The Turkish Prime Minister announced on Thursday he would not stand again as a leader for the Justice and Development party (AKP) clearing the way for Erdogan to seek more power, through a constitutional reform he wishes to pass in order to build a stronger presidency.
On Thursday Davutoglu said he would step down after an extraordinary party meeting that will be held on 22 May, adding that one of the reasons for his resignation is the party’s executive decision to strip him from his authority to appoint provincial party leaders.
Davutoglu became prime minister in August 2014 when Erdogan moved to the presidency. Since the beginning, he was expected to play a side-role to help Erdogan push ahead his plans to introduce in Turkey a strong presidential system.
However, Davutoglu did not play along, offering at best some support to Erdogan’s agenda. The two political men had different priorities regarding a number of issues; Davutoglu opposed the pre-trial imprisonment of academics and journalists and recently Erdogan ruled out the possibility of the resumption of a peace process with the Kurdish rebels, which Davutoglu supported. Also, Davutoglu pulled through a deal with the European Union to stem the refugee flows in exchange for financial support and other perks, an issue in which Erdogan has shown little interest.
The main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu said Davutoglu’s resignation is a “palace coup”. “Davutoglu’s resignation should not be perceived as an internal party issue, all democracy supporters must resist this palace coup” Kilicdaroglu said at the Republican People’s party headquarters in Ankara during a press conference, which he immediately called after Davutoglu announced his decision.
Turkey could now face an early general election this year, in October or November. Davutoglu’s replacement is likely to offer more support to Erdogan, as he pushes his plans to strengthen his position. Critics fear that a presidential system will bring growing authoritarianism.
Davutoglu’s departure comes as bad news also for the European Union (EU) and the NATO. The EU is depending on Turkey to fulfill its side of the agreement on the refugee crisis and NATO is expecting member's support in fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.