Erdogan names foreign minister Davutoglu as next Turkish PM

Published August 21, 2014
Erdogan has named Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) as his future prime minister. -Reuters/File Photo
Erdogan has named Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) as his future prime minister. -Reuters/File Photo

ANKARA: Turkish president-elect Tayyip Erdogan named Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as his future prime minister on Thursday and vowed a power struggle against a US-based cleric he accuses of plotting against him would continue.

Erdogan said Davutoglu's determination to battle the “parallel state”, a term he uses for cleric Fethullah Gulen's influential network of followers, had been a key factor in his nomination as the next AK Party leader and prime minister.

“We will be continuing this struggle together. Being president will not hinder my struggle with the parallel structure,” Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara.

Erdogan, who will be sworn in as president next Thursday, said he would also support Davutoglu in advancing a peace process with Turkey's Kurdish minority and that forging a new constitution would be a priority for the next government.

Erdogan announced Davutoglu's nomination after a meeting of the AK Party's executive board in Ankara.

The decision must now be endorsed in a vote at an AK Party congress next Wednesday, but he is unlikely to be opposed.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade as prime minister, won Turkey's first national presidential election on Aug. 10 with 52 pe rcent. Previous presidents were elected by parliament.

He will step down as leader of the AK when he is inaugurated next week, as required by the constitution, but has made clear that he wants the party he co-founded more than 10 years ago to remain loyal and unified.

Opinion

Editorial

Afghan turbulence
Updated 19 Mar, 2024

Afghan turbulence

RELATIONS between the newly formed government and Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban rulers have begun on an...
In disarray
19 Mar, 2024

In disarray

IT is clear that there is some bad blood within the PTI’s ranks. Ever since the PTI lost a key battle over ...
Festering wound
19 Mar, 2024

Festering wound

PROTESTS unfolded once more in Gwadar, this time against the alleged enforced disappearances of two young men, who...
Defining extremism
Updated 18 Mar, 2024

Defining extremism

Redefining extremism may well be the first step to clamping down on advocacy for Palestine.
Climate in focus
18 Mar, 2024

Climate in focus

IN a welcome order by the Supreme Court, the new government has been tasked with providing a report on actions taken...
Growing rabies concern
18 Mar, 2024

Growing rabies concern

DOG-BITE is an old problem in Pakistan. Amid a surfeit of public health challenges, rabies now seems poised to ...