ANKARA
Turkey’s Justice and Development (AK) Party will hold its ordinary congress in September, the party’s Deputy Chairman Besir Atalay said on Tuesday.
The congress will be held in capital Ankara at the Arena Sport Hall on September 12, Atalay told the media after a meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body, the Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK).
The AK Party holds its ordinary congress once every three years. The last ordinary congress was held in September 30, 2012.
The party held its extraordinary congress on August 27 last year after former AK Party chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected as Turkish president on August 10 and Prime Minister ( and then foreign minister) Ahmet Davutoglu was designated as the chairman of the party.
About forming a new government, Atalay said: "Next process is in our president’s power but while we are carrying out all the works [for the next election], we will on the other hand prepare for our congress."
Turkey appears to be set for a rerun of the June 7 general election that saw no party achieve a simple majority in parliament. Any new poll is likely to take place in late November, although Turkey’s election authority has the power to cut the 90-day period by half.
