Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced his resignation Thursday, in response to pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to step down, after a disagreement Wednesday over boosting Erdogan’s powers.
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Mr Davutoglu had also reportedly opposed Mr Erdogan’s plan to give more power to the presidency.
The promise of visa-free travel was a key part of the bargain European Union leaders struck with Turkey to stop the flow of migrants and refugees to Greece – a deal which Erdoğan had appeared to show little interest in.
Davutoglu succeeded Erdogan as prime minister and leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party in 2014.
One of these is to allow Turkish citizens visa-free travel for short stays in the EU’s Schengen area which comprises 22 European Union and four non-EU members.
“Turkey, for a very long time, has been one of the most risky countries in terms of its press freedom, and this stretches back to before this latest string of arrests of journalists and academic”, he says.
“The fact that my term lasted far shorter than four years was not a decision of mine but it was out of the necessity”, Davutoglu said in his farewell speech, suggesting he was forced to do so.
Erdogan had founded the AKP that has governed the country since 2002.
Davutoglu’s departure follows weeks of tensions with Erdogan.
Another part of the EU-Turkey deal had been to hold new talks on Turkish accession to the EU.
“We’ve been saying for a long time that such a change in legislation to combat terrorism is not possible”, Turkey’s EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said Thursday, citing the backlash over the deaths of Turkish security personnel killed in clashes with the PKK.
Erdogan said: “We’ll go our way, you go yours”.
The newspaper said the period of “authority confusion” had ended and that in “this new era, a prime minister, responsible for coordination, will accompany an “executive president”.
Davutoglu said, “I have no sense of failure or regrets in taking this decision”.
The departure of Davutoglu, who had cut the migrant deal after months of tough negotiation with EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has already sent ripples of concern through European capitals. Europe, meanwhile, is counting on Turkey to maintain an agreement that has helped stem the flow of refugees and migrants via Turkish shores, which saw more than a million people reach Greece and Italy a year ago.
Relations between Mr Erdogan and Mr Davutoglu had been seen by analysts as uneasy, but the speed with which their divisions burst into the open took many by surprise.
There is, however, a risk that the political upheaval will add a “new element of confusion” to the relationship, he said – and there is a “greater risk” now that Turkey will focus more on action against the Kurds and less on action against IS.
According to the conventions of the AKP – a party co-founded by Erdogan to bring Islam into the mainstream of Turkey’s secular politics – the party chairman and head of government are the same person.
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The prime minister suggested he will remain as a ruling party legislator.
