Former İYİ Party lawmaker launches new party

ANKARA

Former İYİ (Good) Party lawmaker Yavuz Ağıralioğlu has established a new political entity, the Anahtar (Key) Party, signaling a fresh option for Turkish voters amid a shifting political landscape.

Ağıralioğlu officially filed the founding petition for the party with Interior Ministry officials on Oct. 28.

"There is a really big groundswell… it’s coming very strongly," Ayhan Erel, the new party’s head of organization, told reporters.

Ağıralioğlu, 52, previously held high-profile roles in the İYİ Party as deputy leader, spokesperson and deputy parliamentary leader.

His resignation came in response to the Nation Alliance, of which İYİ Party was a member, selecting former main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as its presidential candidate for last year's elections.

Prior to his time with İYİ Party, Ağıralioğlu was active in the Great Union Party (BBP), a partner of the current ruling People's Alliance, from 1997 to 2011.

Erel, a former Aksaray head for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) from 2014 to 2016 and one of the founding figures of the İYİ Party, has now joined Ağıralioğlu in the new venture.