''Erdoğan noted he first got involved in politics in İstanbul, starting as a youth branch leader, then as a district head and finally as the city’s mayor. “Today, the friends of ours who were with us as our comrades in those days are here. Today, our friends that we founded the AK Party together with to walk the path of serving the nation are here. Today, we are a huge group, a party that holds its provincial congress at a stadium. We are not together for profits, for offices or seats, we are together for a cause.” http://www.todayszaman.com/news-281681-ak-party-congress-sees-record-attendance.html