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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