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Russian lawmaker comments on reasons for Turkish PM's resignation

Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the Russian Federation Council Committee for Foreign Affairs, sees the reason in Turkey’s failed policy in the Russian and Syrian directions

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, May 5 /TASS/. The resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is the result of Turkey’s failed policy in the Russian and Syrian directions, Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the Russian Federation Council Committee for Foreign Affairs, wrote on his page in Facebook on Thursday.

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He noted that long-standing differences with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been the root cause behind Davutoglu’s resignation. "The Turkish president wants to carry out a constitutional reform, which would expand the presidential powers and would de facto turn [Turkey] into the presidential republic," Kosachyov said.

Not accidentally, Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, who is President Erdogan’s son-in-law, is among the candidates to the prime minister’s post. "It is a way to concentrate the supreme power in the country in the hands of one family. With the constitutional changes in plan, that could strengthen authoritarian trends in the country," Kosachyov stressed.

However, Davutoglu’s resignation also has objective reasons. There have been plenty of grudges to the outgoing prime minister. "Failures in the Russian and Syrian directions were not the last. "Assad will go and we are going to pray in Damascus," Davutoglu used to promise. "But instead, Turkey itself is facing as many problems as Damascus," Kosachyov said. He added that the Turkish prime minister had been too loyal to the West (EU) and had also (or owing to) been inclined to start peaceful negotiations with the Kurds who have enlisted support in the West, including the United States.

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"All that caused Erdogan’s obvious discontent. Europe, on the contrary, is unlikely to be enthusiastic at the prospect of the [Turkish] prime minister’s resignation," Kosachyov concluded adding that Europe had always considered Davutoglu a more convenient interlocutor.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will convene in an extraordinary congress late in May to discuss the re-election of the party’s leadership. Turkey’s outgoing prime minister and the leader of the Justice and Development Party has said he will not nominate his candidacy for the party chairman at the party’s early elections. The Turkish prime minister is also the head of the ruling party.

Davutoglu became the Turkish prime minister and the head of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in August 2014. Out of all Turkish politicians, he is believed to be most closely linked to Erdogan. Several candidates to replace Davutoglu are being discussed in the corridors of power. They include Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, Vice-Premier Numan Kurtulmush, Transport Minister Binali Yildirim and Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.

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