Ankara chair resigns as AKP begins reorganization in party branches

The head of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) provincial branch in Ankara has resigned, apparently as part of a reorganization of the party according to results of the March 30 local elections.

Since the elections, AKP officials have been expecting changes in Ankara as the party leadership has apparently decided to renew the organization via changes at provincial branches where the ruling party failed to achieve its targets.

Ankara was such a province, with incumbent Mayor Melih Gökçek winning with only a 0.9 percent lead over the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) candidate, Mansur Yavaş.

The chairs of some provincial branches have already presented their resignation, while more changes are expected in 15 provinces, including Ä°zmir, where the CHP was the winner of the local vote.

The AKP’s outgoing Ankara provincial chair, Murat Alparslan, who has held the post since 2009 after getting involved in politics with the AKP in 2002, announced his resignation in a written statement released May 30.

“[We are] at the end of a process during which we have come out of all elections with glory in the last five years,” Alparslan said in his statement, underlining that his resignation was an outcome of a decision by the party leadership that suggested his resignation would be appropriate.