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Erdogan Elected Chief of New Islamic Party in Turkey
ANKARA, Aug 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Reformist Recep Erdogan has been elected the leader of the newly formed Justice and Development party, news agencies reported Thursday.
Moderate members of the outlawed pro-Islamic Virtue Party, which had been led by Erdogan, announced the formation of the Justice and Development Party (AK) on Tuesday; and since he was the only nominee for the post, Erdogan's consensus election did not come as a surprise, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
On Wednesday, 51 Turkish parliamentary deputies joined the newly formed party of the country's new Islamic movement, making it the fifth ranked party in the Turkish parliament - surpassing the recently formed Felicity, which is now the sixth and smallest party - the Turkish Anatolia news agency reported.
The three-way coalition of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit holds 344 seats in the 550-member house.
Of all the deputies joining the AK, 46 were from the now-defunct pro-Islamic Virtue party, and the remaining five were conservative MPs, said Anatolia.
Abdullah Gul, a prominent figure in the pro-reform moderate movement, told reporters that the recruitment of parliamentarians would continue, Anatolia said.
Gul said their party had the backing of the people and added, "We will all work self-sacrificingly to resolve the problems of the nation. We are going to be the most effective group in Parliament," quoted the
Turkish Daily News.
Meanwhile, junior coalition partner, Mesut Yilmaz, Chairman of the Motherland Party (ANAP), said that with the establishment of the AK Party, the number of parties with seats in Parliament has risen to six.
"I hope it will not have an adverse effect on Parliament's actions," Yilmaz said.
Answering a reporter's question on whether he viewed the AK party as a rival, Yilmaz said, "Like other political parties, the AK party is our rival as well as our partner in alliance."
Istanbul Greater City Mayor Ali Mufit Gurtuna said Wednesday that he had received an invitation from the AK Party but rejected the call.
The AK aims to collect independent members of the defunct Virtue Party (FP) as well as center-right politicians.
"We have no disturbance due to being independent," Anatolia quoted Gurtuna as saying.
Gurtuna also stated that he only concentrated on issues related to his municipality.
"I prefer working on projects about Istanbul rather than dealing with politics," he said.
Virtue's conservative faction had already founded its own party, called Saadet - or Felicity - in July, after the Turkish constitutional court had banned Virtue for anti-secular activities.
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