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POLITICS
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POLITICAL IDENTITY
OF CONSERVATIVE
DEMOCRATISM
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is a conservative
democratic mass party that situates itself at the center of the
political spectrum.
The AK Party, which has started the most comprehensive
democratization and change process in the history of the
Republic, has been successful at five elections since its
foundation in 2001. AK Party has increased its votes in three
consecutive elections and has been in office during these terms.
The conservative democrat political identity that AK Party
developed has now been fully established and become a political
attraction. It is a source of inspiration for regional countries.
The conservativedemocrat political identity that AK Party has
been trying to develop has overlapping characteristics with
other practices of conservatism in the world. That said, this
political identity has been shaped by Turkeys sociocultural
characteristics and has a political style that has been shaped by
Turkey local dynamics.
In a predominantly Muslim country, this conservativedemocrat
understanding contributed significantly to the development of
democratic experience and set a precedent in its region.
Conservatism argues for limited government against all sorts
of authoritarianism, leaves change to societal dynamics,
underscores that freedom will only have meaning in its concrete
form and lends credit to intermediary mechanisms such as
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POLITICS,
DEMOCRACY,
CONSTITUTION
AND RIGHTS
Advanced Democracy
AK Party defines advanced democracy as an institutionalized
and free democracy in which an individuals indispensable, non
transferrable, immune rights and freedoms can be fulfilled and
protected against all kinds of the authority of the state. Advanced
democracy is one in which the will of the citizen has a direct
impact on state institutions not only through elections but also
through decisions and controls exercised by citizens in every
aspect of public life.
AK Party views democracy as a process that develops and
advances with the wide participation of the people. Democracy
is a regime of tolerance, dialogue and negotiation where the
rule of law and principles of administration are shaped by the
consent and will of the people. In democratic regimes, the will
of the people is reflected through free and fair elections where
the use of final authority and implementation power is exercised
by institutions formed via elections. All sorts of differences and
minority views are protected.
In democratic administrations, the majority cannot impose its
will on the minority and vice versa; a pluralist understanding is
the norm where the implementation and exercise of power is
inspected by objective criteria based on universal judicial norms.
NGOs, the media, opinion makers, professional organizations and
other similar organizations play a key role in this process.
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Political Parties
Political parties are indispensable actors in a democracy.
That said, the current constitution and laws stipulate certain
limitations on party regulations, organizations, programs and
activities.
It seems that political parties are defined as if they are ordinary
bureaucracies, their programs and regulations bureaucratic
regulations and their activities ordinary state activities. A uniform
political understanding has been made supreme in politics.
This notion of politics goes against the idea of political parties
as an institution for the people. This is also the product of an
understanding that does not believe politicians can carry the
responsibility of the people and thus mistrusts and discredits
politics and politicians.
AK Party has combated this concept of politics since its founding.
Protecting the will of the people as reflected in the ballot box was
seen as sacred. The Party has lifted democracy and the will of the
people and completed important reforms that have underlined
the will of the people. It has widened the realm of civic politics
and reinstituted respect for politics and politicians.
In a real state where the rule of law is supreme, the right to form
a political party, the ability to prepare the program and bylaws of
a party according to their free will should be protected.
AK Party has eased the conditions to form a new political
party. While prior to these changes only individuals who had
qualifications necessary to run for Parliament were allowed
to form a new party, changes have been introduced to allow
qualified individuals to become members of a political party to set
up a new party.
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Elections
In the new period, we aim at lifting problematic legal stipulations
which pertain to election system and elections, limitations to the
right to be elected and elect as well as amendments that would
make representation more just. We will make amendments and
changes to the Constitution, Law 298 on Fundamental Precepts
of Elections and Voting Lists, Law 2820 on Political Parties and
Law 2839 on Parliamentary Elections.
We will lift all antidemocratic impediments and limitations to
the right to elect and to be elected. Legal amendments will be
introduced that will facilitate better democratic representation,
and increase democratic standards, allow for closer relations
between MPs and the people.
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Legal changes will be initiated that will allow the Higher Election
Council, responsible for the administration and inspection of
elections, to fulfill its duties better. In order to democratize the
Higher Election Council, make it more transparent and improve
its efficiency, a permanent structure will be established that
would allow members of the judiciary and candidates proposed
by the Parliament to become members.
