Ahmet Davutoglu
Ahmet Davutoğlu (Turkish pronunciation: [ah'met da'vutoːɫu]; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has been the Prime Minister of Turkey since 28 August 2014 and the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) since 27 August 2014. He previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2009 to 2014, pursuing a policy of expanding Turkey's regional influence in former Ottoman territories and rebuilding relations with Israel after the 2009 Gaza flotilla raid on the MV Mavi Marmara. Prior to becoming Foreign Minister, Davutoglu served as chief advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and became an AKP Member of Parliament for Konya in the 2011 general election. He is also a political scientist, an academic, and an ambassador at large. Following the election of serving Prime Minister and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the 12th President of Turkey, Davutoğlu was announced by the AKP Central Executive Committee as a candidate for the party leadership. He was unanimously elected as leader unopposed during the first AKP extraordinary congress and consequently succeed Erdoğan as Prime Minister, forming the 62nd Government of the Turkish Republic. His cabinet has been dominated by Erdoğan's close allies such as Yalçın Akdoğan, leading to speculation that he will take a docile approach as Prime Minister while Erdoğan continues to pursue his political agenda as President. Domestically, Davutoğlu has heavily criticised the 2013-14 anti-government protests. He has blamed the 2013 government corruption scandal on a "parallel state" formed by supporters of Fethullah Gülen that occupy senior bureaucratic and judicial positions, which he has vowed to fight and dismantle as Prime Minister. Despite pursuing an allegedly Neo-Ottoman or Pan-Islamist foreign policy, Davutoğlu has made Turkey's ascension bid to the European Union a strategic target for his government. He has also pledged to reform the constitution, tackle corruption and improve Turkey's workers' rights record. His internationally criticised policy of inaction towards Islamic State militants in neighbouring Iraq and Syria resulted in deadly anti-government protests in October 2014 which left over 40 people dead, as well as the near-dissolution of the solution process with Kurdish rebels. Relations with the United States have consequently faltered and Turkey failed to win a seat in the United Nations Security Council. In response to government proposals to enact new security measures to curb protests, Davutoğlu has been accused of turning Turkey into a police state.