Ex-interior minister forms third new party this month

ANKARA

Mehmet Bozdemir (C), the president of the Foundation for Unity in Democracy and the Association for Human Values, files a petition to found the new party titled the ‘Nation and Justice Party’ at the Interior Ministry. AA photo

A group led by former Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin has taken the first step toward founding a new political party called the “Nation and Justice Party.”

Şahin, a former deputy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was accompanied by Mehmet Bozdemir, president of the Foundation for Unity in Democracy and the Association for Human Values, when he filed a petition to found the new party at the Interior Ministry Nov. 19.

“At the moment, democracy, law and morality have been suspended in our country. The current government has now lost its power and ability to govern,” Bozdemir told reporters.

In early November, İdris Bal, also a former AKP lawmaker, formed a new center-right party named the Democratic Progress Party (DGP). In mid-November, following her resignation from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Emine Ülker Tarhan filed an application to the Interior Ministry to officially found the “Anadolu Party.”

Both Bal and Şahin, known for their closeness to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, resigned from their former party in reaction to corruption claims revealed in December 2013 against four former Cabinet members and businesspersons close to the government.

“As the Movement of Values, we have spoken with a lot of lawmakers. [Hopefully], we will attract many participants,” Bozdemir said, noting they could form a parliamentary group. Political parties need to have at least 20 seats in order to have a parliamentary group in Parliament.