğan was greeted in Pakistan with fireworks |newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News |url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/25423583.asp |date=23 December 2013 |access-date=7 November 2014}}

{{main|AK Trolls}}

Main articles: Arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu and 2025 Turkish protests

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{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |editor-first=Ümit |editor-last=Cizre |title=Secular and Islamic politics in Turkey: The making of the Justice and Development Party |publisher=Routledge |year=2008}}
• {{cite journal |first=Ümit |last=Cizre |title=A New Politics of Engagement: The Turkish Military, Society and the AKP |journal=Democracy, Islam, and Secularism in Turkey |year=2012}}
• {{cite book |first1=William |last1=Hale |first2=Ergun |last2=Özbudun |title=Islamism, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey: The Case of the AKP |publisher=Routledge |year=2010}}
• {{cite book |editor-first=M. Hakan |editor-last=Yavuz |title=The Emergence of a New Turkey: Islam, Democracy and the AK Parti |publisher=The University of Utah Press |year=2006}}
• {{cite book |first=M. Hakan |last=Yavuz |title=Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2009}}
• {{cite book |title=The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Turkey.|publisher=Edinburgh University Press.|year=2021}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite web|url=https://newsaboutturkey.com/2020/05/13/the-myth-of-new-turkey-kemalism-and-erdoganism-as-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/|title=The Myth of 'New Turkey': Kemalism and Erdoganism as Two Sides of the Same Coin|work=Dr. Ceren Şengül|date=7 May 2024 |publisher=News About Turkey}}

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Category:National conservative parties

Category:Opposition to same-sex marriage in Asia

Category:Opposition to same-sex marriage in Europe

Category:Organizations based in Ankara

Category:Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Turkey

Category:Political parties established in 2001

Category:Political parties in Turkey

Category:Right-wing politics in Turkey

Category:Right-wing populism in Asia

Category:Right-wing populism in Turkey

Category:Right-wing populist parties

Category:Social conservative parties