Center-right trying merger
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 20, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Turkey’s two minor center-right parties have started talks for unification, in a second effort after their defeat in 2007.
"We’ll merge with the Motherland Party [ANAVATAN] under the Democrat Party," Hüsamettin Cindoruk told reporters yesterday during a meeting with Motherland Party Chairman Salih Uzun.
Cindoruk, 76, a veteran politician, was elected to head the Democrat Party at a party convention Saturday, where he said his priority was to unite the center-right parties to become an alternative to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
"Though we had in the past some political disagreements with our friends in the Motherland Party, I know we are in the same camp, and that’s why I am very sensitive," Cindoruk stated. "I want this merge to be concluded. That could have happened in the past, but this time we’ll overcome the obstacles."
Failure to unite
In 2007, before the general elections, the two parties wanted to unite but failed at the last minute. In the March 29 local elections, the DP received 3.8 percent of votes while the Motherland Party received only 0.8 percent of votes.
Cindoruk, 76, a veteran politician, was elected to head the Democrat Party at a party convention Saturday, where he said his priority was to unite the center-right parties to become an alternative to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
"Though we had in the past some political disagreements with our friends in the Motherland Party, I know we are in the same camp, and that’s why I am very sensitive," Cindoruk stated. "I want this merge to be concluded. That could have happened in the past, but this time we’ll overcome the obstacles."
Failure to unite
In 2007, before the general elections, the two parties wanted to unite but failed at the last minute. In the March 29 local elections, the DP received 3.8 percent of votes while the Motherland Party received only 0.8 percent of votes.