Türkiye’s AK Party marks 22 years of political success and leadership

Türkiye's Justice and Development (AK) Party is celebrating its 22nd anniversary of its founding — a period identified with stability, progress and election victories.

Established on August 14, 2001, AK Party burst onto the political stage under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who became the prime minister in 2003 and has served as the president since 2014.

On November 3 2002, the party achieved a sweeping victory, securing two-thirds of the parliamentary seats — an outright majority unseen in over a decade.

AK Party had participated in seven general elections in 2002, 2007, 2011, 2015, as well as snap elections in November 2015, June 2018, and most recently in May 2023 — emerging victorious in all.

With the latest victory in presidential and parliamentary elections in May, President Erdogan and his AK Party were given a popular mandate to lead Türkiye for another five-year term.

Founded as Türkiye’s 39th party led by then Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the AK Party took its place on the political scene with Erdogan's statement, "After today, nothing will be the same in our Türkiye."

Thus, the political journey of the AK Party has started.

Since being elected as the mayor of Istanbul in 1994, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not lost a single election against any opponent and has, throughout his career, only lost twice — during his first two campaigns — in the 1980s.

About 15 months after its establishment, the AK Party emerged as the first party with 34.28 percent vote share in the general election, when Erdogan was banned from politics, on November 3, 2002.

After the removal of the political ban following the amendment to Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code, Erdogan took his first step into the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) as a member of parliament in the by-elections held in Siirt on March 8, 2003.

Erdogan formed the 59th Government of the Republic of Türkiye on March 15 and assumed the position of prime minister.

Unbeaten in elections

In the 2007 snap early general elections, the majority of the seats, 341 of 550, by 46.58 percent of the votes, were won by the AK Party.

The election in 2011 resulted in the third consecutive victory of the AK Party and Recep Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected for his third term as prime minister. The AK Party gained 49.8 percent of the votes with 327 MPs.

In 2014, Erdogan was elected as the President of Türkiye with the absolute majority of the votes. It was the first time citizens were involved in the election of the president due to the 2007 constitutional referendum introducing direct national vote.

In 2017, Türkiye held a referendum where the majority of voters decided in favour of an 18-article bill to switch from a parliamentary to a presidential system.

The People's Alliances, consisting of the AK Party (42.56 percent) and MHP (11.10 percent) gained 53.6 percent of the votes, totalling 344 of 600 seats in the parliament in 2018.

On the same day as the general election, the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the candidate of the People's Alliances, was re-elected as the President of Turkish Republic, with 52.59 percent of the votes. He also became Türkiye’s first president under the new system.

The presidential election and the 28th parliamentary election on May 14th, 2023, Erdogan received 49.52 percent of the votes. However, as he didn't secure an outright majority of 50 percent plus one vote in the first round, the elections went to the second round.

Meanwhile, the AK Party garnered 35.62 percent of the votes, became the leading party again, and obtained 268 seats in the parliament.

In the second round of the presidential election held on May 28th, Erdogan secured the presidency with 52.18 percent of the votes.

Over the two decades, Türkiye has achieved numerous successes from international politics to the defence industry.