Turkish PM and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. File photo, EPA/BGNES
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech Saturday celebrating 10 years of rule in Turkey of his AKP party.
"Not only a new party came to power. A revolution in thinking occured," stated Erdogan at an AKP yearly congress in Kizilcahamam close to Ankara.
Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) first won general elections on November 3, 2002.
According to its leader, the party has introduced a new understanding of politics in Turkey, replacing support for elites and coups with trust in democracy, rights and freedoms.
Erdogan celebrated the AKP as the "true republicans who embraced the nation."
In particular, he addressed the role of the army, which his rule embarked on a consistent campaign to limit, saying that the Turkish Republic does not need guardians.
He stressed that such an elite-led rule is contrary to the rules and values of democracy.