Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The İYİ Party was the only party to vote as a bloc against the framework law on the Kurdish peace process. Its instincts on the nationalist right are already well known. But before turning to the party, it is worth dwelling for a moment on its chair. Let us begin with his name: Müsavat.
A second Turkish opposition party has voiced support for early elections, backing a call made by the CHP following a wave of detentions targeting CHP-run municipalities.
İYİ Party Chair Müsavat Dervişoğlu condemned the parliamentary visit to İmralı, calling it a “national disgrace” and asserting that there is no statute of limitations for what he described as betrayal. İYİ Party deputy Alpaslan Yüce resigned from his party, saying it had abandoned its founding centrist ideals.
İYİ Party Deputy Chair Hakan Şeref Olgun said he is preparing to file a lawsuit contesting the 2017 constitutional referendum, in which the Supreme Election Board accepted unstamped ballots.
İyi Party Chair Müsavat Dervişoğlu has said that the opposition must unite behind a joint presidential candidate to overturn the current system of government.
The AKP and MHP are gearing up to promote the “Terror-free Turkey” initiative on the ground, while the İYİ Party prepares a counter-move.
İp (noun, rope, as in noose) made a dramatic entrance into Turkey’s political lexicon this week when the İyi Party’s new-ish leader, Müsavat Dervişoğlu, hurled a noose at MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli. This came in response to Bahçeli’s suggestion that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan could be granted certain privileges—potentially even addressing Parliament—if he were to publicly call for the PKK’s dissolution. (For details, see last and this week’s Deep Dive.)