- Title: TURKEY-ERDOGAN/PM President announces Davutoglu nomination for new PM
- Date: 21st August 2014
- Summary: AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU SAYING: "Our country, that was being treated like the 'sick man', has stood up on its feet over the last 12 years and our nation remembers its historic mission and begun a holy march. Our holy march will be successful." PEOPLE LISTENING
- Embargoed: 5th September 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAB2YQWX2PKGMLLJBL8EZLE81D4
- Story Text: Turkish president-elect Tayyip Erdogan named Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as his future prime minister on Thursday (August 21) and vowed a power struggle against a U.S.-based cleric he accuses of plotting against him would continue.
Erdogan said Davutoglu was clearly determined to battle the "parallel state": this is a term he uses for cleric Fethullah Gulen's influential network of followers. He said that had been a key factor in his nomination as the next AK Party leader and prime minister.
Speaking at a news conference in Ankara after the AK's executive meeting Erdogan said he would continue this struggle with Davutoglu and that his own new status as president would not hinder his efforts.
Erdogan accuses Gulen's sympathisers of infiltrating institutions including the police and judiciary in an effort to seize the levers of state power, a struggle which has weighed on his final months as prime minister and seen him purge thousands of police officers and hundreds of judges and prosecutors.
His actions have raised concern about judicial independence and drawn criticism from the European Union.
"Dear brothers, our nominee for the leadership of the AK party at the upcoming extraordinary congress on August 27 is the Foreign Minister and the member of parliament for Konya, my brother, Ahmet Davutoglu," Erdogan said
"Ahmet Davutoglu has clearly seen the intention and targets of the "parallel state" during the meetings we held. Therefore I believe that it is our mission to continue our struggle and I believe that the new government will show the same resolve to continue our fight against the "parallel state", " he added.
The peace process with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, aimed at ending a three-decade insurgency, has been one of Erdogan's biggest achievements in recent years, with hostilities largely dying down since a March 2013 ceasefire.
Events in northern Iraq, where PKK fighters have rushed to the assistance of Kurdish peshmerga forces battling the advance of Islamic State militants, has given the process added urgency.
Erdogan's victory in the country's first direct ballot for head of state on Aug. 10 marked a turning point for Turkey, taking the European Union candidate nation and NATO member a step closer to the presidential system he has long coveted.
He has made no secret of his ambition to change the constitution and bolster the powers of the presidency, a move opponents fear will herald an increasingly authoritarian rule.
"The new constitution is a priority for Turkey. I believe that Mr. Davutoglu considers this issue of utmost importance," Erdogan said.
Davutoglu said he was proud to be part of a country that was growing in political and economic strength.
"Our country, that was being treated like the 'sick man', has stood up on its feet over the last 12 years and our nation remembers its historic mission and begun a holy march. Our holy march will be successful," he said.
Erdogan 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.
Davutoglu, 55, an academic who has served as foreign minister for the past five years, rose to political prominence under Erdogan and is regarded as one of his closest allies.
Davutoglu's profile has risen sharply at home and abroad as foreign minister, initially on the back of his then-praised "zero problems with neighbours" policy and more recently as Erdogan's right-hand man at AK Party rallies.
He has overseen foreign policy at a turbulent time for the Middle East. Wars in neighbouring Iraq and Syria and the Arab Spring uprisings caused his "zero problems" policy to crumble, with ties to Egypt, Syria, Israel, Iraq and Iran all degraded.
Davutoglu is expected to appeal to a newer generation of Erdogan loyalists within the AK Party, which was founded in 2001 as a coalition of conservative religious Muslims, nationalists and centre-right elements.
His ability to garner support among core AK voters will be pivotal if he is to lead the party to a stronger parliamentary majority in a general election next June, vital to Erdogan's chances of pushing through the constitutional change he needs to bolster the powers of the presidency.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None