TURKEY MOVES INTO EVER-MORE-OPEN AUTOCRACY: Erdogan In Charge:

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu resigned Thursday after losing a power struggle with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The move may have serious repercussions for the Turkish-EU refugee deal, as well as on Turkey’s internal order. . . .

The Turkish Constitution theoretically holds that the President is a non-partisan, ceremonial figurehead, while the Prime Minister is the head of government, but anyone who has been watching should not have been surprised by this. Erdogan still controls the AKP; he made Davutoglu, and he could unmake him just as easily. Reports indicate that the potential heirs to Davutoglu’s job are all Erdogan cronies. One prominent candidate is Erdogan’s son-in-law.

As the FT points out, Davutoglu had been instrumental in negotiating the Turkey-EU refugee deal, and was seen as in many European capitals as a moderating influence on Erdogan. (As Erdogan grew increasingly powerful, this was starting to take on shades of similar wishful thinking vis-a-vis Medvedev and Putin.) Already, Erdogan has signaled a change of tone. In a “fiery” speech Friday, he made it clear he would not give up any powers he has accrued to please European opinion or keep Davutoglu’s achievements intact.

I miss Kemalism. Before it’s all over, the Turks will too.