Erdo?an moves for de facto regime change in Turkey

Turkish President Tayyip Erdo?an convenes the board of ministers in his new Presidential Palace today on Jan. 19 for the first time since he was elected to his new post after the Aug. 10, 2014, election.

This is not the first time in Turkish history that a president has called the cabinet for a meeting - it is a constitutional authority after all - but all other examples were either times of serious international crisis (like the meeting called for the Iraq war by Turgut Özal) or by invitation of the prime minister, again in times of a major crisis, like Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit?s invitation of Süleyman Demirel as the president at the time.

Today is different. Erdo?an said during his election campaign that he would be actively involved in government affairs; something Constitutional but out of political tradition in the country. It was not Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu (who was hand-picked by Erdo?an as his successor) who invited him to chair the cabinet (and not in the Prime Ministry building), but it was Davuto?lu who accepted the circumstance that it would be Erdo?an who ruled the country.

According to politics backstage in Ankara, among issues like the dialogue with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) for a settlement of the Kurdish problem and rooting-out (his former ally, U.S.-based Islamic scholar) Fethullah Gülen?s sympathizers from government agencies, there is an important systemic issue on the agenda. Erdo?an wants to set new ground rules for president-government relations.

He has been establishing a sort of executive coordination mechanism within the presidency for months; the coordinators will be expected to work as links between the president and government ministers on issues from foreign policy to the...