PM Erdoğan vows to hand over AKP leadership after consultations

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to hand over the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) after consultations, as he prepares to take over the presidency from Abdullah Gül on Aug. 28.

“I have said our party will never become a leadership dictatorship. I have stood behind the collective leadership approach for the past 13 years. We are conducting this process that will reshape our party by consulting all levels,” Erdoğan said on Aug. 14 during a speech to the AKP’s provincial heads in Ankara.

“God willing, we will bow to joint wisdom. The devil waits for such moments. We will foil his trap with unity,” he added.

Erdoğan’s statement came as the AKP decided to hold an extraordinary convention to elect its new chairman on Aug. 27, after Gül signaled his wish to return to the party. The timing of the convention has been controversial, as it makes it impossible for the outgoing president to join the party as the leader.
Many party members, as well as pundits close to Erdoğan, have emphasized the president-elect’s weight over the party, while dismissing claims of a rift between the two politicians.

2,000 Yazidis in Turkey

Erdoğan also touched on the issue of Yazidi refugees during his speech, saying that around 2,000 Yazidis fleeing from massacres committed by jihadists in Iraq have taken shelter in Turkey so far, as Ankara is preparing to set up a camp inside Iraq for them.

“We have assumed their care. Our humanitarian aid has exceeded 120 trucks,” he said.
Meanwhile, he also called for “patience” regarding Syrian refugees in Turkey, as tensions between locals and Syrians increase in several parts of the country...