For a country as politically driven as the Republic of Türkiye – where politics has always occupied a central place in public life and thoroughly shaped society – reaching a quarter-century in power is not a small achievement.
When the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was founded in the early 2000s, Türkiye was going through an extraordinary period. Following the decline of the Motherland Party (ANAP), established by the late President Turgut Özal, the country's political trajectory became increasingly unstable after Özal assumed the presidency and Süleyman Demirel succeeded him.
The Welfare Party's (RP) rise to power, with its emphasis on Islamic values, brought the re-emergence of military tutelage, which had previously manifested itself through the coups of 1960 and 1980. On Feb. 28, 1997, the military issued a memorandum that forced the resignation of the late Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan and brought down the Refah-Yol (Refah stands for R in the RP) coalition government. When coalition partner Tansu Çiller later attempted to rebuild her political movement, her party fractured, and the Refah-Yol government never returned to office.
The governments that followed were all short-lived. By the time of the late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit's administration – which had once secured 36% of the vote – called early elections, public support had collapsed to barely 1%-1.5%. The dramatic decline of what had once been Türkiye's leading political force was itself a telling reflection of the country's political climate.
