Erdogan vows no change ahead of Turkey handover

ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday pledged that the policies of his ruling party would not change as he prepared to take the presidency and hand the job of premier to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Erdogan gave a keynote farewell speech to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as it held a congress to confirm Davutoglu as the new party leader and premier when he becomes president.
The Turkish strongman rejected suggestions that Davutoglu would simply be a puppet premier and said that the AKP would never be a “one man” party.
The vast congress, which mustered some 40,000 people at an Ankara sports arena, was a key step in a tightly-choreographed process to ensure the succession goes smoothly.
Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey as premier for over a decade with development-focused policies, will be sworn in as president on Thursday after his victory in the Aug. 10 election.
In a marathon two-hour speech, Erdogan said the government’s strategy would not change with the handover and said the party had “always excluded personal ambitions and arrogance.”
“Names have no importance. Names change today but our essence, our mission, our spirits, our goals and ideals remain in place.”
Erdogan, who has two sons and two daughters, described the party he helped found as his “fifth child” but said the “farewell time” had come. Under Turkish law, the president should sever all ties with political parties. But Erdogan said the party was not just about one person.
“The AKP will never be a one-man party. It is a party of principles,” he said.
“Our cause will not change tomorrow and it will not be abandoned in the future.”
The congress is a largely ceremonial affair with Davutoglu the only candidate for party leader and premier after his candidacy was agreed by the party’s executive committee last week.
It will make a formal show of voting on his candidacy later in the day.
Erdogan entered the congress with his wife Emine to a rock star-style welcome, throwing red carnations to the crowds and a pop song booming out with the chorus “Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”
The slogan of the congress “all together for a new Turkey” emphasises Erdogan’s ambition to transform the country into an economically-booming world power.
Erdogan, 60, is expected to revamp what has been until now a largely ceremonial post of president into a powerful role, with Davutoglu a loyal ally who will not pose any obstacles.