Policy of Turkish Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi) in Internal Reform

Abstract

The Turkish Justice and Development Party has repeatedly won the general elections, both the Parliamentary and the Municipal, from 2002 until 2014. Its latest big victory has been the one that was held in March 30, 2014, in which the Party maintained control over the main and important cities such as Ankara and Istanbul. There are a number of reasons for such a repeated victory, among the most important of which is the Party’s internal policy that is represented by rescuing the critical economic situation the country was suffering from. Among the reasons are also allowing for a wide space of public freedom and enhancing the standards of democracy and human rights. A further reason for the Party’s repeated victory is the gradual nullifying of the military institution which had ruled the country for a long period of time and led many military coups that deteriorated Turkey in all aspects of life. Moreover, the Party has neutralized the judicial institution and made a real effort to establish an independent judiciary system. In addition, the Party has paid a great attention to the health sector as well as the social, cultural and educational fields. In this latter regard, the government of the Justice and Development Party has witnessed the biggest budget for education in the history of the Republic. All those efforts have contributed to the increase of the public credit of the Justice and Development Party. Thus, the Party’s internal policy has witnessed a big success in the process of the comprehensive reform.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s1p318