Former pro-PKK Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Mayor Ayhan Bilgen submitted a petition to the Interior Ministry to form Turkey’s Voice Party (SES Parti) on Thursday.

Founding member of the party, former Minister Müslüm Doğan told reporters that they decided to form the party after six months of work, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

Noting that the party program aims to address Turkey’s fundamental problems and provides suggestions for solutions, Doğan said their party seeks to develop democracy and respond to the peoples’ needs.

He continued by noting that it does not side against any political party nor is it a continuation of another party.

There are 31 founding members of the party.

Bilgen previously served as the mayor of eastern Kars province.

In October 2020, he was dismissed as part of an investigation into pro-PKK Kobani revolts in 2014. The HDP had won three metropolitan and five province centers in the 2019 local elections. Bilgen was the last mayor in charge with all others replaced in different investigations targeting the PKK.