Justice and Development Party
Turkey's ruling Conservative Party, founded in 2001 and led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
On 27 October 2026 AKP members on a Turkish parliamentary committee voted to ratify the Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. A party official said a motion to post Turkish air-defence personnel to Saudi Arabia would follow.
Last refreshed: 29 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Justice and Development Party
Voted for the ratification bill
Iran Conflict 2026: Turkish MPs back Mecca pact in committeeBackground
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Abdullah Gül and Bülent Arınç founded the Justice and Development Party on 14 August 2001, splitting from the Virtue Party. It has governed Turkey since 2002, and Erdoğan has chaired it since 2017. It holds about 280 of the 600 seats in the Grand national assembly and leads the People's Alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party.
That alliance gives the AKP a working majority, so government bills pass or stall on its own whip rather than on opposition votes. Its Conservative programme and Erdoğan's leadership set the governing agenda, foreign and security policy included.
The Mecca pact shows how far that agenda now reaches. The AKP backed ratification at committee stage on 27 October, and one of its officials linked the pact to a later deployment motion for air-defence and electronic-warfare support in Saudi Arabia. The deputy foreign minister told the same committee no deployment is envisaged at present. A plenary vote has no date.
Who leads the AKP in Turkey?
How many seats does the AKP have in the Turkish parliament?
Does the AKP support the Mecca defence pact with Saudi Arabia?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 29 October 2026. Editorial standards.