Former Turkish Prime Minister and former AKP party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu has brought together the leadership of his new political party (the “Future Party”) and called for new elections.
In his speech on November 1, 2020, he denounced Turkey’s decline into a form of “tribal state” characterised by “a lack of electoral opportunities”. He condemned the “culture of despotism” that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is bringing to the country.
Above all, he said that Erdoğan is the biggest threat that Europe has to face, worse than Covid-19.
Professor Davutoğlu is a professor specialising in international relations. In his book Stratejik derinlik: Türkiye ‘nin uluslararası konumu (Strategic Depth: Turkey’s International Situation), he describes a period of stabilisation (“zero problems with its neighbours”) followed by neo-Ottoman policies throughout the Muslim world; a policy he led from 2001 to 2016. Since being in opposition, he first condemned the personality cult of President Erdoğan and nowadays his claim to be recognised as the new Caliph of Islam in 2023.