Turkey PM to quit as Erdogan tightens grip

Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister was reportedly ready to quit his jobs of ruling party chief and head of government, in a dramatic turn of events on Thursday that were set to boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power.

Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses lawmakers at the parliament in Ankara on May 3, 2016. AP Photo

ANKARA // Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday he will step down later this month, in a dramatic turn of events that were set to boost president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power.

Divisions between Mr Davutoglu and Mr Erdogan had been rumoured for months but erupted into the open on Wednesday, with the two leaders holding crisis talks at the presidential palace that failed to resolve the conflict.

The central executive committee of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) met on Thursday morning and agreed to convene an extraordinary party congress on May 22, the NTV and CNN-Turk channels reported.

Mr Davutoglu will not be a candidate for the party chairmanship at the congress, meaning that he will step down from both the posts of prime minister and head of the party.

According to the conventions of the AKP – a party cofounded by Mr Erdogan to bring Islam into the mainstream of Turkey’s secular politics – the party chairman and head of government are the same person.

Mr Davutoglu, who became prime minister in August 2014 when Mr Erdogan moved from the premiership to the presidency, will make a highly-anticipated press statement after the meeting of the party committee, the official Anatolia news agency reported.

A planned visit this week by Mr Davutoglu to Bosnia has already been cancelled, media reports said.

"Davutoglu steps aside," said the headline in the Hurriyet daily. "A new era in the AKP," added the Milliyet newspaper.

"Palace Coup," headlined the opposition Cumhuriyet daily. "The summit meeting did not find a solution and Erdogan put a full stop," it added.

The possibility of tumult at the top of Turkish politics unnerved financial markets, losing almost four per cent in value against the dollar on Wednesday and rallying only slightly Thursday.

The appointment of a potentially more pliant prime minister would allow Mr Erdogan to further consolidate his powers as he seeks to win backing for controversial constitutional changes to make Turkey a presidential system.

Since becoming president in August 2014 after over a decade as prime minister, Mr Erdogan has sought to tighten his grip on the levers of power, leading critics to accuse him of authoritarianism.

Sooner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, said the move was the next stage in a “hollowing out” of Turkish institutions by Mr Erdogan who already controls the army and parliament.

“It shows how much power has been massed in one person’s hands,” he said, adding that Mr Erdogan was now exercising more control than anyone in Turkey’s modern democratic history.

The departure of Mr Davutoglu “will allow Erdogan to distance himself from some of his failed policies that can be attributed to Davutoglu,” he added.

Leading potential successors if Mr Davutoglu steps aside include the president’s longtime ally, transport minister Binali Yildirim and the energy minister, Berat Albayrak, 38, who is married to the president’s eldest daughter Esra.

But press reports also suggested a less high-profile figure was possible, such as deputy prime minister Yalcin Akdogan, justice minister Bekir Bozdag, or AKP deputy chairman Mehmet Ali Sahin.

“Whoever the new PM will be, it is clear that it will mean more power over the government by the president,” said Ozgur Altug, chief economist at BGC partners in Istanbul.

Relations between Mr Erdogan and Mr Davutoglu had been seen by analysts as uneasy, but the speed with which it burst into the open took many by surprise.

The premier has championed a deal with the EU to stem the flow of refugees across the Aegean Sea — an issue in which the president has shown little interest.

On Wednesday, the EU Commission announced it was recommending giving Turks visa-free travel as part of the deal, one of Ankara’s key demands.

Mr Davutoglu had also said there was no need for haste in Mr Erdogan’s drive to create a presidential system in Turkey, a pet project of the president that risked diminishing the prime minister’s own standing.

Meanwhile, he had clashed with Mr Erdogan over whether journalists should be held in pretrial detention.

A decision last week by the executive committee of the AKP to remove Mr Davutoglu’s right to appoint regional party officials was also seen by commentators as a severe blow to the authority of the premier.

“Turkish politics is entering into a period where the presidential system has de facto started,” said Fuat Keyman, director of the Istanbul Policy Center think tank.

“Whoever becomes the new leader of the AKP and premier will have to accept the new nature of the system.”

* Agence France-Presse, with additional reporting by Associated Press