- Title: TURKEY-POLITICS/AK PARTY CONGRESS Turkey's ruling AKP holds congress
- Date: 12th September 2015
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAVING FLAGS DAVUTOGLU ON PODIUM
- Embargoed: 27th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAEKUF5E8ECBSY0X71PJDRCGECU
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As Turkey's ruling AK Party convened its congress in the capital Ankara on Saturday (September 12), Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pledged to continue the fight against Kurdish militants.
Clashes between Turkish troops and PKK militants, who have bases in the mountains of nearby northern Iraq, have become a daily occurrence since the ceasefire between the two sides fell apart, leaving peace negotiations to end the 30-year-old insurgency in tatters.
The Turkish government accuses the PKK of ramping up its attacks and repeatedly breaching the now defunct ceasefire.
"Today, the biggest test ahead of us is our fight against the terrorist attacks that pose a grave threat against the solidarity of our people and the unity of our country," Davutoglu said.
"We will give severe punishments to those who attempt to destroy the peace and disturb our citizens by trying to drag Turkey into chaos. Their headquarters in northern Iraq and every place they are gathering in Turkey are being wiped out with the operations that are being carried out by the legal forces of the Turkish Republic and the Turkish army," he told delegates of his AK Party at a congress overshadowed by a politician who, officially at least, is no longer even a member: President Tayyip Erdogan.
The most popular and divisive Turkish politician in recent memory faces budding discontent from inside the movement he founded, officials say, as his drive to secure an absolute majority for the AKP has pushed it toward a snap election where such a result is uncertain.
The friction between Erdogan and the man who replaced him as head of the AKP, Davutoglu, was expected to play out on Saturday as both men try to stack the party's committees with their own loyalists.
Party officials say that, among numerous bones of contention within the ranks, there is much argument over the fact that Davutoglu considered forming a coalition after the AKP lost its absolute majority at an election in June.
After the AKP failed to find a junior coalition partner, Davutoglu was forced to form a temporary cabinet.
Erdogan's hope is that the AKP can win enough votes to eventually change the constitution and create a more powerful presidency, though this looks highly unlikely in the short term.
The political uncertainty is worrying investors in Turkey's more than $800 billion economy.
They have been unnerved as Ankara battles Kurdish militants at home and Islamic State fighters on its borders, and have sent the lira currency to a series of record lows. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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