Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) roadmap for the next general elections in 2028 is slowly taking shape, as the party is eager to rekindle lost support.
Chairperson and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan helmed the meeting at a consultation and assessment summit in Ankara this weekend. The party executives have decided to launch “Türkiye meetings” that will start this month and last until the party’s ordinary congress, scheduled for October 2025, which is said to be “unlike the usual assemblies.”
The ruling party is looking to set up a vast consultation network that will discuss fresh policies and dissect its performance in the past 20 years. The party will send its lawmakers into the field to meet with citizens to personally respond to public questions.
In addition to fieldwork, an online organization model is also in the works.
“The AK Party must catch up with and direct the social transformation taking place in Türkiye,” Deputy Chairperson Erkan Kandemir told lawmakers at Saturday’s meeting. “Therefore, we’re diversifying ways of joining our party.”
The AK Party is planning to increase the number of its members, currently over 11 million nationwide, notably targeting voters who opted for other parties or abstained in the May 2023 general and March 31 local elections.
Turnout was particularly low for the local vote, down by almost 5 million people to 78.1% from 84.7% in 2019 and 86.9% in the 2023 elections, meaning 22 out of every 100 voters didn’t go to polls.
Preliminary research has shown that "economic conditions, fatigue from back-to-back elections and dissatisfaction with mayoral candidates" were the main causes of voter abstention.
Another focus is on young Turkish citizens, who will comprise 65% of the electorate in the 2028 elections, up nearly 12.5% from the May 2023 polls.
There will be more than 7 million first-time voters in 2028 and the AK Party wants to appeal to the age group through university channels and public figures who can promote social dynamics.
For the first time in years, the AK Party lagged behind the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the elections. The CHP won 14 metropolitan municipalities, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, though the AK Party sought to retake after losing them to the CHP in the 2019 elections. The CHP also won 21 provincial municipalities, while the AK Party was victorious in 12 metropolitan and 12 provincial municipalities.
Convening his party’s branch heads for 81 provinces at a meeting in early May, Erdoğan hinted at changes within party cadres in the aftermath of the elections. He emphasized that they would not allow those seeking to advance their own political career and would focus on winning the hearts of “new names that will empower us.”
