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

What the report says

Ahmet Davutoglu, the former Turkish prime minister and once-prominent member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), has announced that he is stepping away from politics and dissolving his Future Party. Al Jazeera reported the decision on Wednesday, July 31, 2026, saying Davutoglu framed it as a response to what he described as a deteriorating political environment in Turkiye, including concerns about corruption, favoritism and weak accountability.

Davutoglu’s political trajectory spans academia, government and opposition. Born in Konya in 1959, he built a career in international relations before joining the AKP after its 2002 election victory. He later served as Erdogan’s chief adviser, then as foreign minister from 2009 to 2014 and prime minister after Erdogan became president. Al Jazeera noted that he was a key figure in shaping AKP foreign policy, including the earlier “zero problems with neighbours” approach, before his relationship with Erdogan soured over issues such as governance and European Union talks.

The report said Davutoglu left the AKP in 2019 and launched the Future Party later that year as a conservative, pro-democracy alternative. That party failed to gain major electoral traction, winning 0.11 percent in the 2024 elections. His departure marks another sign of how Turkiye’s political landscape has shifted over the past decade, especially after the country’s move to a presidential system in 2018, which Davutoglu has criticized for reducing checks and balances.