With almost one month left to Türkiye’s critical presidential and parliamentary elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) revealed its election manifesto, hoping to build upon more than two decades of work in power.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan introduced the party’s campaign for the May 14 elections at a sports hall in the capital Ankara on Tuesday at the event attended by a large crowd of party supporters. Erdoğan was joined by his party’s candidates for parliamentary elections, who were introduced en masse to the public for the first time two days after the party unveiled its candidate list.
“I see (this crowd) here as a harbinger of the Century of Türkiye. By Allah’s will, we are here to say once again ‘enough, the word now belongs to the people,’” Erdoğan told the emotional crowd, referring to the campaign slogan of the Democrat Party, winner of Türkiye’s first multi-party elections in 1950. The president listed past slogans of the AK Party and said they would now take the “right steps without stopping.” “We are here to open the door of the Century of Türkiye. It is not tomorrow but now,” he said.
The AK Party also revealed its election paraphernalia and slogans at the event. Each candidate will be required to use the motto of “Century of Türkiye” with the slogan’s logo next to the party’s traditional lightbulb logo. “Century of Türkiye” represents the party’s vision for the following decades of the Republic of Türkiye, which marks its year’s centenary. Erdoğan has previously described this new era as the “rising” period of Türkiye after going through periods of “apprenticeship, mastery and struggle,” summing up three stages of the AK Party’s political history as the No.1 party in power since 2002. Indeed, Erdoğan is credited with raising Türkiye’s profile in the international community as an influential country. At the same time, his successive governments and lawmakers have been architects of landmark reforms for rights and enormous infrastructure projects.
The party also slightly changed its traditional slogan, “Keep Walking without Stopping,” which refers to improving public services, investments, and other signs of improvement in Türkiye’s overall welfare without interruption. It is now “Keep Walking with Right Steps.” Another slogan accompanying posters of Erdoğan reads “Right Time, Right Man for Century of Türkiye.”
The party’s election manifesto focused on two decades of services the AK Party government catered to the public. It showcased the government’s steps to improve Türkiye overall in industry and high technology, education, foreign policy, defense industry, energy, agriculture, social and cultural life, health, youth and sports, etc. It also concentrated on the aftermath of the Feb. 6 earthquakes and how an AK Party government can take Türkiye to a future with resistance to disaster risks.
Erdoğan said the elections were closely watched by the world, giving the example of the Islamic world, which observes the holy month of Ramadan like Türkiye. He recalled how a Muslim country sent 200 tons of date fruits to people affected by the February earthquakes on Ramadan and recounted aid from Muslim countries helping earthquake victims. “We walk the same way with those brothers and sisters,” he said.
Erdoğan underlined the importance of having a governing cadre in Türkiye as experienced and influential as AK Party cadres “in this critical period where global balance is being reshaped.” “Türkiye, with AK Party’s experience and our political leadership, has the opportunity to be one step ahead of others in a world where new challenges force countries to change their courses,” he said.
“Türkiye has no option other than becoming strong, remaining strong and increasing its strength to escape from reverting into political and economic captivity it suffered in the past,” he said.
Erdoğan noted that AK Party governments not only undertook a development revolution through structures from schools and hospitals to roads and dams but also “a revolution in the minds.” “We showed we can play a changing role in everything that (the governments) were discouraged from intervening to,” he said.
Announcing excerpts from a lengthy election manifesto, Erdoğan prioritized National Risk Shield Model in his speech. The model, recently introduced through a meeting Erdoğan chaired, aims to create a framework with input from scientists, experts, academics and officials to reduce disaster and security risks Türkiye faces. “Through this model, we will make all 81 Türkiye provinces resistant to disasters,” Erdoğan said.
He said they would continue working on devising a new civic constitution and implementing further reforms to reinforce the state of law. “We will never allow any part of the society to be forced to be confined to a certain lifestyle or identity,” he said.
Erdoğan pledged more financial assistance to households to keep every home having a steady income. “We will establish a Family and Youth Bank, funded by our natural gas and oil income to provide a financial contribution to the youth, to encourage them to start their families, to help their education, employment and child care. In addition, we will take steps to ensure every household has at least one employed person and housewives have access to pensions,” he said.
The president pledged 10 gigabytes of free Internet access to the country’s youth and a one-time tax exemption for children in the purchase of cell phones and computers.
He also promised to decrease inflation to a single digit, raise the annual growth rate of 5.5%, and reduce unemployment to 7% by creating 6 million new jobs in the next five years.
Türkiye will continue on its path with stability as "an island of peace and security" at a time when the world and the region are experiencing aggravated challenges, Erdoğan said.
"We will build the axis of Türkiye with a foreign policy where both our country, our region and humanity will find peace and stability, multilateralism, more cooperation, peace, stability, and humanitarian diplomacy," he stressed.
He reminded the participants that Türkiye can negotiate with both sides in the Russia-Ukraine War, make concrete progress such as the grain corridor and prisoner exchange, and keep the possibility of peace on the table.
Ankara also strengthens cooperation with the Islamic world without getting permission from anyone, he added.
The president also said Türkiye's power will be increased in the areas of energy, agriculture, education, and transportation.
"Hopefully, on May 14, we will start the dawn of the Century of Türkiye together. We will build peace, brotherhood, trust, cities, life, and happiness together," he added.
Opposition parties have already launched their campaigns for the election, which is being held in the shadow of a devastating series of earthquakes that struck the south of the country from Feb. 6 onwards. The AK Party differs from others by pursuing a low-key campaign concerning the pain of victims of earthquakes. Erdoğan long adhered to his muted campaign, mostly visiting earthquake-hit provinces on his campaign trail and choosing brief speeches in rallies without campaign songs blaring from loudspeakers.
Although Tuesday’s event attracted a large crowd and included a spectacularly illuminated stage, the event was solemn, with screenings of two videos serving as the basis of the campaign and a recitation of campaign songs composed by Yücel Arzen, a lawmaker candidate for AK Party from Istanbul.
After 20 years at the top of Turkish politics, initially as prime minister and subsequently as president, Erdoğan faces a critical election as his rivals count on the power of their unity. Their thirst to topple Erdoğan brought together six political parties from vastly different political spectrums together, while other smaller parties also hinted at endorsing Erdoğan’s main rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Along with Kılıçdaroğlu, who is also chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Erdoğan will compete against Muharrem Ince, whom he defeated in the 2018 elections while Ince was CHP’s candidate, and academic Sinan Oğan, who represents a far-right alliance.
If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections, there will be a run-off a fortnight later on May 28.
The May 14 elections are the first since Türkiye switched to an executive presidency system.
Around 60.9 million people are eligible to vote in Türkiye, with a further 3.3 million abroad. Türkiye’s large diaspora can cast their ballots from April 27.
