President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the AK Party Expanded Provincial Chairpersons Meeting.
Here are the highlights from President Erdoğan's statements:
"I feel immensely fortunate to be with you, my fellow cause and path companions, at this first Expanded Provincial Chairpersons Meeting of 2024. We had our last meeting on November 30th, where we reviewed our preliminary preparations for the March 31 elections. During the campaign period, we had the chance to meet and hold close consultations during my provincial visits. We also had the opportunity to personally see the election activities on the ground in the 52 provinces we visited.
During this interim period, we met with election affairs chairpersons and election coordination center representatives. While we continued our March 31 election efforts intensely, we kept our connection with the organization at a high level. The March 31 Local Administrations Elections took place in a highly competitive atmosphere and had the spirit of a democracy festival. Aside from attempts by separatist group extensions to pressure voters, no incidents occurred across the country that could overshadow the elections.
As you may recall, there were very different campaigns before the election. From prophecies that this would be the last election to misinformation spread about the economy, we were subjected to many perception operations. We disproved all of these. Despite all the propaganda against our country, we, as 85 million, demonstrated the power of the ballot box. We showed the world once again how far Turkey's democracy standards have come.
I want to underline one thing here first. Democracy is never a zero-sum game. There are no losers where democracy wins. In an equation where the reputation of the ballot box increases, the winner is all 85 million of us.
Every result that strengthens civil politics is a unique success for the future of Turkish democracy. Look, we are a nation that has fit two coups, two memorandums, and two coup attempts into our 75 years of multi-party democratic life. Nearly every decade, our democracy has been attacked by guardianship centers. Most recently, we thwarted the vilest coup attempt in our history on July 15, at the cost of 253 lives.
Apart from these, we have faced numerous other attempts, both overt and covert, to usurp the national will. We all know very well that the centers of guardianship never sleep, never give up, and are always waiting for the right environment and opportunity. In recent years, I see that doubts about multi-party democracy and the ballot box have begun to find ground among certain segments of society, fueled by the propaganda of FETÖ members and marginal structures. Both the May 14 and the March 31 Local Administrations Elections have demolished this perception fueled by enemies of democracy. In the May 14 elections, the presidential election went to a second round with a 0.5% difference, while the national will manifested itself differently in the March 31 elections.
As the AK Party and the People's Alliance, we accepted both election results with great maturity, treasuring the people's will above our heads. We did not resort to blaming the people or pinning the fault on the nation due to the election results. Indeed, the uncertainty revealed by May 14 was resolved with the May 28 elections, where the people granted us the seal of leadership in the administration as in the legislature, making the People's Alliance the clear leader.
In the March 31 Local Administrations elections, once again by the will of the people, the map of Turkey was colored more diversely. Compared to the 2019 elections, a larger number of political parties won mayoral positions at the provincial, district, and town levels. In response to this picture, unlike others, we did not resort to staged 'we are leading' performances on the night of May 14. Although we fell short of our targets as a party, we positively welcomed the March 31 election results. What matters to us is the win for Turkey and Turkish democracy. We conduct our politics with the motto 'our people first, our country first.'
We view every result that enhances the reputation of the ballot box as a new threshold surpassed in Turkey's 75-year struggle for multi-party democracy, regardless of our party's votes. The mature stance of the AK Party and the People's Alliance has also changed the general atmosphere of politics after March 31. The softening in the political atmosphere and the messages of politicians have played a significant part in increasing trust in the political institution among the society.
We hope that this climate is not just a fleeting spring breeze but becomes the dominant character of Turkish politics. We have maintained our sincerity and constructive attitude so far,
not falling for various games aimed at condemning Turkey to a line of tension between parties, especially on May 1. We see that our counterparts in the opposition have also acted with determination and take pleasure in this for the sake of our country's politics. We believe that politicians will continue to act with a sense of responsibility and avoid statements that would cast a shadow over the reputation of the ballot box and undermine trust in civil politics. I once again thank every citizen who went to the polls and voted in these elections for their commitment to democracy and the supremacy of the national will. On behalf of our organizational staff, I express my gratitude to every member of our organization, every companion in our cause, for your efforts during the March 31 elections period.
While saying all this, we are not ignoring the March 31 election results. We have conducted, are conducting, and will conduct a comprehensive internal review of the results in the authorized bodies of our party.
