Ahmet Davuto

Party discipline is a big issue for some parties while in one, loyalty to the eternal leader is so strong and uncompromising that with just one sign, the chairperson might feel compelled not only to step down but also spell out who should take over his post at the leader's dictate... A post that has been transformed from chief executive of the country to a royal and loyal secretariat.

While it has been the word on the street for more than a month, everybody looks like they are surprised to see PM Ahmet Davuto?lu leave office so smoothly. Has it been in the making all along? What was the main reason? There have been many other crises between the president and the prime minister, so what made it different this time?

Following the quick and a bit sad stepping down of Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, Turkish President Tayyip Erdo?an said on May 6 that there will be no turning back from his target of shifting from a parliamentarian system to strong presidential system.

Praising the outgoing Turkish government's spirit of cooperation, the top European Union diplomat based in Ankara has voiced his expectation that the subsequent government after the departure of Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu will uphold the country's agreement with Brussels on curbing migration as well as on visa liberalization for Turkish citizens.

Outgoing Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu began his political career as a diplomatic adviser 14 years ago. He rose to the Foreign Ministry and ultimately to the Prime Ministry with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) before choosing to quit the latter post on May 5. 

The White House on May 5 praised Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu as a "good partner with the United States" and said it did not expect his departure from office to affect U.S.-Turkish relations as they pertain to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

The European Union is "unsure" how the departure of Turkey's prime minister will affect the deal he struck with the EU to curb migration, the EU's foreign affairs chief said on May 5, as Brussels watched events in Ankara with unease. 

The crisis that broke out in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on April 29 has resulted in the decision to hold an extraordinary party convention, made by the president and the prime minister at their meeting on May 4. 

Global investors and markets will be closely following Turkey's economy after the announcement from Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu that he is stepping down. 

While traveling to Antalya on May 3 for a "sequencing conference," speculations were abundant that the prime minister might step down at any moment. There was such an expectation for some time because of an alleged widening rift between the president and the prime minister.