The 12-member AKP Executive Board unanimously decided on Monday.
A statement Davutoğlu made last week may have accelerated action against him.
He said: “If terror-related cases are investigated, many people (meaning President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his close entourage) will not be able to go out and face the public.”
After such a confrontation, it would be difficult for Davutoğlu to reverse the process and find an accommodation with the party. Reports say the former prime minister is preparing to set up a rival party to the AKP.
Two other members of the AKP, - Ali Babacan, a former deputy prime minister and economy minister, and Beşir Atalay, a former interior minister - are also establishing a new party, but they resigned the AKP before announcing their intention to do so.
Davutoğlu’s expulsion from the AKP was discussed at length by the party’s Executive Board. Some members thought he should be forced to resign rather than being expelled because they believed the expulsion would make him appear a victim and increase his popularity.
Others thought allowing him to stay would damage the party so Davutoğlu and his three colleagues had to be expelled at once. The Executive Board unanimously agreed to expel the former prime minister and referred the issue to the Discipline Board.
The expulsion will, of course, speed up Davutoğlu’s efforts to establish a new party. This does not mean his party will become an important player in Turkey’s volatile political landscape. His chances of forming a sizeable opposition are slim, but his initiative and Babacan’s party will steal votes from the AKP. Babacan is more likely to attract voters, as he cannot be blamed for any past wrongdoing and enjoys prestige in Turkey’s business community as well as abroad. No matter how small the effect may be, these two parties will negatively affect the AKP’s political prospects.
Davutoğlu’s chances of success are handicapped by the fact that he can hardly complain about the difficult situation that Turkey finds itself in at present, because he was chairman of the ruling party and prime minister until as recently as 2016. While he may seek to blame Erdoğan for the wrong counter-terrorism policies, the electorate will wonder why he did not speak out at that time rather than threaten Erdoğan now, several years later.
It would not be a surprise if those who are expelling Davutoğlu today were themselves expelled from the party one day, when the tide changes.
Source: Former AKP deputy Yaşar Yakış