<p>ANKARA, Turkey — A politician who once ran as a presidential challenger to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, formed a new political party on Monday, months after he broke away from Turkey’s main opposition party.</p>
<p>Muharrem Ince, 56, formally applied to the Interior Ministry to establish the Memleket Partisi, or Homeland Party, and was immediately chosen as its chairman. </p>
<p>In February, he left the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, citing policy differences. Four other legislators also left the CHP to join Ince’s new party. </p>
<p>The politician ran as CHP’s candidate against Erdogan in Turkey’s 2018 presidential election, getting 31% of the votes behind Erdogan’s 53% support.</p>
<p>He had become a vocal critic of CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and made unsuccessful bids to replace him as party chairman.</p>
<p>Ince has ruled out any possibility of his movement backing a nationalist political alliance that is led by Erdogan’s ruling party. The CHP is part of a rival alliance with the center-right Good Party and other parties. </p>
<p>Ince had become a vocal critic of CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and made unsuccessful bids to replace him as party chairman.</p>
