Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announces resignation, May 5, 2016. Burhan Ozbilici / Press Association. All rights reserved.This week the widening rift between Turkish Prime Minister Davutoğlu and President Erdoğan was officially acknowledged when Davutoğlu’s resignation as the party leader was announced after a long meeting between the two. An extraordinary party congress will be held to elect the next leader.
The discord between Erdoğan and Davutoğlu was well-known for a while; but it reached a peak last week when the Prime Minister was stripped of his power to appoint the heads of local AKP branches through a decision taken by the pro-Erdoğan members of the AKP’s executive board. There were rumours about ‘an internal coup’ against Davutoğlu, especially after an anonymous blog called Pelikan Dosyası appeared a few days ago with many claims and conspiracies in an evident attempt to discredit Davutoğlu.
Despite the respect for him among party cadres, since he came to power, Davutoğlu has not been able to assert himself as a strong and autonomous prime minister. His loyalty to Erdoğan made him hesitant to voice his disagreements and publicly support alternative policies. Erdoğanists within the AKP have easily discarded Davutoğlu without creating dissent among AKP voters. Yet, the intra-party division might also trigger a fundamental shift in Turkish politics that could finally reverse the authoritarian trend in Turkey.
