A deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said the party’s losses in the March 31 municipal elections were "a road accident" and said voters realized their mistake.

Addressing a local meeting of AK Party supporters in the central province of Kayseri on Saturday, Mustafa Elitaş said people were clearly "disturbed by the choices they made on March 31."

Not accustomed to defeat over the past two decades, the AK Party was shaken when it lost several strongholds against its longtime rival Republican People’s Party (CHP). The party intends to turn around its fortunes with its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, pledging changes upon what he calls "the message our citizens gave in the elections."

Elitaş highlighted high public support for the AK Party since it was founded in 2002 and stated that the latest municipal election was a stumbling block. "But recent opinion surveys and outcomes of our conventions show the situation is changing. Citizens clearly believe that they made a mistake," he stated.

Since the municipal elections, the AK Party has held a series of conventions across Türkiye ahead of a planned nationwide congress. Some branch chairs of the party already left their posts after election losses, while the party is seeking to reshuffle cadres more ahead of the 2028 general elections.