Turkiye’s Davutoglu steps back from politics: A timeline of his career

Ahmet Davutoglu, a former Prime Minister of Turkiye, has announced he is stepping down from politics and dissolving his party this week.Once one of the leading figures in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Davutoglu later became a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Here is a recap of what he said, alongside a timeline of his political career.What has Davutoglu announced?Davutoglu announced the dissolution of his Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) on Wednesday, and that he is stepping aside from politics.He attributed this decision to the “dirty political climate” in Turkiye.“This is not a decision of surrender. It is a decision to distance ourselves morally. This is not giving up on politics; it is a call for everyone to rethink politics,” he wrote in a statement, originally in Turkish, posted to his X account on Wednesday.“Corruption, favouritism and lack of accountability are eroding our moral values. The decline in perceptions of corruption has reached a point that can no longer be denied,” he wrote.The normalisation of party switching by politicians, together with the practice of appointing government trustees, or kayyum, in place of elected officials, had become...