This archive report was first published on 13 December 2019.
On December 13, 2019, Turkey's former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formally presented the Future Party (Gelecek Partisi in Turkish) at a ceremony in Ankara.
"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 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of the Turkish republic.
Davutoglu, who served as Prime Minister between 2014 and 2016, did not mention President Erdogan by name during his nearly one-hour speech, but criticized the sweeping powers given to the presidency under constitutional changes last year.
"It won't be possible to have a democratic society with the system continuing like this," Davutoglu said, who resigned from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in September.
Analysts say Davutoglu is seeking to peel away conservative Muslim voters from the ruling AKP, and while few expect him to attract more than a fraction of the electorate, it could be enough to cause problems for Erdogan.
Once a close ally of Erdogan, the two men fell out over a number of issues, most notably the changes to the constitution, and he was forced to resign as premier in May 2016.
