Erdogan Strengthens Grip on Turkey With Ouster of Premier
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is stepping down as leader of the ruling party, ending a market-roiling struggle over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s quest for greater powers while opening a new chapter of uncertainty in a country pursuing closer ties with the European Union.
“It was not my preference to see my term cut short,” Davutoglu said in the capital Ankara on Thursday after meeting with senior members of the AK Party. “It was the result of necessity.”
The leadership crisis has raised questions about everything from the management of Turkey’s $720 billion economy to the fate of its EU membership talks and the flow of war refugees from neighboring Syria. Erdogan, who’s run the country of 75 million for more than a decade, has tightened his grip on power since moving to what had been the largely ceremonial role of president in 2014, sidelining his handpicked successor along the way.
Erdogan is pursuing an “Asiatic model” of development, consolidating power with the help of a “small group of unelected advisers,” said Tim Ash, head of emerging-market strategy at Nomura International Plc in London. “Bad policy choices might well result, damaging long-term growth prospects.”
Turkish assets were mixed, with the lira rebounding from its biggest decline in eight years, while stocks and bonds extended declines.
Erdogan ‘Brotherhood’
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-05/turkish-pm-to-step-down-won-t-run-in-new-leadership-contest