Turkey's former PM launches new political party

Ahmet Davutoglu, who served as prime minister between 2014 to 2016 and chairman of the governing AK Party, formally presented the Future Party at a ceremony in Ankara.

Opening of the Future Party.

Opening of the Future Party.

Turkey's former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu launched a new political party on Friday.

Davutoglu, who served as prime minister between 2014 to 2016 and chairman of the governing AK Party, formally presented the Future Party at a ceremony in Ankara on Friday.

"As a party, we reject a style of politics where there is a cult of the leader and passive personnel," Davutoglu said, standing beneath a large banner featuring the revered founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

In a long speech, Davutoglu, 60, said that "it won't be possible to have a democratic society with the system continuing like this".

Davutoglu resigned from AK Party in September.

Analysts say Davutoglu is seeking to peel away conservative voters from the AK Party, and few expect him to attract more than a fraction of the electorate.

Davutoglu insisted his party would stand for minority rights, the rule of law, freedom of the press and an independent judiciary.

Once a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the two men fell out over a number of issues, most notably the changes to the constitution.

He is not the only former Erdogan ally challenging the president. 

Ex-economy minister Ali Babacan is expected to launch his party later this month.

Davutoglu previously served as foreign minister during a particularly rocky period in Turkey's international relations in early 2010.

He has been fiercely criticised as the architect of Ankara's efforts to take a more assertive stance across the Middle East – backing the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies in several countries, and supporting rebels in Syria.

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