Why did Ahmet Davutoğlu win?

Some people are lucky. They appear on the political scene just at the right place and time in history to realize their thoughts and ideals. The possibility to do politics and "change the world" stands right in front of them. If their personalities are appropriate, they go onto that path and leave a trace behind depending on their abilities. Ahmet Davutoğlu is one of those lucky ones. At a turning point, when the Kemalist-dominated Republican regime came to an end, he appeared on the political scene as someone who pondered upon the subject profoundly and developed some alternatives.

Davutoğlu deepened his reviews on scientific grounds with each passing day. The duties he served as advisor to the Prime Ministry and as the foreign minister provided him with a chance to realize his ideas. Consequently, Davutoğlu was the most appropriate candidate in a period when the president is elected by popular vote, the constitution is about to change, the Kurdish problem is in the process of reconciliation and a new citizenship structure is being organized.

Another important factor is that Davutoğlu is one of the few "Western" intellectuals with an Islamic background. Davutoğlu is not someone who simply "exists" in the political realm; he is aiming to solidify his career. He always has something to say and has widened the horizons of society.
In this sense, he has leadership capacity. He is not like Erdoğan, who has the ability to attract the masses. Rather, he has an ability to create a magnetic field which gradually attracts the intellectual segment of society.

Certainly, another point is that he is someone who will be naturally able to get along with Erdoğan and have an influence upon him during the critical period ahead. It should be kept in mind that Davutoğlu worked as Erdoğan's advisor for years and he used the opportunity to suggest to him alternatives on many subjects numerous times. And it could still be anticipated that if Davutoğlu believes in a certain notion, that idea will also have a considerable influence upon Erdoğan. During the following period, those expecting a crisis among state authorities will be disappointed since the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) fundamental orientation is quite transparent and both the prime minister and the president do have a very similar approach and flexibility in terms of the pragmatism required by politics.

Davutoğlu has two outstanding characteristics that Gül does not which can be clearly observed. Firstly, he is ready to undertake each role determined and assigned to him by the party. He never engaged in intra-party politics by targeting specific positions. Davutoğlu fundamentally has the abilities and tendencies of a "technocrat," and the ethical perspective it implies.

This prevents the maneuverability of populist or opportunist members who are willing to do politics in the party through the new prime minister.
Secondly, Davutoğlu can adopt a reconciliatory attitude, based on his goals, by the path he follows. He is not a politician who can stand a deviation from goals for the sake of reconciliation. This idiosyncrasy is of vital importance both to the AK Party and Turkey's burgeoning middle class in the next decade, when the Republic will be reconstructed in every way. Though a deceleration in reforms might be tolerable, no one is willing to endure any possible halt or deviation in those reforms.

Within this period, Turkey is going to become a more democratic, pluralist and liberal country. If the AK Party could not achieve this, it will not even meet the expectations of its own grassroots. Erdoğan and Davutoğlu are aware of this. It is hard to think of a more ridiculous hypothesis than the claims that these two names would introduce authoritarianism and an Islamic state since 50 percent of the citizens who vote for the AK Party favor neither authoritarianism nor an Islamic state.

The AK Party has given a realist and functional partner to Erdoğan. We will observe that these two figures will not intervene in the each other's sphere of influence and act in unison in order to reach the same goal.