Armenian author among leaders of new Turkish party

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish journalist, writer and columnist of Armenian descent Etyen Mahçupyan has been named among the leaders of Turkey's Future Party ("Gelecek Partisi" in Turkish), Ermenihaber.am says citing Turkish reports.

The party was created recently by former Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu, with Mahçupyan cited among its 154 co-founders and later elected a member of the Executive Board.

Now, the Armenian author will head the party's research, development and information activity.

In October 2014, Mahçupyan was appointed as the senior advisor to then Prime Minister Davutoglu. It was the first time in Modern Turkish history that a minority of Armenian descent was appointed to such a critical position. He technically retired from this position in March 2015. The announcement came a day after he openly acknowledged the Armenian Genocide. However he stated that his departure had nothing to do with the row. He said he retired in March due to the mandatory retirement age for civil servants, and has kept advising Davutoglu afterwards informally.