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Democracy and Progress Party
Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi
AbbreviationDEVA
Leader Ali Babacan
General SecretarySanem Oktar
Spokespersonİdris Şahin
FounderAli Babacan
Founded9 March 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03-09)
Split from Justice and Development Party [4]
Headquarters Çankaya, Ankara
Membership (2024)Decrease 146,820 [5]
Ideology Liberal conservatism [6] [7]
Minority rights [8]
Pro-Europeanism [9]
Political position Centre-right [14]
National affiliation Nation Alliance (2023)
Colours  Blue
  White
SloganHepimizin DEVA'sı ("Remedy for all of us")
Korkma Türkiye ("Don't be afraid Turkey") [15]
Grand National Assembly
15 / 600
Metropolitan
municipalities
0 / 30
District
municipalities
0 / 1,351
Provincial councillors
1 / 1,251
Municipal Assemblies
4 / 20,498
Website
devapartisi.org

The Democracy and Progress Party ( Turkish: Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi, DEVA) [16] is a Turkish political party founded on 9 March 2020 under the leadership of Ali Babacan, a former economy minister under the AKP. The official abbreviation is "DEVA" (Remedy in Turkish) according to the party records. The party's logo is a water droplet, inside a silhouette of sapling. [17]

History

DEVA Party Founders Board

DEVA Party is a political party in Turkey formed by former Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan as the result of a split from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party. The party is currently being represented by 15 seats at the Grand National Assembly. [18] [19]

The founders of the party also include former Minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin, former Minister of Science, Industry, and Technology, Nihat Ergün and former Minister of State Selma Aliye Kavaf, who all served in Erdoğan cabinets for many years; and the former Balıkesir mayor Ahmet Edip Uğur from the Justice and Development Party as well. [18]

Babacan was unanimously elected as the chairperson at the Founders' Meeting on 10 March 2020. [20] He announced the official logo and agenda of the party on 11 March 2020, during the first conference of the party. [21]

Despite his history in the AKP, Ali Babacan has adopted a secular stance in his politics in DEVA Party, emphasizing personal freedoms instead of a religious conservatism. He has criticized evolution being removed from the Biology curriculum for high school and lower education. He has also expressed his opposition against religious studies lessons being mandatory for school children, saying parents should be able to opt out of them. [22] He has also expressed his opposition about ban on tariqas. He said: "When the government 'bans' them, they still continue their activities off the record and without any supervision. We are always in favor of freedom and transparency. Congregations and tariqas are a centuries-old tradition of these lands. You cannot destroy centuries-old tradition with a prohibitionist mentality.". [23]

The Democracy and Progress Party has announced 22 Action Plans that will bring government reforms for the problems that the country has been facing in the recent years, addressing many different topics ranging from economy and finance policies, to entrepreneurship, to the justice system, to social problems. These plans include 90-day and 360-day goals. [24]

Party leaders

# Leader Portrait Took office Left office Time in office
1 Ali Babacan 10 March 2020 Incumbent 4 years, 18 days

Election results

Parliamentary elections

Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Year Leader Seats Position
Seats +/-
2023 Ali Babacan
15 / 600
Increase 15 Opposition

See also

References

  1. ^ "Are snap polls on Ankara's horizon?". 16 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Babacan's DEVA party announces founding members".
  3. ^ "MHP calls on newly established Future and DEVA parties to join its alliance with ruling AKP".
  4. ^ [1] [2] [3]
  5. ^ "Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi" (in Turkish). Court of Cassation. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  6. ^ "Özal'ın dört eğiliminden Babacan'ın ana akımına: DEVA arayışı…".
  7. ^ "Partileşme Sürecinde İdeolojik Söylem: Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi ve Gelecek Partisi Programlarında Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi Eleştirisi". dergipark.org.tr. 2020.
  8. ^ "Ali Babacan: Anadil hak, cemevleri ibadethanedir". 15 January 2023.
  9. ^ ""Rotamız Avrupa Birliği'ne tam üyelik"". Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Babacan ve arkadaşları parti için son düzlükte: Yeni oluşumun ilk hedefi ana akım siyaset olmak".
  11. ^ "Turkey's Ali Babacan to offer a detailed reform strategy in his new party programme". Ahval. 27 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Could Turkey's new parties change the political balance?" (PDF). wms.flexious.be. 13 March 2020.
  13. ^ "DEVA Partisi'nin ilk gününden izlenimler". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 11 March 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  14. ^ [10] [11] [12] [13]
  15. ^ "Ali Babacan, kampanyasını başlattı: Korkma Türkiye".
  16. ^ "Babacan's new party another headache for Erdoğan". Yetkin Report. 12 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Former deputy PM Babacan applies to launch party - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Ali Babacan'ın partisinin kuruluş dilekçesi, İçişleri Bakanlığı'na sunuldu". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Milletvekilleri Dağılımı". www.tbmm.gov.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  20. ^ "DEVA Partisi'ne Ali Babacan oy birliği ile genel başkan seçildi". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  21. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Ali Babacan partisi DEVA'nın programını açıkladı | DW | 11.03.2020". DW.COM (in Turkish). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Babacan: Hala evrim teorisine takılmış bir zihniyet var". Dailymotion (in Turkish). 1 July 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  23. ^ "'Devrim kanunları gözden geçirilmeli, tarikatlar yapılanabilmeli' Babacan'dan Altılı Masa'da rahatsızlık yaratacak sözler". Yeni Çağ Gazetesi (in Turkish). 4 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  24. ^ "DEVA Partisi Eylem Planlari". DEVA Partisi (in Turkish). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.

External links