ANKARA - As the political chaos caused by the Ergenekon and closure cases spreads, a former top Justice and Development Party, or AKP, member Abdüllatif Sener said over the weekend he will seek to bring normalization to the country with a new political party he is about to form.
"Politics is in my sight once again," Sener told reporters over the weekend.
Sener, 54, a founding member of the AKP in 2001, surprisingly preferred not to run for Parliament in last year's general elections, in a move to distance himself from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Since then he has been mentioned as a potential alternative leader for the ruling AKP, a claim that he neither denied nor confirmed.
"We are in an extraordinary period which harms the trust (in institutions) and triggers anxiety, worries and hesitancy," Sener said while describing the current state of politics in the country. This situation, he added, should be eliminated as soon as possible. "It should be normalized."
Sener, a veteran politician who embarked on his political career in pious Necmettin Erbakan's disbanded political party, said every institution and personality has his or her own responsibility in clearing this chaotic mood in the country. "I think that there is a need for a new political party appropriate to the needs of Turkey. I'll be doing everything on the basis of the people's demand," he said. Sener went on to further say that his new party would be a centrist party.
"A new look, a new will would be very effective in the removal of the tension," he stated. His concrete proposal for this is running in early elections.
The tension increased in the country after the chief prosecutor filed a lawsuit against the ruling AKP on the charges of being a focal point of anti-secular activities. While the case begun to be heard in the top court, dozens of prominent secularists including retired four-star generals, outspoken journalists and even a businessman were arrested in the case called Ergenekon, an alleged gang aiming to stage a coup to oust the Islamist government from power.