conservative-democratic.
ruling
since 2002
Third-party sources often refer to the party as national
conservative, social conservative, right-wing populist[16]
neo-Ottomanism
right-wing[32] on the political spectrum,
268 out of 600 seats, having won 35.6% of votes in the 2023 Turkish
parliamentary election. forms the People's Alliance with the far-
right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
main opposition social democratic Republican People's Party
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been chairman of the AK Party since
the 2017 Party Congress
supporting Turkish membership in the European Union
history
Founded in 2001 by members of a number of parties such
as FP, MHP, ANAP and DYP, the party has a strong base of support
among people from the right-wing tradition of Turkey.
denies it is Islamist.[to support its European agenda.
Since the beginning of Turkey's multiparty democracy in 1946, AK
Party is the only party to win seven consecutive parliamentary
elections.[39][40] The AK Party has headed the national government since
2002 under Abdullah Gül (2002–2003), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2003–
2014), Ahmet Davutoğlu (2014–2016), Binali Yıldırım (2016–2018)
and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (2018–present). The AK Party's rule has
been marked with
increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of
other political parties and dissent
It is the sixth largest political party in the world by membership and the
biggest in the world outside India, China and the U.S.
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.
Ideologies and policies.
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".[89]
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"
he party's foreign policy has also been widely described as Neo-
Ottomanist,[97] 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.[98] The party's relationship with the Muslim
Brotherhood has drawn allegations of Islamism.[36]
Recent protests in Turkey that sparked with the prosecution of potential opposition presidential
candidate have once again put many questions on the democracy of Turkey, on the multiparty
system that was established there in 1946 and on the secularist feature that was adopted in the
Turkey’s constitution’s Article 2 declaring Turkey as a ‘democratic, secular and the rule of law.’
The breeding ground of any political decision in a democratic set-up is grounded on the ruling
party’s leadership. Thus, the ruling party’s (i.e., Justice and Development Party (AKP)) policies
are the reason behind these protests. Some protesters also take this protest at a broader level,
where, they asserts, they are not just protesting against the arrest of Imamoglu, instead they
are protesting against the concerns related to democracy, the economy and the authoritarian
character of erdogan’s and his party.
Therefore, in this paper the author has analyzed the claims of such protesters who blame AKP
as a mere tool of authoritarianism and promoting Islam. Author has also traced the historical
acts of AKP- starting with its formation to its two closure calls. The main focus of this paper is
to debate the nature of AKP – as a secular, pro-Islamists or pro-European? Does its
aspiration to join EU make it appear secular only on the surface?