Turkey deserves better days and better news ahead, the leader of a new political party said on Thursday.
"We know very well that this country deserves a better government, democracy, justice, and welfare. We are here because we believe that not a single person living in this country deserves injustice, poverty, or deprivation," Ali Babacan, leader of the Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party, told the party’s first ordinary congress in the capital Ankara.
Babacan, a onetime economy minister, added: "Not only for Turkey but also for the world, a new political movement began to arise.”
BABACAN REELECTED AS CHAIRMAN
Babacan received the votes of 515 delegates out of 523 in the race that he was the sole candidate and was elected as the party leader. Eight delegates' votes have been declared void.
Forty-eight current members of the party's Central Executive Board have not changed, but two more people (Aysun Hatipoğlu and Özge İrem Morkoç) have been named as new members. With the two additions, the number of women in the party's Central Executive Board has increased to 20.
Due to the COVID-19 measures, only the party's executives and delegates have participated in the congress that took place in Ankara's Atatürk Sports Hall.
Babacan criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the congress, saying Turkey needs a better government, justice and welfare.