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Davutoglu's tragedy

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has failed to escape the shadow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu addresses the media in Ankara December 11, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4HNSC
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An appointee of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ahmet Davutoglu has been Turkey’s prime minister for more than five months — long enough for one to form a sound opinion about his premiership and get a good idea of how his relationship with Erdogan, Turkey’s strongman, works. Davutoglu’s premiership style and the limits of his power have been determined by this very relationship. Looking at the Erdogan-Davutoglu equation, we’ve been able to predict where Turkey is headed.

Davutoglu may have sincerely hoped to make a difference as Erdogan’s successor and be a real prime minister. But Erdogan, the very person who put him in the prime minister’s seat, has kept Davutoglu from pulling it off and proving himself.

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