 |
Political parties to hold congresses, keep leaders
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), the Democrat Party (DP) and the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) will all hold congresses in October and November. The DP and ANAVATAN congresses will be aimed at coordinating a merger of the two parties. The AK Party's congress will be held on Oct. 3, the DTP's will be held on Oct. 4 and the MHP's will be held on Nov. 8. The DP and ANAVATAN congresses are expected to be held either on Oct. 31 or Nov. 1.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leader of the AK Party, will introduce new changes to management and offer revisions to bylaws governing membership and the operation of the party at the AK Party's third party congress.
Political observers will keep an eye on changes to be made in the Central Decision and Administration Board (MKYK), the party's highest decision-making body, and will try to decipher where the party is heading. Many expect Erdoğan to reshape the MKYK in a bid to get the party ready for the general elections to be held in 2011.
It is expected that Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, Labor Minister Ömer Çelik, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, Erdoğan's adviser Hüseyin Çelik, former Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Ankara deputy Salih Kapusuz will be in the new MKYK of the AK Party.
The MHP is expected to change its party bylaws at its congress in the wake of former MHP deputy Koray Aydın's claim that MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli cannot seek re-election due to restrictions in the MHP's party bylaws. In the DTP's congress, current party leaders Ahmet Türk and Emine Ayna are expected to retain their positions as the party's co-chairmen.
Party member Hatice Çoban, speaking to Today's Zaman, said new members will be elected during the party congress to the positions of DTP members who have been detained.
“We held preliminary meetings in all the provinces before the congress. We had consultations about who to carry to the party's window. We have a 40 percent female quota and continue to sustain this,” said Çoban. ANAVATAN is expected to decide to merge with the DP in their party congress, which will be held either on Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. A DP member, Ahmet Uyanık, said there will no race for party membership after the parties' merger.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| The modern ‘Great Game’: women’s role and status | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
| KATHY HAMILTON |  |
||
| Random acts of violence | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| Adding insult to injury in Uludere | |||
| NICOLE POPE |  |
||
| Shifting responsibility | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| ‘Errorism’ | |||
| ORHAN MİROĞLU |  |
||
| ‘Strategic vision’ | |||
| ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ |  |
||
| Turkey through Amnesty International’s eyes | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
