Good Party (IP) leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu said decisions regarding any potential alliances would be discussed within the party’s internal decision-making bodies when the appropriate time comes.
“Decisions about whether to form alliances or not are not something I would decide alone,” Dervisoglu told journalists during an iftar dinner with reporters in Ankara on Wednesday evening.
He responded to the comments, stressing, “Issues concerning my party and my country should be discussed and decided within the party’s authorized institutions.”
Remarks by the leader of Türkiye’s nationalist Victory Party (ZP) about a possible election alliance with the Good Party have sparked renewed debate in Turkish politics over the possibility of a broader nationalist bloc ahead of future elections.
ZP leader Ümit Özdağ said Tuesday during an interview with Turkish media that his party was open to forming an alliance with the IP, describing such cooperation as “perhaps the most natural alliance in Turkish politics.”
Özdağ said both parties’ supporters favored closer political cooperation, raising speculation about whether nationalist-oriented opposition parties could coordinate their strategies in upcoming elections.
Dervisoglu also noted the IP has not held formal alliance talks with any political party since Türkiye’s 2023 elections.
He also acknowledged that opinion polls showing the party’s support at around 8% to 9% would not be sufficient under Türkiye’s current political system.
“Nine percent does not benefit either us or Türkiye,” he said, arguing that the country’s political system requires either winning the presidency or building a parliamentary majority strong enough to govern effectively.
Dervisoglu said the IP aims to become a political platform capable of bringing together different segments of society, describing the party as a potential “umbrella” under which other political groups could gather.
Asked about public trust in the opposition, he said skepticism was not limited to opposition parties.
“This nation does not distrust only the opposition; it does not fully trust the government either,” he said, adding that voters may still be searching for a political leadership they can place their confidence in.
The comments of the leaders have fueled discussions about whether nationalist parties in Türkiye could cooperate more closely in future elections.
The ZP and IP have overlapping political stances, although the ZP stood out with its more hawkish tone, especially in anti-refugee policies that led to an indictment against its chair, Özdağ, on charges of inciting riots against Syrian refugees in Türkiye.
Özdağ was detained last year initially over accusations that he “insulted” the president, but the scope of the investigation was later expanded to include charges of inciting public hatred and hostility.
Moreover, Özdağ was later formally arrested and charged with inciting hatred against migrants. He was blamed for anti-Syrian refugee riots in the central province of Kayseri, during which hundreds of homes and businesses were attacked.
In the 2023 elections, Özdağ endorsed Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the candidate of a six-party opposition bloc against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while the ZP won 2.2% of the vote in legislative elections where it jointly ran with the Justice Party under the ATA Alliance. In last year’s municipal elections, it won only 1.74% of the vote.
