Turkey's Justice and Development Party marked its 25th anniversary on Thursday with a rally in Ankara, as party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted infrastructure projects and economic milestones while presiding over a movement that has reshaped Turkish politics since its founding in 2001.
Speaking at the Millet Bahçesi park in the capital, Erdoğan said Turkey had become the world's 16th-largest economy and Europe's sixth, citing 26,000 kilometres of highways, 27 medical cities, and more than 1.7 million social housing units built under his governments. He also pinned badges on lawmakers and mayors who defected from other parties to join the AKP.
The party first won a parliamentary majority in 2002 with 34.28 percent of the vote and later transitioned Turkey to a presidential system after a 2017 referendum. With over 11.7 million members as of July 2026, the AKP nonetheless slipped to second place in the 2024 local elections, signalling shifting voter sentiment after more than two decades in power.