soL English

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) was founded in 2001, and came to office after the general elections held in 2002. AKP won 2007 general elections once again and has remained in power for a second term. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the head of the party and the prime minister of AKP government. Abdullah Gül, who is one of the founders and prominent figures of the party and served as prime minister for a short time before Erdoğan, was assigned as the 11th president of the Turkish Republic in 2007.

The origin of the AKP grounds on Islamist “National View Movement” that was accepted as the social and economic supporting base of the Welfare Party and the Virtue Party. The Welfare Party had been outlawed by the Constitutional Court because of its anti-secularist actions and its successor the Virtue Party was faced with the same sanction for its violation of the constitution. Some prominent cadres such as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Abdullah Gül and Bülent Arınç did not participate to the attempts to found a new party in the same political line, but founded the Justice and Development Party.

AKP is a reactionary party which attaches a great deal of importance to cooperation with imperialism and adheres militantly to the principles of free market economy. AKP government tries to promote relations with U.S. imperialism and is known to be supported by the U.S. AKP government has also been making efforts to carry out necessary arrangements for Turkey’s membership to imperialist European Union since it came to power.

AKP is seen as the driving force of “moderate Islam” in Turkey and in the Middle East, which is an interpretation of reactionary politics in harmony with capitalism and imperialism. AKP is also known with its embracement of the roles casted to Turkey within the greater Middle East project.