"It has been 15 years since the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was first founded. The AK Party was founded in the dark days of Feb. 28, the period which the army arrogantly said would continue for a thousand years. In such dark days, this party chose a light bulb as its symbol of representation, hoping it would light up the days to come. The members of the party were the veterans of two parties that were closed down consecutively; yet they never lost hope, never became stubborn, but instead just stood upright with integrity, waiting to save the country and its people from poverty and restrictions. Although President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the party founder (coming from two closed parties) and he was prohibited from politics for a while, people believed that he and his party could change things. Thus, they supported this newly founded party. The current government was taking the country from crisis to crisis (with the benevolence of Feb. 28) when the AK Party was founded. Therefore, the moment the AK Party was established, it became the hope of the country as it was an alternative to all the political parties. Fifteen months later, it raked up the votes of the people and garnered the right to found the new government."