Davutoglu throws more focus on promoting Turkey

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Davutoglu?is set to be Turkey’s next prime minister after winning a vote Wednesday to become the new leader of the country’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Davutoglu, who had been foreign minister since 2009, will wield less power as premier than did Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the outgoing prime minister who is about to become president.

As the country’s chief diplomat, Davutoglu largely focused on trying to boost Turkey’s role as a regional player in the Middle East while officially promoting a policy of “zero problems” with countries in the region.

In 2010, he was listed in Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2010.

During his tenure as top diplomat, Turkey often backed Arab Spring rebellions, especially in Egypt and Syria.

The Egyptian army’s 2013 toppling of president Mohammed Morsi and the crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group that followed have left Turkey at odds with Cairo and its backers, including Saudi Arabia.

Another challenge for Davutoglu is preventing Turkey from being dragged down by the conflicts in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. Relations with Israel are also at a nadir over tensions in the Gaza Strip, although that problem might ebb after a ceasefire went into effect Tuesday.

Turkey has backed the moderate opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but has also been accused of turning a blind eye to more radical Islamist rebels, who used the porous border between the countries to gain a foothold in northern Syria.

This year, Davutoglu was blamed by the opposition for failing to evacuate the Turkish consulate in Mosul, northern Iraq, before the Islamic State swept in and took 49 people hostage, including top diplomats.

The diplomats remain in the hands of the extremist jihadists, despite efforts by Turkey to secure their release.

Born in 1959, Davutoglu received a doctorate in international relations from Turkey’s Bogazici University.

Researchers say his early writing indicate a pan-Islamic world view that has softened somewhat over the years.

He began teaching in 1990 at the International Islamic University of Malaysia before returning to Turkey several years later to work as a professor at Marmara University.

In 2002, when the AKP was first elected to power, he was appointed as a foreign policy advisory to the government and an ambassador at large, though he remained in academia.

In 2009, he became foreign minister. He is respected as a pragmatic thinker, though he is not nearly as populist as Erdogan, which could make it harder for him to inspire voters come parliamentary elections next year.

According to his official resume, he is married with four children and speaks English, German and Arabic.
GNA

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