Next Turk PM must be yes-man to Erdogan: Commentator

Press TV has conducted an interview with Barcin Yinance, an associate editor at Hurriyet Daily News, and David Lindorff, an investigative journalist, to discuss the resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu from the post of the Turkish ruling party’s head.

Yinance says no one would have predicted that Prime Minister Davutoglu would resign a week ago. The fact that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his supporters were playing behind the back of the premier pushed Davutoglu to resign, he says.

She says Turkey is approaching a de facto presidential system, because, she says, whoever will be the next prime minister, will be a “yes-man” and Erdogan will be the sole decision-maker in the country.

She adds that the division between the Turkish president and the prime minister comes mostly from domestic issues such as negotiations with the Kurdish opposition as well as the appointment of party and administrative officials.

She also says, “Davutoglu has left a landmark in Turkey’s foreign policy,” but Erdogan wouldn’t have let any foreign policy be implemented if he had had major disagreements with it.

She says the European Union has been ignoring the lack of democracy in Turkey. “Turkey’s democratic standards are not much of a priority these days for the European Union, for them the main priority is to stop the flow of refugees.”

Lindorff, for his part, believes the Turkish prime minister has not been sufficiently a “yes-man” for President Erdogan.

He says the Turkish government is heading toward “authoritarian rule.” He further says the division between the top Turkish officials comes from both domestic and foreign issues.

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