Former AKP Chair Davutoğlu Submits Application to Form New Party

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Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu today (December 12) formally applied to the Ministry of Interior to found a new party.

A six-people delegation of former Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials submitted a petition to the ministry in the name of Davutoğlu. Ayhan Sefer Üstündağ, a former AKP MP, told reporters that the party will be officially founded after procedures are completed.

The name of the party will be the Future (Gelecek) Party and the 130-people founders' committee will be announced today, the daily Karar reported.

Davutoğlu served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2009 and 2014 and the Prime Minister and the AKP Chair between 2014 and 2016. He was forced to resign as the AKP Chair and the PM in 2016 after disagreements with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

He resigned from the party in September, saying that the party "has no longer has the opportunity to be a remedy for the problems of the cıuntry."

Ali Babacan, another former senior AKP figure, is also poised to found a new party. (HA/VK)