Political System
For almost 200 years, a live debate over administrative and
political systems has been continuing.
Although Turkish political history has had at times strong and
stable governments, overall we have had unstable, weak and
ineffective coalition governments.
Turkey always grew and developed during times of political
stability and strong government. The Menderes years, the zal
era and the AK Party era are concrete examples that prove
our point. When there was no political stability and strong
government, we have always had political, economic and social
crises where the country as a whole has lost.
Governments who were multiparty, weak, without fast decision
making reflexes and political will were open to all sorts of anti
democratic interventions and overshadowed by political tutelage.
It is no coincidence that political, economic and social crises
increased during such periods. Such periods were costly for our
country both domestically and internationally.
In light of our political experiences and history, the debate to
find the right recipe for a system that would produce political
stability has been continuing in our country for years. Through
political and legal reforms, AK Party has lifted the impediments
for a fruitful debate and thus made important contributions to the
discussion.
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A New Constitution
AK Party is determined since its foundation to draft a new
constitution that would reflect its advanced democracy
understanding; that would be prepared with the widest possible
agreement and democratic methods and that would be owned by
all parts of society.
From the beginning, AK Party has been struggling to prepare
a pluralist and free constitution that would not be exclusive but
inclusive, not othering but embracing, not divisive but uniting,
not penalizing but freeing, not uniform but diverse.
Terms such as fundamental rights and freedoms, the rule
of law, freedom of thought and religion are not present in a
universal manner in the 1982 Constitution. They are present in
the Constitution within their own narrow and limited meaning.
Although the 1982 Constitution was amended 17 times and
half of its content has been changed, the stipulation that the
Constitution should be understood and interpreted in line with
the essence and respect to its soul and with absolute faith at
the preface, amendments have been subjected to ideological
interpretations and thus have been rendered meaningless.
Despite attempts for change, the concept of the essence and
soul of the Constitution, which began with the 27 May 1960
military coup, has served as a shield of tutelage and protection
against true democracy.
AK Party has been instrumental in arguing for the need of a
new constitution and has facilitated a better understanding
of our society for such a need. Political and judicial problems
experienced since 2002 have gradually served to remind our
society that the main issue is the constitution and that the crux of
the matter lies with the soul of the constitution. Henceforth, AK
Party has been raising the issue of a new constitution since 2007
and has taken a number of steps in that direction.
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SOCIETY
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Social Policies
Family: As a conservative democrat party, we value family. The
driving force behind our social policies is to protect and support
families that are the strength of our community and builders of
our future.
What distinguishes us and gives us advantage is our strong family
structure. In fact, it is our strong family structure that sustains
our community despite all difficulties and social and individual
traumas.
We, as AK Party, have followed policies dedicated to improving
the living standards of women, the young and the elder who make
up the pillars of our community.
We, as AK Party, have always defended market economy and free
trade, but we have never given into to the savagery of capitalism.
The state does not play the main role in the economy, but rather
the role of an auditor and monitor.
The redistribution of funds gained from private sector oriented
economies in order to increase the living standards of our people
and take care of our disadvantaged has always been our most
fundamental policy.
We have always valued the principle of a social state and
we continue to value it. To this end, in order to give the most
effective, productive and expedient service, all institutions of
social welfare services were merged under the roof of Ministry of
Family and Social policies.
We increased our social spending to sixteen times of what it was
in 2002. The ratio of social spending to GDP has also increased
three fold.
In the year of 2012, we began a monetary support program for
widowed women. 192.109 women have already applied to the
program.
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Youth: Our youth are the spirit of our present and the assurance
of our future. The youth is a nations most precious treasure. Our
country has more of this treasure than other countries.
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Healthcare
Since the day we came into power in 2002, we have achieved
tremendous improvements in the healthcare. By our Healthcare
Transformation Plan, defined by the principle we named First
Priority is Human, we realized great achievements. We said
everyone deserves a decent healthcare and we managed to
carry out a paramount transformation.
With the pace and depth of improvements in our healthcare
indexes, the improvement has turned into a global success
story. With such an example of a concrete success in the
transformation, we displayed that we can hurdle all troubles and
realize all our goals, once we believe.
