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ANKARA (AFP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday urged sweeping change in the upper echelons of the ruling party ahead of 2019 elections, after it showed signs of weakness at the ballot box.

Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was celebrating the 16th anniversary of its founding in 2001, for the first time since Erdogan returned to the job of party boss this year.

Change is natural for the AKP, which was established to respond to Turkeys need for change. But now what we need is a sweeping change, Erdogan said in a speech outside Ankara marking the anniversary.

He said that successful colleagues including MPs, mayors and regional party officials would be able to stay in their jobs but those who were showing tiredness and weariness would have to move on.

He said the new process was beginning in the regions and would be finished by the end of February. Erdogan denied it was a liquidation campaign but said: We need to be ready for 2019.

Erdogan co-founded the AKP as an Islamic-rooted party that would also strive to modernise the economy and push ahead with Turkeys European Union (EU) membership bid.

It has never been defeated at the ballot box since first winning power in 2002 but there have been signs its grip on power has grown slightly less tight in the last years.

In June 2015 parliamentary elections, the party lost its overall majority for the first time, although clawed it back in snap November polls that year.

And most alarmingly, Erdogan won the April 16 referendum on expanding his powers by a much narrower margin than expected, with 51.4 per cent of the vote.

The November 2019 elections will see presidential and parliamentary polls held on the same day.

Afterwards, most of the changes agreed in the constitutional referendum will be implemented, including the liquidation of the office of prime minister.

One change implemented immediately was allowing the president to lead a political party. Erdogan had to leave the AKP when he moved from the office of premier to president in 2014 but swiftly took the job back after the referendum.

Supporters say the changes will streamline government in Turkey but critics fear that they will lead the way to one-man rule.

Turkey remains under a state of emergency imposed after the July 15, 2016 failed coup which led to the biggest crackdown in the countrys history.

In a show of solidarity, key party old guard members like ex-premier Ahmet Davutoglu and former parliament speaker Bulent Arinc were present at the ceremony.

However, Erdogans predecessor as president and AKP co-founder Abdullah Gul was again conspicuous by his absence.

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Erdogan urges 'sweeping change' in Turkey ruling party ahead of polls - Borneo Bulletin Online

ANKARA: Irans Armed Forces chief of staff on Wednesday held rare talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reportedly focused on the fight against "terror" groups in Syria and Iraq.

Erdogan hosted General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri at his presidential palace in Ankara with Turkeys top general Hulusi Akar also in attendance, the Turkish presidency said.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said the hugely unusual talks lasted 50 minutes, but gave no details.

Reports ahead of Bagheris three day visit, which began on Tuesday, had said the Iranian general was aiming to coordinate policy on Syria and Iraq. Relations between overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Turkey, a secular state, and the mainly Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran have on occasion been tense in the last years.

Turkey and Iran lie on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, with Erdogan seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad to end the war. Tehran, along with Moscow, remain the Syrian leaders key allies and backers.

Erdogan has sometimes lashed out at the rise of "Persian nationalism" in the region, especially concerning the power of Shiite militias in Iraq.

But Turkey and Russia have been cooperating more over Syria in recent months, helping to extract civilians from Aleppo and then co-sponsoring peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Tehran may also share Ankaras concerns about over sway of the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in the border area.

Both Turkey and Iran have substantial Kurdish minorities and they vehemently oppose a plan by Iraqs autonomous Kurdish region to organise a vote on independence later this year.

"We are seeking a good agreement with Turkey to provide better security for Iranian and Turkish borders especially in the west and northwest," said Guards spokesman General Ramezan Sharif, quoted by the IRNA news agency.

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Iran forces chief holds rare talks with Erdogan - The News International

Turkish President Erdogan speaks during a meeting of the AK Party in Rize.

Domestic politics are at the heart of the current poor state of relations between Turkey and some European countries, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Ties between Turkey and Germany have soured in recent months, reaching a nadir last month when German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Berlin would no longer encourage or guarantee investment in Turkey.

"We know that the most of the criticism of European countries for our country is related to their domestic politics," Erdogan said at the opening of a factory in Isparta, southwest Turkey.

Referring to the Netherlands' block on Turkish ministerial speeches in the run-up to April's constitutional referendum in Turkey, the president said: "Now we see that Germany is using the same tactics. I believe that they will return to normal after the elections."

Germany will hold a federal election of Bundestag lawmakers on Sept. 24.

A series of diplomatic incidents has included German complaints about the arrest of its nationals on terrorism charges, the lack of access for lawmakers to German troops at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey and claims that Turkey has carried out espionage in Germany.

Ankara has accused Germany of harbouring terrorists and criticised the government for barring Turkish politicians from addressing crowds ahead of the referendum.

On Tuesday, Turkey allowed German lawmakers to visit their troops based at an air base near Konya, central Turkey, under a deal brokered by NATO.

