Merger talks end in failure: DEVA Party and Future Party fail to reach an agreement

The DEVA Party and the Future Party, which had been meeting for some time to discuss a potential merger, have failed to reach an agreement.

It has been alleged that the talks ended in failure due to Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu's insistence on a 'presidential candidacy'.

In a recent broadcast, Davutoğlu had stated that in response to a merger proposal suggesting that "a party leader should join another party under its name and logo and take its lead," the DEVA Party boards had decided to "form a parliamentary group without a merger agenda."

A response to Davutoğlu's statement came from the DEVA camp. Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson İdris Şahin stated that they were not responsible for the failure to reach a consensus.

In a statement on his social media account, Şahin noted that the talks aimed at a merger between the two parties began in mid-August with the work of commissions formed with the knowledge of both party leaders, stating, "The most important reason for the failure to reach a consensus on a merger during the commission work and the meetings between the party leaders was the insistence on determining and announcing the presidential candidate from the outset. Following the lack of progress on the merger of the two parties for this reason, the DEVA Party proposed initiating an effort aimed at forming a broad-based parliamentary group in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM)."