Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) marked its 16th anniversary this week, and its history has been an amazing story. A party that was crafted by the disheartened of banned political Islamist parties and who called themselves the “movement of the virtuous” spent 15 of those 16 years as the party in power — the longest period for any party in recent Turkish history.
Pompous celebrations and ceremonies were held to underscore the might of its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some 6,000 people were invited to the main ceremony.
