Former AK Party Minister Hüseyin Çelik: “The Party Has Become a One-Man Organization”

Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Çelik, a founding figure of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and a former Minister of Culture and National Education, has delivered a sweeping critique of his former party, Turkey’s political system, and the state of democratic governance. In a wide-ranging interview with Medyascope, Çelik argued that the AK Party has completely abandoned its founding principles and transformed from a pluralistic political movement into a centralized, leader-dominated structure.

According to Çelik, the AK Party has lost its ability to reform itself from within. He stated that the party was initially established as a cadre-based movement grounded in collective leadership and shared responsibility, but that this identity has eroded over time. “I regret to say that the AK Party no longer has any chance of restoring itself, because it has ceased to be a cadre movement and has turned into a one-man party,” he said, emphasizing that nearly 90% of the founding leadership has been eliminated from decision-making processes.

“Without the Himalayas, There Is No Everest.”

To illustrate the transformation of leadership within the AK Party, Çelik used a powerful metaphor. He recalled that when the party was founded, the leader was described as “first among equals.” Expanding on this idea, he said, “Mount Everest owes its existence and stature to the Himalayan Mountains. Without the Himalayas, Everest would not be where it is. Today, however, the vast majority of the founding cadres have been purged.”

Çelik argued that leadership within democratic systems should resemble an orchestra conductor, not a locomotive. “In democratic structures, the leader is like an orchestra conductor. There are many different instruments and sounds, and the leader’s skill lies in turning this diversity into harmony,” he explained. By contrast, he said, “In authoritarian systems, the leader is a locomotive. The wagons have no independent will. If the locomotive moves, they move; if it stops, they stop.”

From People’s Party to State Party

Another core element of Çelik’s criticism focused on the changing relationship between the AK Party and the state. He argued that the party was founded as a movement rooted in society but has gradually evolved into an extension of state power. “The party that was founded as the people’s party has now taken on the appearance of a state party,” he said, adding, “The party has become the state, and unfortunately, the state has become the party.”

Although the AK Party’s official program remains, in his view, democratic and pluralistic, Çelik stressed that it has effectively been shelved for more than a decade. Calls from within the party to “return to factory settings” have been met with resistance. “Factory settings mean the party’s program,” he said. “A program that is not implemented becomes nothing more than a cemetery of dead texts.”

Education Turned Into an Ideological Tool

Drawing on his tenure as Minister of National Education, Çelik offered a harsh assessment of Turkey’s education system. He argued that education policy has increasingly prioritized producing ideologically compliant citizens rather than individuals capable of critical thinking. “Education should not be run with a foreman’s mentality,” he said, warning against treating students as products on an assembly line.

Çelik noted that during his time in office, he sought to move education away from ideology and toward pedagogy, but these efforts were blocked by tutelary institutions. He expressed particular concern over the dramatic expansion of imam hatip schools, arguing that education has been turned into a battleground and a constantly reassembled puzzle. According to him, this instability has undermined both educational quality and social cohesion.

The MHP Alliance and the Kurdish Question

Çelik also criticized the AK Party’s alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), likening it to an ivy plant that drains the vitality of whatever it clings to. He argued that this partnership has caused significant damage to the AK Party, especially among Kurdish voters.

He stated that after the Gezi Park protests, the balance between freedom and security was fundamentally disrupted. “Freedoms were sacrificed to security-driven fears and policies,” he said. Çelik also criticized Turkey’s Syria policy, warning against equating all Syrian Kurds with the PKK. Such an approach, he argued, has weakened emotional solidarity between Kurds inside Turkey and those in the region.

Reflecting on recent elections, Çelik offered a striking interpretation: “The opposition’s rise was not due to love for one party, but rather to deep resentment toward poor governance.”

Judiciary, Rule of Law, and the İmamoğlu Case

Çelik’s remarks on the judiciary were among his strongest. He argued that the justice system has become politicized and used as an instrument of power. Referring to the legal process involving Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, he stressed that no individual is immune from the law, but added that the case raises serious procedural and substantive concerns.

“When the scales of justice are distorted, nothing in society remains right,” Çelik said. He criticized the use of pretrial detention and covert witnesses, arguing that such practices undermine public trust in the legal system. He also described the annulment of İmamoğlu’s university diploma decades after it was issued as “a disgrace that should cause shame.”

According to Çelik, “If justice has no power, then the justice of power takes over—and that is always oppressive.”

Criticism of the Presidential System

Turning to Turkey’s current system of governance, Çelik argued that the presidential system has failed to solve the country’s structural problems. He described it as a system ruled by “a single signature,” lacking effective checks and balances. Ministers, he said, are unable even to appoint their own senior bureaucrats, leaving the state apparatus rigid and inefficient.

In closing, Çelik emphasized that Turkey must become a genuine rule-of-law state and a truly democratic republic. “Without democracy and justice,” he warned, “the word ‘republic’ alone has no real meaning.”