The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said Turkey would not alter its anti-terrorism legislation for the sake of visa-free travel for its citizens to EU, telling European countries: “We’ll go our way, you go yours”.
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“The EU at the moment is saying you will change your anti-terrorism law for visas”, Erdogan said at a speech in Istanbul on Friday, according to AP.
Mr Davutoglu had said there was no need for haste in Mr Erdogan’s drive to create a presidential system in Turkey, a pet project of the president that risked diminishing the premier’s own powers. Critics fear that would concentrate too much power in Erdogan’s hands.
“And then [you] will tell us “if you change this [anti-terrorism legislation], I will lift the visas”.
The premier had at best offered half-hearted support to an all-powerful presidential system, which Erdogan has said should be introduced “rapidly”.
Presidential adviser Cemil Ertem said the economy would stabilize further when a prime minister more closely aligned with Erdogan took office.
Amanda Paul, senior policy analyst for the independent thinktank European Policy Centre told AFP there “is a huge risk, very big risk now, that the migration deal will collapse” after Erdogan’s warning. “But instead, Turkey itself is facing as many problems as Damascus”, Kosachyov said.
The paper said Davutoglu would submit his resignation once a new leader is elected and said a new constitution would be a priority for the new leader.
The disagreement between the president and prime minister occurred after Davutoglu’s statement over a hundred of academicians who opposed the military operations in the country’s south-eastern provinces and criticized the actions of the government and the army in this regard.
The decision to replace the prime minister came after a meeting of Davutoglu and President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday after weeks of tension between the two statesmen.
The political tumult unnerved financial markets, with the lira losing nearly four per cent in value against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. But Erdogen’s government insists the laws are essential as it battles Kurdish militants at home and the threat from Islamic State in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
As Turkey’s foreign minister from 2009 to 2014, Davutoglu was seen as a bookish and cordial diplomat, whose role became dominated by the revolutions and conflict that spread across the Arab world in 2011.
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.
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Likely candidates to succeed Davutoglu include Erdogan loyalists such as Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, and even Erdogan’s son-in-law, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.