Under AK Partys governments, receiving a decent healthcare
is no more an exclusive privilege for some but a service to all
citizens by the state, regardless of income. In comparison to
developed countries, our citizens have the privilege of being a
citizen of a country having strong healthcare system. Necessary
decisions have been made for having such a system without any
hesitation and decisively.
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Economy
Our government has been monitoring the changes in the world
economy closely since the beginning and all of our assessments
have been made on the basis of realistic assessments. In a
decade, we transformed Turkey into a confident, competitive
country where the rule of law helps economic stability. A
sustainable economic development is possible only with a
strong democracy, rule of law based on universal principles and
competitive production system.
As with other spheres, we have managed to realize a tremendous
transformation in the economy.
The center of our focus in the economy has been the individual
and improving his condition. Rather than adopting a strictly
centralized developmental model, we gave priority to establish a
productive environment in which the entrepreneurs and workers
can realize their potential. The state has acted as a facilitator
rather than a force preventing creativity and development.
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The success of our reforms carried out between 2003 and 2007
was tested with the global crisis. Our economy passed this test
with flying colors.
We have managed the global crisis with our own resources
without requesting bailout funds from international organizations
such as the IMF. Not one of our banks went under. We did not fall
into the vicious circle of debt and interest. We did not experience
financial turbulence. As a rising economic power in the face of a
global crisis, we found our confidence again. We have become a
country that holds a guiding light to others that shares its positive
experiences and holds its head up in all international platforms
including the G20.
We have paid off almost all of our debt to IMF. We are now at a
position to lend $5 billion to IMF.
We have shown a much envied economic performance with
economic growth rates such as 9.2% in 2010 and 8.5% in 2011.
Our economic growth continues determinedly at a time when
growth rates in Europe are expected to remain at zero and when
global growth rate is predicted to be in the negatives.
We have increased the ratio of public social spending including
education, healthcare and social protection from 13.5% of the
GDP in 2002 to 16.7% of the GDP in 2011. While only 1.3 billion TL
was allocated to social assistance spending previously, we now
allocate almost ten times that number.
Our fight, as AK Party, against poverty is moving forward full
fledged. In the world today there are almost 1 billion people
with an income of less than $1 a day. There is no one in Turkey
today living under such poverty. We have decreased the rate of
those who have less than $2.15 daily income from 3.04% of the
population to 0.2%. During the same time period, the rate of
citizens who lived with $4.3 daily dropped from 30.3 % to 3.7%.
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THE WORLD
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Global Activism
One of the primary goals of AK Party Governments over the
last ten years has been to improve Turkeys standing in the
international order and increase its prestige, visibility and
activism.
As a result of a proactive foreign policy made possible by
democratization and economic performance, Turkeys image has
completely changed in the region and the world.
Turkey is now seen as a source of inspiration from Morocco to
Afghanistan. Turkey has become a major player that contributes
to peace and stability in its region and the global order.
Ten years ago, Turkeys participation in international
organizations and meetings was a matter of no importance.
Today, Turkeys presence is felt in every major forum, meeting
and summit, and Turkey is effectively represented in all of the
major multinational organizations.
In 2002, the total number of Turkeys diplomatic missions around
the world was 163; today we have 202 diplomatic missions. This
number will soon reach 219. Turkey is represented through its
diplomatic missions from Tanzania and Ecuador to Myanmar and
Colombia. We will soon become the fifth country in the world in
terms of the highest number of diplomatic missions.
One of our key objectives has been to develop relations with
our neighbors and strengthen our role from the Balkans and
Caucasia to Central Asia and the Middle East. To that effect, we
have introduced a new paradigm and left behind the old habits
of foreign policy and international relations based on security
threats. We have followed the wellknown policies of zero
problems with neighbors, security for everyone, economic
integration, and multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence.
And we have reaped the benefits in a short period of time.
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A New Conception of
Geography
Our strategic depth and proactivism in foreign policy is not
limited to the Middle East region. From the Balkans and
Caucasus to Africa and Central Asia, we see all countries as
potential partners with which we can build a better future. Those
countries also have a strong desire and strategic outlook to have
partnership with Turkey.
The reason for this is our ability to make use of our historical
heritage, translate it into the context of todays global politics and
deepen mutual understanding and partnership through concrete
projects.