It followed the withdrawal of German jets from Incirlik, where they had been tasked to conduct surveillance missions against Daesh in Syria, after lawmakers were denied permission to visit.

Party change

Turning to the governing Justice and Development Party or AK Party, which he heads, Erdogan said: "We are committed to achieve a fundamental change in our party."

He has previously warned "tired" AK Party lawmakers to step aside ahead of the 2019 general election and he made a similar warning when he told the crowd that change was needed for those who had "moved away from the values of the AK Party".

Erdogan added: "We need companions who are energy-driven, enthusiastic and have equipment and projects for the future of our country, our nation and our cities."

Syria, Iraq borders

On the issues of the security threats at Turkey's borders, Erdogan said a "terror state, which is trying to establish itself along the Syrian and Iraqi borders" was aimed as damaging Turkey's independence and future.

In Syria, the YPG, which Ankara views as an extension of the PKK terrorist organisation but is backed by the US, has established territory along stretches of the Turkish border while in Iraq, the Kurdish Regional Government has pledged to hold a referendum on independence from Baghdad.

The PKK, also designated a terrorist organisation by the US and EU, resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015 and since then has been responsible for the deaths of close of 1,200 people including security personnel and civilians.

Erdogan said the "insignificant and unfounded accusations" of European politicians against Turkey were borne from the same desire to hurt Turkey.

Source: AA

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Erdogan says relations with Berlin will improve after German election - TRT World

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA

In a further sign of an impending shake-up in the ruling party, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that the party he leads cannot be allowed to stagnate.

Erdogan has repeatedly suggested changes are planned to the Justice and Development (AK) Party ahead of a general election in 2019.

We cannot confine the AK Party to stagnation in an era where Turkey and the world are changing rapidly, he said at a party rally in the southern city of Antalya.

He added that those become a burden to the party would be pulled off the road.

However, those who carried out their duties with enthusiasm would be welcome to remain, he said.

At a similar event in Isparta on Saturday, Erdogan said he was committed to fundamental change in our party.

The president also addressed possible links between some party members and the group said to be behind last years defeated coup -- the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Wherever there are those who are linked to FETO, notify us immediately and we are obliged to show them the door immediately, he told the crowd.

FETO had divided both the Turkish and the worldwide Muslim nation, Erdogan said.

Referring to the groups U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen and FETO supporters who had fled abroad, he added: They have parked in Pennsylvania, Germany, in different countries of the West.

You will escape to many more countries. You will escape to Africa. But you will escape and we will chase... Because we cannot tolerate my nation to be split.

FETO is accused of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt that saw 250 people martyred and some 2,200 injured.

Erdogan said a Germanmagazine, Focus, made an interview with Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP),who said "No one in Turkey has life and property security."

Erdogan added that the expression Kilicdaroglu usedshows he is deliberately defaming Turkey and complaining about Turkey to German public opinion.

Kilicdaroglu is trying to scareGerman investors and German tourists away from coming to Turkey, Erdogan added.

"Whatever lies these say [...] the interest of investors and tourists towards our country is continuously on the rise," Erdogan stressed.

Erdogan said: "Kilicdaroglu says 'Do not come', but the tourists say 'What is that to you?'"

He also mentioned the latest figures in Turkish economy.

"In the first quarter of 2017, growth is 5 percent, annual exports has exceeded 150 billion dollars. These signal good days ahead. Inflation has dropped to single-digit again," Erdogan added.

In addition, Erdogan said they are in preparation for a third airport in Antalya. He said they are planning to start at the end of 2017 the construction of the new airport in Antalya's west, which has an investment value of 850 million dollars.

He added that they are planning to open the airport in 2021 the latest.

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Erdogan gives further sign of change to ruling party - Anadolu Agency

15-year-old Eren Bulbul was martyred by PKK terrorists late Friday in Macka district of northern Trabzon province

home > Turkey, todays headlines 13.08.2017

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TRABZON, Turkey

Turkish president spoke on the phone on Sunday with the mother of the teenage boy who was martyred by PKK terrorists late Friday.

Eren Bulbul ,15, died from wounds sustained as he helped gendarmes track PKK terrorists in Macka, a town 22 kilometers (14 miles) south of the Black Sea province of Trabzon.

Gendarmerie Master Sgt. Ferhat Gedik, 41, was injured in the same incident and also martyred.

An AK Party delegation visited Eren's house in Macka on Sunday and during the visit AK Party Deputy Chairman and Istanbul MP Ravza Kavakci Kan called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kan later gave the phone to Eren's mother Ayse Bulbul to speak and Erdogan offered his condolences on the phone.

"We will take his [Eren's] revenge in a very different way," Erdogan said to her.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including women and children.

Reporting by Seyit Ahmet Eksik; Writing byFatih Hafz Mehmet

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Erdogan speaks to mother of teenager martyred by PKK - Anadolu Agency