AK Party marks 25 years as Türkiye's dominant political force

Türkiye's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party on Thursday marked 25 years since its founding in 2001, a political journey that has produced four prime ministers, two presidents, and the longest uninterrupted period in power since the country's multi-party era began in 1946.

Founding and rise to power

The AK Party was established on Aug. 14, 2001, as Türkiye's 39th political party under the "Virtuous People Movement" led by Erdogan, who was then mayor of Istanbul. "From today onward, nothing will be the same in Türkiye," Erdogan said at the launch event, a statement historians would later cite as the beginning of a new era in Turkish politics.

Just 15 months after its establishment, the party contested the Nov. 3, 2002, general elections under the slogan "Alone in power, ready to work," winning 34.28% of the vote despite Erdogan being barred from running. After an amendment to Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code lifted his political ban, Erdogan was elected as a lawmaker in the March 9, 2003 by-election in Siirt and subsequently formed the 59th government on March 15, 2003, becoming prime minister.

Electoral dominance and constitutional tests

The AK Party increased its vote share to 41.7% in the 2004 local elections and retained its single-party government with 46.58% in the 2007 general elections. The party faced a major existential threat when then-Chief Public Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya submitted an indictment seeking its closure to the Constitutional Court on March 14, 2008 — a case known as the "Google indictment" that concluded on July 30, 2008, with the court falling one vote short of the qualified majority required to dissolve the party.

Following the approval of constitutional amendments with 57.88% of the vote in the 2010 referendum, the AK Party secured 49.83% in the 2011 general elections. Erdogan was elected as Türkiye's first president by popular vote on Aug. 10, 2014, with 51.79% of the ballot, after which Ahmet Davutoglu assumed the party chairmanship and led the party through the June 7 and Nov. 1, 2015 elections.

People's Alliance and system transformation

The July 15, 2016 coup attempt by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) prompted a display of popular resistance that cemented ties between the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), laying the foundations for the People's Alliance. The alliance backed the April 16, 2017 constitutional referendum, which passed with 51.41% of the vote, removed the constitutional requirement that the president sever party ties, and approved the transition to the Presidential Government System.

Following the referendum, Erdogan returned to the AK Party after 979 days and was unanimously re-elected as chairman at the party's third Extraordinary Grand Congress on May 21, 2017. The People's Alliance faced its first electoral test in the June 24, 2018 elections — the first simultaneous presidential and parliamentary polls — where Erdogan won the presidency with 52.59% of the vote and the AK Party secured 42.56% in the parliamentary elections.

Recent electoral tests and renewal

The AK Party maintained its record as the largest party in every general election, with Erdogan winning the May 28, 2023 presidential runoff with 52.18% of the vote following a first round that saw him receive 49.52%. In the March 31, 2024 local elections, where the party secured 35.49% of the vote, Erdogan said the party would "surely take the necessary steps by weighing the messages given by the nation at the ballot box in the most accurate and objective manner on the scales of reason and conscience."

At the party's eighth Ordinary Grand Congress on Feb. 23, 2025, 52% of the Central Decision and Administrative Board was renewed while three new departments were established for relations with Turkic states, health policies, and culture and arts policies. The party has also advanced the "Terror-Free Türkiye" process launched in October 2024 through parliamentary commissions and the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration passed by the General Assembly on Aug. 10, 2026.