Davutoğlu says Erdoğan's refusal to meet with him a sign of 'lack of self-esteem'

Duvar English

Future Party chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said that he is still waiting for an appointment from Erdoğan.

“I call out to the ruling government from here, especially to Erdoğan, the chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Change your habit of turning down our requests to meet with you...Even if we have different opinions and approaches [to issues[ right now, we are not enemies. Turning down meeting requests is a sign of lack of self-esteem,” Davutoğlu said on Nov. 17, during a press meeting.

Davutoğlu said that he is holding meetings with the leaders of all political parties to discuss how the parliamentary system can be strengthened. Davutoğlu on Nov. 16 met with İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener and agreed to work on a project together in this regard.

“Firstly, we visited İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener yesterday and held extensive consultations; we also shared our suggestion [for a stronger parliamentary system]. It made also us very pleased to see that we have a common ground with regards to the political system. And tomorrow we will visit Republican People's Party [CHP] leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and share our ideas,” Davutoğlu said.

Davutoğlu served as foreign minister between 2009 and 2014 and later as prime minister until 2016, before falling out with Erdoğan. On Sept. 13, 2019, he announced his resignation from the ruling AKP, saying that the party was no longer able to solve the country’s problems and no longer allowed internal debate.

In December of 2019, he founded the conservative Future Party, saying that Turkey needs a new democratic order based on equal rights and freedoms.