Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is concerned with the growing popularity of former deputy prime minister Ali Babacan and his Democracy and Progress Party ahead of the 2023 parliamentary elections, revealed sources from the ruling Justice and Development party.
As a result, the president has sought to introduce change in the AK Party structure and policies in an attempt to avoid a setback in the polls, they added.
The pressure is on given the growing number of resignations from the party and the challenge mounted by opponents, including Babacan and former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Davutoglu was once a close ally to Erdogan, but broke away from the AK Party in 2019.
The sources said that Erdogan views Babacan as his greatest challenge and has introduced a process to “renew” the ruling party.
Among his first moves was his sudden abandonment of his son-in-law and Finance and Treasury Minister Berat Albayrak, who abruptly resigned in November soon after the president sacked the central bank governor.
The governor was replaced by Naci Agbal, in a move that angered Albayrak, who was being groomed to succeed Erdogan as head of the AK Party.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Albayrak’s departure from the picture marks the beginning of Erdogan’s effort to restore the power of his party.
The president then introduced change to his economic policies, paving the way for a softer foreign policy and calm approach to the European Union and United States, despite the sanctions the former has imposed on Ankara over its destabilizing activities in the eastern Mediterranean and the latter’s sanctions over its purchase of the Russian S-400 defense system.
Babacan has meanwhile been active in growing his party’s popular base by carrying out tours to various Turkish cities and provinces where he was warmly welcomed by the people.
Many still recall his major economic successes when he served as minister of state in charge of economic affairs in previous Erdogan governments.
Babacan also tweeted new year greetings in Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, English and French. The move stirred debate in Turkey because it was the first time that a head of a Turkish party expresses greetings in Kurdish and other foreign languages.
Erdogan is set to resume holding conferences for the AK Party after they came to a halt with the novel coronavirus outbreak. They will be held between January 8 and until the end of February. The party will hold its general congress in May.
Despite the setbacks, polls reveal that Erdogan’s party can still retain power and has the ability to resolve the country’s problems, on condition that it introduce new blood to its ranks and embark on reform before the 2023 elections.