Likewise, we have deepened our political, economic and cultural
relations with those countries in the Caucasus and Central
Asia with which we have a special bond of religion, language
and culture. To develop a future vision, we have established the
Turkish Cooperation Council. We will continue to be an active
player in these regions of the world with the same outlook and
determination.
Starting with Central Asia, we have established highlevel
relations with all of the Turkish Republics. We have launched
major initiative in Africa. Our Africa opening, which began ten
years ago, has today become one of the cornerstones of our
global foreign policy.
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Global Peace
The Alliance of Civilizations Initiative, which we launched
together with Spain in 2004, has become the largest international
organizations in terms of its members after the UN. The Alliance
is gaining strength everyday as a global platform for the peaceful
coexistence of different cultures and civilizations. Turkeys
leading role in this area and the Alliance will continue unabated.
As we saw in the cartoon crisis several years ago and now
with the reprehensible film about our beloved Prophet, there
is an urgent need for an international initiative and joint effort
to fight against the rising tide of Islamophobia and to establish
peace and harmony between different cultures and civilizations.
Islamophobia is a very dangerous trend that poisons relations
between Islamic and Western societies. Just like antiSemitism,
Islamophobia is a form of racism and a crime against humanity.
In this regard, we began a comprehensive initiative to classify
Islamophobia as a hate crime and will pursue it to the end.
European Union
We accept the European Union project as a success story. After
decades of great wars and conflicts, a project like the EU to unify
all European nations could have been possible only with a grand
vision for the future. Today, people refer to the EU project when
they talk about peace, solidarity and economic development in
other parts of the world.
It is AK Party that has put for the first time Turkeys 50year old
checkered relationship with the EU in a comprehensive strategic
context and made it part of its strategic outlook. AK Party has
taken concrete steps to realize the EU vision in tandem with
Turkeys needs and priorities.
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opened up a new horizon for the world. The world has once again
remembered the importance of dignity, selfesteem and belief in
freedom.
At this critical juncture in the modern history of the Middle East,
AK Party has stodd with the people against the status quo and
oppression and supported the peoples legitimate demands for
change.
Three principles have guided our approach to the Arab
revolutions:
Change in our region is inevitable. No regime that
oppresses and kills its own people and excludes the vast
majority of the people from political participation can have a
chance to survive.
This process of change must take place peacefully and with
national consensus.
Both the transition period and the postrevolutionary
phase should include all members of the society without
discrimination and exclusion.
The first principle refers to the need for change, the second to the
will of the people, and the third to pluralist and inclusive politics.
It goes without saying that each country has its own specific
circumstances and they should be taken into account.
AK Party pursued a dynamic politics in this historic period. We
implemented our principles while taking into account the new
emerged dynamics and factors.
What we said in Tunisia, we said the same thing in Egypt. We
upheld the same position in Libya and supported the peoples
legitimate demands for change. Today, we uphold the same
principle in regards to Syria. We firmly believe that the Syrian
people deserve justice, freedom, dignity and prosperity as much
as others.
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Cyprus
Our policy on Cyprus has been clear all along. Turkey and the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have done their part to
bring peace and stability to the island. They have supported and
voted for the UN Annan Plan in 2004. But the UN and the EU
have failed to fulfill their responsibilities and abandoned Turkish
Cypriots. The Greek Cypriots have been rewarded despite their
rejection of the UN plan.
We call for a fair solution that will be acceptable to all sides. Our
conditions for negotiations are wellknown. We will continue to
stand by them.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is in the process of
establishing a strong political system as a sovereign state. Its
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National Defense
One of the requirements of our vision to become a regional leader
and global player is to make our military defense system more
efficient, deterrent and modern. Our national defense industry
needs to further develop so that our armed forces can maximize
its military capabilities.
Our defense industry has vastly expanded under AK Party
governments. Gone is the time when Turkey was unable to
manufacture even a simple rifle; today, we are capable of
producing our own tanks.
We have established the infrastructure for a national tank called
ALTAY. We have also begun test flights for our nationally
produced UVs called ANKA that can go up to 10 thousand
meters and stay on the air for 24 hours.
Part of our 2023 Turkey Vision is to be able to manufacture our
major defense needs by ourselves.
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