So far, we have met and consulted with our Central Executive Board, Central Decision and Administration Board, AK Party Parliamentary group, friends whose opinions we value, opinion leaders, former members of our party, political scientists, academics, and representatives of civil society on various occasions. Today, we are together with our provincial chairpersons and other members of our organizational tiers. God willing, we will continue to expand our consultation circle. At our last Central Executive Board meeting, we decided to convene our traditional consultation camp very soon. First with our Members of Parliament, and then, God willing, with our mayors. We manage this process with great self-confidence and transparency, never shutting our ears to criticism.
We are well aware of one fact: it is not making mistakes but persisting in error that causes loss. In the ups and downs of political life, the main issue is always to stay on course. If you do not forget where you came from, you will not stray from your goals. Look, throughout our political life, we owe every success we have achieved, every struggle we have completed victoriously, first to God's help, and then to the support, prayers, and presence of our people. As we have always said, the AK Party is a party established by the people, with its sign hung by the people, conducting politics always for and with the people. In politics, our people have always set our course. We have never strayed from the path set by our people. We have held consultations with our people. We have communicated our concerns to our people and sought solutions to our problems together with them. We have shared the joy of our successes with our people. Whenever needed, we have always found our people by our side.
When the people look at us, they see themselves, their issues, but also a strong will capable of solving these problems. We have maintained solid bridges of the heart with different segments of our society, allowing us to reach this day with honor. We have never closed the doors of our organizations, our municipalities, or our hearts to our people. Today, I want to state clearly and explicitly once again. The AK Party is the party of the people and will remain so forever.
If there are any shortcomings, mistakes, problems, or faults towards the people, we definitely need to correct ourselves. The future of our party and our cause is above all personal concerns, all personal calculations.
As you know, I visited 52 of our provinces just during the campaign period. Besides, I have visited our other provinces on various occasions. The unchanging scene I witnessed during these visits was this: the AK Party has truly committed millions of members. We cannot repay the rights of these brothers and sisters, each a monument of sacrifice, who run day and night, expecting nothing in return but God's reward. We definitely cannot sacrifice the efforts of these sincere AK Party members to the arrogant who exceed their limits.
No one, be it politicians, capricious bureaucrats, lobbies, or interest groups, can waste the sacrifices of those devoted to our party for personal whims and accounts. We will not condone or agree to this. As the general chairman of this party and, above all, a soldier of it, we cannot personally bear such a heavy burden. We will not hesitate to do whatever is necessary to turn the March 31 election results into good for our party, our movement, and our cause, in line with the principle that there is good in what happens.
None of my friends here should doubt this. At the end of our consultation and renewal process, we are determined to continue on our path much stronger as the AK Party. The hallmark of the AK Party is always the ability to renew, refresh
, enlarge, develop, and adapt to new conditions. We see the congress process we have decided to initiate as the most important opportunity for this. I expect you to be vigilant against mischief traders lurking to poison this process, to sow discord among us.
We have determined our steps in our 50-year political struggle not based on rumors, but on this fundamental criterion: serving the truth and the people. If the people absolve us, we consider it a success. We cannot crown what the people fail. God willing, we will conduct this process with the precision of a jeweler who splits hairs. Not by breaking, spilling, or scattering, but on the contrary, by gathering, uniting, integrating, embracing, we will proceed. We will expand our ranks, intensify, and strive to further grow our party. While reinforcing our ranks with new names, new values, and new servants, we will not show ingratitude to the veterans of our party.
Please know this: We do not need names that will derive power from the AK Party, but those who will add strength, vision, dynamism, and excitement to the AK Party. With this understanding, we do not close our doors to those who truly want to serve the country and the people under the AK Party banner. But we also know very well from past experiences that we cannot walk the path with those who see politics as a career step. We aspire to transform our congresses into opportunities for resurrection and resurgence with names that will take our party to the peak. The essence of our congress is a campaign of the heart and can only deliver the expected results if conducted with such vision, inclusiveness, and sensitivity.
Do not forget, we are a party that has made a mark on Turkish political life. We are Turkey's largest family in terms of membership. Our governments over the past 21 years have provided our country with many times more services and achievements than those made before us. Just as we have stamped our mark on the last 21 years of Turkey, we will, God willing, shape its future.
Each of you here contributes to the construction of Turkey's Century with your effort, sweat, and struggle. You are the essence, the origin of this nation. Our people expect us to work harder, gather strength and energy, and set out on the road anew. Now more than ever, we will hold onto each other more tightly, embrace more, and come together more. We say the intention is good, the outcome will be good. I pray that God maintains our unity, togetherness, and solidarity."
