The deputy chairperson of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) founded by Ali Babacan has resigned, citing the party administration's failure to take action to address the drift from the party's founding principles.
In a statement on his personal Twitter account Tuesday, Deputy Chair Birol Aydemir said he has come to the conclusion that the party has deviated from its founding principles, values, program and bylaws.
Aydemir had previously served as the head of Turkey’s Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
Babacan announced in 2019 that he was resigning from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) due to the serious divergences between the principles he supports and the AK Party's policies in recent years. He added that the country now has "a new, dynamic generation that has different expectations."
Turkey has witnessed the formation of numerous new political parties that have failed to attract supporters or leave a mark on politics. There are several instances of fledgling parties failing just after a year. For instance, Emine Ülker Tarhan founded the Anatolia Party in 2014 after resigning from the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Tarhan's promised to "raise Turkey to its feet with the Anatolia Party," however, the party only survived a year. Another example is former Foreign Minister İsmail Cem's New Turkey Party (YTP), which he founded after resigning from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) in 2002. The YTP closed after failing in its first elections.
