President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his party is working to boost the number of its members and aims to get around a million members each year, as part of the efforts to reach the 2023 goals.
"We never forget that the potential of the votes we gain in elections only makes a portion of our success," Erdoğan told fellow party members, as he urged all party members to work hard to meet the needs and expectations of the people and embrace them.
The president was speaking to the members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) via videoconference.
He noted that the AK Party is working hard to create its cadres who will be capable to fulfill the 2023 goals.
"We are responsible for our own success, but we are also responsible for our losses," he told fellow party members, saying that these results were not caused by the success of the party’s opponents, but rather the AK Party’s own shortcomings or mistakes.
He also announced that the AK Party will start resuming congresses after the end of August.
"Our goal is to complete our district congresses by the end of October and move on to our provincial congresses," Erdoğan said, adding that they will announce the 7th Ordinary Convention after this.
The president highlighted that the party aims to enrich its staff by members who adopt a value-based policy, are hardworking and skilled.
'Social media must be controlled'
"Channels where lies, slander, personal right attacks and reputation conspiracies are out of control must be brought into order," the president said, referring to increasing defamation campaigns in Turkey toward politicians as well as ordinary people.
"Therefore, we want to bring these problems as soon as possible to Parliament in order to demand the total shut down or control of such social media channels. We are determined to do what is necessary to enable internet and social media channels to establish legal and economic interlocutors in our country," Erdoğan said.
In a statement following Erdoğan’s remarks on social media, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said that it is pointless to try to twist what the president has said."We are not surprised to see that some prefer to stand by the social media companies rather than their own state," Altun said.
Discussions on the dangers of social media have increased recently in Turkey after some social media users insulted Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and his family after the birth of their son. Eleven people were arrested Wednesday over the comments.
The comments targeting the Albayrak family were slammed by all parties and several politicians. Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın condemned the comments of a "dark and wretched" mindset targeting the minister and his family on Twitter. Defense Minister Hulusi Akar congratulated the couple on their newborn baby and similarly said, "We condemn harshly those that comment immorally on even something as innocent as the birth of a baby, on a father and mother’s happiest day."
On the other side, Erdoğan also said Turkey will not leave the fate of the Libyan people at the mercy of putschists and will continue to act in line with international law.
Erdoğan said Turkey will continue to support the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) against the forces of putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar.
Erdoğan’s comments came after the Libyan government announced that in less than a month, they have discovered some 208 mass graves in areas liberated from Haftar’s militias.
The president continued by saying that Turkey has also been watching some countries – in reference to France, the United Arab Emirates and others – defend the putschist general’s forces with worry.
Recent reports have noted that the UAE is lobbying the U.S. to intervene in the Libyan civil war, aiming to help turn the tide back to the advantage of Haftar who has been trying to seize the capital Tripoli from the U.N.-backed government in a 14-month-long offensive.