AKP will reset to factory settings : Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmu? has said the Justice and Development Party (AKP) will return to its "factory settings" at its party's congress in mid-September, adding that this date would also mark the start of its campaign for the snap election set for Nov. 1. 

"I hope the congress will be an opportunity where the messages conveyed to us by the nation on June 7 will be understood. The AKP could return to its factory settings with a spirit of renewal, putting forward the will to finish economic and judicial reforms, forming a message with a wide array [of people] in the future and spreading it to a wide proportion of the nation," Kurtulmu? told Hürriyet. 

Stating that the AKP congress on Sept. 12 will see the party "renew its Islamic ablutions," he said this would be reflected in its attitude, basis and slogans. 

The deputy prime minister said the congress would also fire the starting gun for the AKP's campaign before the snap elections set for Nov. 1. The election will come just five months after the last election in June, when no party could form a government on its own. 

Saying the AKP would "accept whatever result emerges" from the Nov. 1 election, Kurtulmu? added that it was "obvious that no formula could work without containing the AKP." 

Meanwhile, commenting on MHP Ankara deputy Tu?rul Türke?'s acceptance of a ministerial post in the interim government, Kurtulmu? welcomed the move as a "correct political step." 

"Because we cannot refrain from the language of polarization in politics, parties unfortunately consider each other enemies. Even though views may be different, and even though politics is a field of struggle and competition, it is not a field of war. I believe Türke?'s name will be a...