The former Turkish President Abdullah Gul has criticized what dubbed as the deviation of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – he was one of its most prominent founders – from its path and basic principles, on which it was based.
Gul, in statements considered as the first of its kind after a long period of silence, said that when the party was established in 2002, it ruled with rational standards and foundations, which contributed to the success of its first term, in managing the country’s affairs, and convinced the citizens to vote for it in the ballot boxes, pointing out that in the years which followed, the party has deviated from its democratic principles.
The former president added that the party should return to its previous principles, return legislative powers to the parliament, indicating that Turkey’s move from the parliamentary system to the presidential system has greatly weakened the legislature and made it an only nominal representation body in a clear indication to his rejection of the constitutional amendments imposed by his successor Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Talking about the Political Islam, Gul said that the experience of Political Islam has proved its failure worldwide, and that political movements with Islamic identity can rule only when they become liberal and democratic, respecting human rights.
The Turkish newspaper Ahval, quoted the former president as saying that he supports the politician Ali Babacan, who declared the establishment of a new party, after long years he spent in leading positions in the government and the ruling AKP, the last of which was the party’s vice-president and deputy prime minister, before disagreements with the president led him to resign from all his positions.
Gul also expressed his opposition to what he called the extensive war in Syria, criticizing implicitly the policies of the current government with continued supporting some armed groups located in northwestern Syria.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had denied for year being an Islamic party. However, since the start of the period where the Political Islam invaded the Arab world, the leaders of the party revealed publicly their links to Political Islam, moreover, they presented themselves as the model of the post-Arab Spring Islam in the Middle East.
Toward the end of 2012, political Islam was reigning over the Middle East, from Turkey to Iran, except for the Gulf Cooperation Council states (GCC). But in 2013, the Egyptian authorities expelled the Muslim Brotherhood from power and declared it as a legally banned group. On the other hand, the ongoing protests that refused the participation of Ennahda Movement in the government, forced it to waive the power in Tunisia for a temporary technocratic government.
