Erdoğan Accuses Former Allies Poised to Form New Movement of 'Breaking Ummah in Pieces'

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Ali Babacan, a former economy tsar and a co-founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has long been rumored to found a new party with former prominent figures of the AKP, most notably Abdullah Gül, the previous president.

Babacan resigned from the membership of the AKP on Monday (July 8) after a meeting with President and the party's chairperson Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying that he has "drifted away from the party both emotionally and mentally."

Erdoğan made his first public remarks on Babacan and the rumored new party last night, speaking to journalists in his plane on his way back from Bosnia and Herzegovina, accusing his former colleagues of "attempting to break the ummah (the Muslim community all around the world) in pieces."

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Responding to a question from a journalist, Erdoğan said, "[Ali Babacan] had a meeting with me as a result of his request. In this meeting, he told me, 'I will resign after this election. Because I began to lose my sense of belonging to the party.

"When I asked the reason for his loss of the sense of belonging, he said something like 'The economic situation of the country'.

"We talked about many things with him. He told me that they meet with many people, taking some steps.

"I asked him, 'Will you found a party?' He said, 'We are not thinking about this right now but we are working as a platform.'

"There is a thing in our common cause. The cause is not to be left. There is service [to the cause] till the end.

"Mr. Babacan maybe is the youngest person who is appointed as a minister.

"There were many subjects we agreed or disagreed on. The most important one of these is the subject of interest rates. We had never agreed with him on interest rates. Because I always told him about the disadvantages of the interest rates.

"When the interest rates were lowered, inflation was dropped. The interest rates were dropped to 4.6. The inflation was around 7.

"Remember that there was a serious coup against us then. Then suddenly we experienced the Taksim Gezi incidents and went up to two-digit numbers in interest rates and inflation. The stance of our colleagues caused serious difficulties there.

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"I said this to himself, 'Okay, your way is your way. But you don't have the right to break the ummah in pieces. This is what you are doing.'"

Erdoğan also criticized Abdullah Gül without mentioning his name, saying, "When he left the presidency, he didn't even join his party as a member." Gül served between 2007 and 2014 when the president was not allowed to be a member of a political party.

When asked about if he is resentful towards Gül, Babacan and Ahmet Davutoğlu, a former PM who is also reportedly preparing to form a separate party, Erdoğan said, "For God's sake, how can you even ask this question? Who else am I supposed to feel resentful towards rather than these?" (EKN/VK)