The "Trust and Stability for Turkey" Congress

Congresses of political parties are the best occasion both for them to take stock internally and for them to set out, to the national and international public, their messages and promises regarding the program they wish to implement. The AK Parti, founded 20 years ago, is holding its 7th Ordinary Congress today. Together with the 3 extraordinary congresses it held before, this makes the 10th congress in total.

Those 3 extraordinary congresses, in fact, were not an extraordinary situation arising from a deep debate, dispute or conflict within the party; on the contrary, they were related to changes of role. They were the extraordinary congresses required when, after he was elected by the people for the first time, the President, the founder and leader of the party, left the chairmanship of the party, and then returned to the chairmanship following the change that took place afterwards...

The AK Parti, founded 20 years ago, came to power on its own only 15 months after its founding, and has been governing the country on its own ever since. For that reason, AK Parti congresses also serve as gatherings where the shortcomings of an understanding that governs Türkiye are identified and an effort is made to remedy them, and where the most realistic and most achievable vision of Türkiye is presented to the whole world. Each congress has its own slogan, its own motto. The first slogan, in October 2003, was "Everything for Türkiye, This Light Will Not Go Out." In the following congresses, in order, the slogans "Türkiye's Party, Türkiye's Leader," "We Are Türkiye Together," "Great Nation, Great Power, Target 2023," "All Together, New Türkiye," "With the Love of the First Day," and "New Breakthrough Era, Democracy, Change, Reform" have also defined the general orientation underlying the program of each congress.

From the moment it set out, the AK Parti, with its reformist, enterprising, change-oriented side that emphasizes democracy, always placed at its center the aim of being a party of Türkiye that embraces the whole country, develops it, promotes its prosperity and gives priority to justice. In this respect, although it positioned itself in terms of identity as conservative, its reformist and continuously revolutionary character stands out far more clearly. The slogans it has put forward and the party programs those slogans summarize show this very well.

Likewise, across the total of 10 congresses spread over these 20 years and in the many elections it has entered, the number of names the AK Parti has included in its cadres, both in the party and in the government and local administrations, is in itself a large sum. This number forms an important population whose paths in one way or another directly intersect and merge with the AK Parti. There is surely communication with them, and surely they make contributions to the AK Parti's philosophy, understanding and political practices. Above all, this constitutes a very great human capital.

The 7th Ordinary Congress is being held in an environment where the AK Parti, which has spent 19 years of its 20-year life in power, has its most ambitious reform packages on the agenda. The ironic side of the matter is that the strongest criticism directed at the packages opened to further develop human rights and freedoms, to make the investment climate more favorable and to revive the economy, in both the field of justice and the judiciary and the economic field, is "the incomprehensibility of reforms still being made after 19 years in power." Reform, however, is not a political step that is done once and finished for all times; it is a style of politics.

It is unfortunately structural that the parties that have been in opposition for 19 years have no stronger criticism or counter-proposals regarding the reform packages. What kind of risk it could pose for the country if those who meet everything that is done with automatic opposition reactions were also to come to power, we have actually seen in the Istanbul municipality, which changed hands in the last local elections. There is almost no municipal administration in Istanbul. It is an administration that makes its presence felt only through scandalous incompetence, and that makes itself forgotten through the automated operations of the system established in the past.

A 19-year term in power is a span that is very hard to repeat given how democracies function. Within that time, problems that the current government evidently cannot overcome come knocking at the door. The opposition benefits from this, presents itself as the alternative, and often wins in a short time. One reason this has not happened in Türkiye is that the governing AK Parti has not been crushed under the problems it promised to solve, but has solved them and given the people confidence; another reason is that the opposition has not been able to inspire confidence that it could do better.

Today, too, we are not at a different point. Moreover, there is a total of 19 years of achievements that no person of conscience can ignore. It is necessary to continue on the road by adding to these achievements, and to raise the country above contemporary levels. Recently, especially in the field of health, in the defense industry and in many other branches of industry, Türkiye has reached the level of contemporary civilization in this regard and has shown that it has surpassed it by leagues.

What is needed for this march to continue has been determined as the slogan of the AK Parti's 7th Ordinary Congress, to be held today: "Confidence and Stability for Türkiye."

May the 7th Ordinary Congress bring good things to Türkiye and the world.