Turkey's prime minister resigns amid split with Erdogan

Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been forced out of office following reports of a split between him and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s increasingly authoritarian president. 

Mr Davutoglu gave a defiant farewell speech defending his record as prime minister, saying he had “no regrets” and had fulfilled his obligations to the Turkish public.  

“Following consultations with the president, I concluded that a change in party leadership and the prime minister’s position would serve a better purpose,” Mr Davutoglu said in a speech in Ankara, adding that he wanted to preserve the governing AKP’s integrity. 

“Rest assured, the premature end of my four-year term is not my choice, but the result of necessity.” 

The AKP will hold an extraordinary party congress on May 22 to elect Mr Davutoglu’s successor. Mr Erdogan said it had been Mr Davutoglu’s decision to step aside. 

Mr Davutoglu said he would remain a member of Turkey’s parliament and the AKP. “I was leading you; now I am among you,” he said. He praised Mr Erdogan, adding “the president’s honour is my honour”. 

The frontrunner for the PM’s post is said to be the energy minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law. Other possible successors include transport minister Binali Yilridim and justice minister Bekir Bozdag. 

All are considered close allies of the president and will likely support Erdogan’s ambitions for a more powerful presidency. 

peculation over Mr Davutoglu’s future began earlier this week after a Turkish blog titled Pelikandosyasi — “Pelican Brief”, likely a reference to the political thriller by John Grisham — attacked the prime minister as a “traitor” while repeatedly praising Mr Erdogan. 

A day before the post appeared, the ruling AKP voted to strip Mr Davutoglu of his ability to appoint provincial officials in a move seen as shifting power away from the prime ministry. The vote was one of the deciding factors in his resignation, Mr Davutoglu said in his speech. 

When Mr Erdogan was elected president in 2014, he chose Mr Davutoglu, his softly-spoken foreign minister, as his successor in the prime minister’s office. 

Pliant though he seemed, Mr Davutoglu quietly disagreed with Mr Erdogan on an increasing number of issues, including the detention of dozens of journalists and academics in recent months. 

The prime minister has been credited with finalising the EU-Turkey migrant returns deal and negotiating for visa-free travel to the EU’s Schengen area while Erdogan preferred issuing threats. 

Crucially, Davutoglu showed little enthusiasm for Erdogan’s plan to change Turkey’s parliamentary system to a presidential one. Erdogan, dissatisfied with the ceremonial role of president, has publicly campaigned for an executive presidency that would give him significantly greater powers. 

Yet as Davutoglu’s ouster has made clear, even without changing the constitution Erdogan already wields the power to control the highest levels of Turkey’s government.