A few weeks ago the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) fifth ordinary congress was seen as crucial by some observers. The question of whether the party would undergo an inner transformation was standing out, since it was presumed that a transformation might increase the AK Party's ability to rule Turkey. But a few days before the congress, the question lost its importance in that sense. It came out that the administration that was to be formed would settle in the framework of bargaining and balancing. In that case, expecting a reformist move was not so realistic. However, we are currently talking about the importance of the bottleneck we passed through a week after the congress, as the AK Party faced the risk of losing its inner integrity in the run up to the congress and it achieved putting it on the right track thanks to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership and arbitration skills. At this point, it must be underlined that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu acted with common sense and did not push any line that might turn out to be faulty.

The factor that renders the AK Party congress so significant is the lack of a meaningful and influential opposition party in Turkey. This assertion may sound strange at first. Of course there are some people who want to cover the AK Party's mistakes on the pretext of the opposition's incompetence. But the problem is that the AK Party's inner politics directly interest the future of the country as long as other parties do not achieve to form a genuine relation with society. Any dissolution or separation in other parties does not pose a danger to create instability, but rather is likely to solidify stability. But the situation is the exact opposite when it comes to the AK Party.

The only cause of this is not the fact that this party is the greatest political movement in the country with 40 percent to 45 percent of the vote share. The AK Party has two major differences. Firstly, it is the only party that could present a realistic vision of the future to society, instill self-confidence in the public, and have the intent and willpower to resolve identity-related problems. Secondly, it is the only party that is punished by its electorate when it makes mistakes and has the possibility of enjoying vast support going beyond its base when it does the right thing. Consequently, the AK Party's inner integrity and balance is crucial for the country's political, social and economic stability.

This congress enabled passing a threshold in terms of holding the party together and creating a share and articulation at administration levels. The rest depends on whether Davutoğlu, as AK Party chairman, implements a process of self-criticism, restoration and construction with the movement's leader Erdoğan. The institutional grounds of it were laid at the congress. The ways of averting political and economic abuses were opened by forming a political virtue and ethics board. Also, two new deputy chairmanship positions in the fields of human rights and city, environment and culture were suggested. The first one might provide the supervision that could reinforce the legitimacy of democratization and reform strategy that also includes the resolution of the Kurdish question. The second one might promote the practice of a new norm that ranges from preventing irregularities to regulating urban esthetics in a local sense.

The process has a major drawback in terms of the economy. Currently, one of the most critical questions on the agenda is how the AK Party's inner balance will influence the rational strategy maintained by the economy administration that left its mark on the last 13 years because some past debates and approaches created an impression that possible new cadres might have a high probability of making mistakes. The AK Party and Davutoğlu take this issue seriously and are making sure that both the party and the country get their feet on safe ground.